Griffith Film School scores record nominations at awards

Griffith Film School has scored a record 10 nominations at this year’s Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) awards.

The awards, established in 1982, recognise the best Australian and New Zealand screen content from film schools and screen industry professionals.

Acting Head ofGriffith Film School,Professor Trish FitzSimons,said the strong showing reflected the calibre of talent nurtured at GFS.

“We are very proud of what our students, graduates and faculty members are producing, and are delighted to see their work recognised at this level,” she said.

“ATOM is the second-longest runningfilm and media awards in Australia, behind the AFI/AACTA Awards.

“Competitions like this allow our filmmakers to make industry connections and build a wider audience for their work.”

Among the projects recognised was She’s Not There, nominated for Best Experimental Film.

The pioneering film was conceived by Griffith Film School animation lecturers Dr Peter Moyes and Dr Louise Harvey.

Motion capture technology, a live orchestra and the skills of a Hollywood film composer helped bring the 3D animated film to life.

“The whole project was mounted as a real time performance for the opening of the CILECT Congress at Griffith Film School last year,” Dr Moyes said.

“We used motion capture to capture the physical and vocal performance by Christine Johnston, and then used the motion capture data to animate a digital character, Burly Chassis.

“The virtual camera, which allows you to recapture and re-present the previously rendered 3D animation in a live performance context is amazing, and film composerCameron Patrick played a key role in developing the vision in tandem with the music.”

“The inspiration for the whole idea was seeing the virtual camera used in one of our workshops here and watching the students respond to that.”

The ATOM Awards are held in Melbourne on Thursday 30 November.

The full list of nominations:

Ky’s Story – Instructional andTertiary Documentary
The Toll – Tertiary Animation
Luminous- Best Tertiary Short Fiction
Wolfe – Best Tertiary Documentary
Blurred Minds – Best Educational App
RSPCA advertising campaign – Best Screen Commercial
She’s Not There – Best Experimental Film
Two Weeks – Best Web Series
Dancing the Invisible – Best Documentary (Biography)