ACMI

It was so cool to walk through the ACMI learning about different aspects of Australian films. One exhibit that I found particularly interesting was the “Wilhelm Scream.” In a small room a television displayed a bunch of short clips from very recognizable movies. Each of the short clips had the same exact scream in different scenes. It was funny to hear the exact scream being used in so many different movies. I read the plaque next to the screen and learned that the scream came from Private Wilhelm in “Charge at Feather River.” Since the recording has been done the scream has been used not only in films but commercials and theme parks. I learned that most sound effects are not actually recorded during the time of the shoot, and many take their noises from past films, like the Wilhelm Scream. This is related directly to what we have learned as it goes into the movie making process. I learned about the way sound effects are used in movies from the museum and listened to various voiceovers as well. Another exhibit that I explored in the museum was about indigenous makers in the Australian film industry. I learned that in the 70’s not only did the Indigenous people fight for their land but they found for their images and stories. They were rarely represented in film or on television at the time, and if they were they were often portrayed as people with problems. Eventually, Indigenous people made their own media to portray their true selves to the public. The show “Basically Black” was created by indigenous actors. The storyline was a comedy about the fusion of Koori culture and Monty Python style. The show worked to show stereotypes and racial discrimination that the Indigenous people faced and became very popular. Soon other films starting coming out about Indigenous people like “My Survival” and “Black Fire.” Indigenous people succeeded in getting their stories out in film and properly showed the discrimination that they were facing at the time. We had learned about this in class and it was interesting to learn where the roots of the Indigenous film culture came from.

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