'Still There?' was a film created entirely in lockdown for my VCE media folio. Unlike 'Phoenix Gold', I created this film independently (with the exception of my sister as a scene partner). In making this film, I studied a lot of the technical aspects of filmmaking - using an external mic, understanding gels and white balance, shot compositions and plenty of other techniques, with a lot of help from Studiobinder’s ‘Advanced Filmmaking Techniques’ mini series on YouTube. 

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It was the first time I picked up books like ‘Save The Cat’ and ‘Shot by Shot’. I studied scenes from The Marriage Story and About Time because I was drawn to the way the directors reflected the intimacy and romance of everyday life. The research involved understanding writing approaches to a coming-of-age story and how it's about a moment of growth or a turning point for the main character.

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Still There?" was based on my personal experience with my sister. As I got older, our relationship started to change — we felt disconnected from each other. Being almost four years apart, I was a teenager craving more independence, and she couldn’t understand why.

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I absolutely loved making this film and learning more about storytelling. It was tough doing it all on my own — there were a lot of technical hurdles and plenty of room for improvement — but it really showed me how much I value working with others. Throughout high school, I loved studying Media, and I was so proud to finish the year as dux of the subject.