This project involved creating a movie that recreates in some way, the 1978 Australian movie ‘Dogs in Space’. It was a very different and interesting project, where I had to go out of my comfort zone and film and be creative in ways I have never been before. This has been an incredible experience, and in some places quite challenging, however, those are the moments when you know something good is going to happen next, when you have to think hard and come up with something incredible.

"Dogs in Space" is a film set in 1970s Melbourne, portraying the youth culture of the time. The title may reference how the characters, like Laika the space dog, seem like outsiders in their own world. The story revolves around a group of housemates who are in a band, showcasing their daily lives, concerts, and practices. The main plot follows Sam and Anna's relationship, with Anna becoming increasingly involved in Sam's world of music and drugs, ultimately leading to her tragic death from an overdose.

Screenshots of the movie ‘Dogs in Space’ (1978)

The movie shows the main themes of the moment. Doing drugs, alcohol, living alone, creating music, studying, socialising, being alone, exploring creativity, being crazy, being serious, not caring, caring a lot, and so on, themes with which youngsters might be reflected.

We were asked to recreate this movie somehow, in a day like today. Maybe something ethnographical, maybe a movie with a storyline, a feeling, a situation, or anything we are attracted by that shows our youth’s nowadays.

I screenshotted some of the scenes that brought up my idea for the movie. Many times, the house and its interior is filmed to show the personalities of the main characters. There is a lot of focus on the house, where people hang out, and where people have their own space (or try to, even with the chaos). 

I ended up making a documentary-style movie focusing on my then student accommodation, Scape, interviewing residents and capturing candid moments in their rooms. The narrative will be minimal, primarily driven by interviews and observational footage, aiming to convey a sense of vulnerability and authenticity. The film's style draws from the Viewpoint Narrative, with interviewees serving as narrators while showcasing their private spaces.

I decided to use my room as a central element in their project, emphasizing its significance as a defining space for themselves and their friends in their shared accommodation. While there are variations in room sizes and amenities, with some friends paying more for additional features like a private kitchen and toilet, the basic room serves as a common backdrop. Initially planning to have my friends discuss how they've personalized their rooms, I ultimately opted for a simpler approach, capturing natural moments of their friends in their rooms while providing the room itself as a prop.

This is the A1 poster where I presented my final movie, which I decided to call Melbourne’s Youth (2023).

I decided to create an axonometric drawing of the building me and my friends lived in. It shows the spaces my each person in my circle frequent, which demonstrate their personalities. The building has a gym, a music room, a study room a terrace with a barbacue, a cinema room and a dining room. 

It exposes the themes of Time, Space, Interior, Film and Affect through a big diagram which shows the skeleton of the building me and my friends share.

I tried to expose all of the themes, interconnected through the composition of the building.

Time - through each person observed’s trail along the building

Film - I show various scenes of the movie (in the poster further down)

Affect - Through colour, position of the camera and responses

Space - Through the axonometric view of the building Scape Lincoln

Interior - Through the pictures of each zone of my building, made inspired by the techniques of Wes Anderson.

I edited the whole movie, for it to colour match a photo of a scene in a movie by Wes Anderson, so that the movie has a cinematic effect, and all of the colours are exaggerated.

 Main character activities

Various floors in the student accommodation.

https://youtu.be/af2XvFa16nI