Approaches to gender diversity behind the camera in Australian student screen productions

This article asks how educators at tertiary level might attempt to address gender diversity behind the camera in student productions. The 2020 Australian Screen Production Education and Research Association (ASPERA) report Diversity On and Off Screen in Australian Film Schools outlines the results o...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Craig Batty, Marsha Berry, Kath Dooley, Margaret McHugh, James Verdon
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University College Cork 2022-12-01
Series:Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media
Online Access:https://www.alphavillejournal.com/Issue24/HTML/ArticleDooleyEtAl.html
_version_ 1811196161866858496
author Craig Batty
Marsha Berry
Kath Dooley
Margaret McHugh
James Verdon
author_facet Craig Batty
Marsha Berry
Kath Dooley
Margaret McHugh
James Verdon
author_sort Craig Batty
collection DOAJ
description This article asks how educators at tertiary level might attempt to address gender diversity behind the camera in student productions. The 2020 Australian Screen Production Education and Research Association (ASPERA) report Diversity On and Off Screen in Australian Film Schools outlines the results of a national survey measuring levels of gender diversity behind the camera in Australian university capstone (major project-based) screen production units. The survey results reveal that, while close to even numbers of male and female students are completing capstone projects in screen production departments and film schools in Australia, crew roles are highly gendered. A gendered skew is most pronounced in the roles of cinematographer and sound designer (male dominated), and producer and production designer (female dominated). We argue that an investigation of this subject calls for an examination of the specificity of the tertiary screen production environment. The crewing of student projects can be fraught, involving competition for popular roles such as that of director, and choices are made based on student likes and dispositions. In this article, we further drill into quantitative and qualitative data from the ASPERA survey to examine educator attitudes and approaches towards the gendered nature of some student production roles.
first_indexed 2024-04-12T00:55:01Z
format Article
id doaj.art-b253befa88a1494d8671b0f5e2b3cdf7
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2009-4078
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-12T00:55:01Z
publishDate 2022-12-01
publisher University College Cork
record_format Article
series Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media
spelling doaj.art-b253befa88a1494d8671b0f5e2b3cdf72022-12-22T03:54:39ZengUniversity College CorkAlphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media2009-40782022-12-012411813110.33178/alpha.24.07Approaches to gender diversity behind the camera in Australian student screen productionsCraig Batty0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8542-4763Marsha Berry1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4002-1143Kath Dooley2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5235-7250Margaret McHugh3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5539-9707James Verdon4University of South AustraliaRMIT University MelbourneUniSA Creative, University of South AustraliaUniversity of Technology SydneySwinburne University of TechnologyThis article asks how educators at tertiary level might attempt to address gender diversity behind the camera in student productions. The 2020 Australian Screen Production Education and Research Association (ASPERA) report Diversity On and Off Screen in Australian Film Schools outlines the results of a national survey measuring levels of gender diversity behind the camera in Australian university capstone (major project-based) screen production units. The survey results reveal that, while close to even numbers of male and female students are completing capstone projects in screen production departments and film schools in Australia, crew roles are highly gendered. A gendered skew is most pronounced in the roles of cinematographer and sound designer (male dominated), and producer and production designer (female dominated). We argue that an investigation of this subject calls for an examination of the specificity of the tertiary screen production environment. The crewing of student projects can be fraught, involving competition for popular roles such as that of director, and choices are made based on student likes and dispositions. In this article, we further drill into quantitative and qualitative data from the ASPERA survey to examine educator attitudes and approaches towards the gendered nature of some student production roles. https://www.alphavillejournal.com/Issue24/HTML/ArticleDooleyEtAl.html
spellingShingle Craig Batty
Marsha Berry
Kath Dooley
Margaret McHugh
James Verdon
Approaches to gender diversity behind the camera in Australian student screen productions
Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media
title Approaches to gender diversity behind the camera in Australian student screen productions
title_full Approaches to gender diversity behind the camera in Australian student screen productions
title_fullStr Approaches to gender diversity behind the camera in Australian student screen productions
title_full_unstemmed Approaches to gender diversity behind the camera in Australian student screen productions
title_short Approaches to gender diversity behind the camera in Australian student screen productions
title_sort approaches to gender diversity behind the camera in australian student screen productions
url https://www.alphavillejournal.com/Issue24/HTML/ArticleDooleyEtAl.html
work_keys_str_mv AT craigbatty approachestogenderdiversitybehindthecamerainaustralianstudentscreenproductions
AT marshaberry approachestogenderdiversitybehindthecamerainaustralianstudentscreenproductions
AT kathdooley approachestogenderdiversitybehindthecamerainaustralianstudentscreenproductions
AT margaretmchugh approachestogenderdiversitybehindthecamerainaustralianstudentscreenproductions
AT jamesverdon approachestogenderdiversitybehindthecamerainaustralianstudentscreenproductions