10 Great Books gets a makeover with Studio Connect

Masterclass video series

The challenges of a self-made production

As the flagship community education program for the Faculty of Arts, 10 Great Books is celebrating its tenth year in 2023.

Before the pandemic, the program - which explores the humanities, social sciences, and languages through remarkable texts - was delivered as a monthly live event in the spirit of a book club. It was wildly popular and the annual subscription tickets were selling out within an hour of release.

When the pandemic disrupted the live format in 2020, 10 Great Books pivoted to digital delivery.

After two successful online series, program coordinator Ellie Clay found that the digital format was working well. Participant numbers had grown with the program’s increased accessibility, enabled by lowered ticket prices and an audience that now expanded beyond Melbourne. But by the end of 2022, they acknowledged the increasing demands of producing their own content alongside all their other work commitments.

One of the biggest challenges was finding venues to record. Many of the locations around the University were not fit-for-purpose, with background noise and limited availability. Ellie also found that this issue was impacting on her relationships with the presenters, many of whom had busy schedules and little time to sit through the unavoidable disruptions.

Ellie and her team decided to level-up and enhance the production quality of the masterclass video presentations.

When Ellie saw a Yammer post from Video and Media (VM) inviting University staff to come and check out their newly kitted-out Studio Connect, she took notice and set up a time to meet the team.

People holding clapperboard
Left to right: Professor Stephanie Trigg, Professor Sarah Churchwell and Ellie Clay, Professor Sarah Churchwell

The value of thinking through a bespoke production template

After chatting with VM and seeing the suite of studios and packages offered at Studio Connect, Ellie and her team decided to take the leap and work with us to produce content for 10 Great Books.

Initially, media producer Leigh Tilson talked her through options for a bespoke production template. With many years of experience as a TV producer, Leigh saw the program as a television series with a standard opener, title sequence and set design that would be consistent throughout each new episode showcasing a new book and expert speaker.

He envisioned a title sequence inspired by visual cues and atmosphere from François Truffaut’s adaptation of ‘Fahrenheit 451’, a classic text with shared themes about the value of books.

“The opener and title sequence are all about getting people in the right mood to learn about great books,” said Leigh, when asked about his creative intent. “The pacing should lead the audience into the program gently, allowing them to settle and tune in with the right emotion.”

After some discussion, Ellie and her team put their trust in the vision and expertise of Leigh’s team and signed off on the concepts for the project template.

“They added a whole new level of professionalism to the production of the masterclass presentations,” Ellie told us. “It’s been great working alongside video and media experts. With our production template in place, I can just arrive at a well-organised studio every month and focus on bringing the talent into the world of the set, making them feel at ease and ready to present their masterclass with confidence.”

She added that all the presenters from 2023 program so far have offered positive feedback, saying they enjoyed their experience of working to schedule and knowing what to expect in the studio.

There have been other advantages too. Ellie said she has learned a lot from watching how VM work on all parts of production, and that she can use her freed-up time to work on the script and B-roll for the post-production.

"Ellie is a very tech savvy and capable producer,” said Leigh. “Our editors agree that every episode comes together beautifully because her work on the B-roll and mark-up is fantastic.”

3 people holding books
Left to right: Dr. Ashley Barnwell, Professor Tony Birch, Professor Sarah Churchwell

Freeing up space to think about the future

10 Great Books came to VM as a well-regarded educational series that provides strong connection for a community of lifelong learners who love books and reading. It offers participants an opportunity to collectively participate in something meaningful together.

By creating a bespoke production template, Video and Media were able to collaborate with the passionate team behind the program to elevate their production values and free up valuable working time.  With its ten-year anniversary approaching, 10 Great Books has exciting plans afoot – we are looking forward to watching this project evolve!

This project was produced by Video and Media. Supporting excellence in teaching and research at the University of Melbourne.

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