Special Topic: ABC Open/Portfolio Development

Four students were selected to participate in a special topic run in conjunction with the ABC Open, an initiative of the national broadcaster aimed at engaging the community members to produce their own content. For the students’ first assignment, they worked on a One-on-One series where they told a story about change in the first person using black and white photographs and sound. Gold Coast ABC Open producer and Bond University Master of Journalism graduate Solua Middleton helped guide the students through the process. The multimedia packages students produced for this special topic embrace the changing landscape of media and journalistic content while incorporating many traditional storytelling techniques. Students found a community member, recorded interviews and natural sound, spent time with the interviewee and photographed them in their environments and edited their story together using Final Cut Pro to reveal a change that they had experienced.

One of the best stories from this One-on-One ‘Change’ assignment was produced by Ashleigh Gleeson, titled “Brian's journey as a bricklayer and yoga teacher”. Ashleigh told Brian Miller’s story about how after 25 years of bricklaying he turned to yoga and meditation to enhance his life. Brian still works as a bricklayer and now also teaches yoga in Burleigh Heads. Ashleigh’s package is profiled on the ABC Open website and has been promoted on the local ABC radio station. To view her story visit www.abc.net.au 

Submitted by Naomi Busst