RI009 - RMIT Topshot - 10/2016

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updated: 2022-02-15

After the previous project, our new room was ready and we got a promise that our salary was going to increase and there will be bonus in the future.

Only at this point that I started to doubt these words because if it were going to go up, there would be no need to give us a promise. Andy always talked about raising funds and a portfolio for the company to keep calm us. After this announcing this promise, Andy told us about this project and ask if I would continue to take on the same role. Again, I have no infomation about the budget. We also have no infomation about funds or how much money did we earn in the previous projects. I was going to deny the role and just focus on building the content for the youtube channel before I can leave the organisation. But damn my curiousity really wanted to find out who and what was behind all this false promise.

Phòng Mới (Hà chụp 2016-08-26)

I said in the meeting about not having enough workforce and equipments like the previous project. Andy kept on asking if I can find a way so I said yes but I didn’t get any of my friends involved. I was laughing in tears when I was told I would be supervised to go shopping for props. This very person was Lý Bình Sơn , the very person who was assigned my role for [the previous project][]. More over, Hằng was also with us to watch our every moves but then were swapped with Linh due to accounting work needed to be done at the office. At this same time, I still had work for content for the youtube channel.

To put everything in perspective, I never asked for a raise from this project or the any other project since I got involved with Rice. I was supposed to believe in these financial promise from Any and was being monitored for spending for the department that I was in charge for. My supervisor is not only just an accountant but also a man who thought I just stole his job.

These actions just prove this guy has no trust in me but demanded me and every body else the opposite. On top of that he was ripping all of labour that was under his command with the lowest cost possible. I don’t know if the guy meant it or not, but he also put me in a very bizzard situation when I had to go shopping with Lý Bình Sơn. On the shopping trip, Sơn also could not hold his laughter for such awkard situation. Of course he did not know that I didn’t get a single penny more out of this project apart from regular salary. Sơn didn’t turn up on the day of shooting and yeah I can only imagine why.

But I still did my best to save cost. I did accept the role and had to be responsible for the job. I pull all the furniture, decors and plants at the office to the set. I remember asking Nguyên to use her ID card to borrow a bicycle for a scene. I even did a scene that was not in the script that the director asked for. I also remember this was the first time I met Susan. This is the smoothest Assistant Director I have seen to this day.

bằng tốt nghiệp RMIT

This project happened around September. I remeber going back to university to attend the graduation ceremony in October (or November?). I took a quick picture with Khoa and Tú (this man taught me how to draw stuff in 3D) before going back to the office. Shame that phone went missing a very long time ago.

Sometime I find it very strange that RMIT didn’t publish this project but it appeared on another channel named “Unbranded Creative” on youtube. The version posted was very low quality (480p) which mean perhaps it was rendered again and perhaps posted from outside the company on 2017-03-01.

Unbranded Creative

This is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsIHNOjJWRc

This is the description:


    RMIT tapped Unbranded Creative to create a story to show all the amazing 
    things their professional communications degree offers. As these values are
    central to our brand, it was especially exciting to create something about
    what we do everyday as creatives.

A very long time later this project was published on Rice’s vimeo channel on 2018-08-03 and was credit with Andy and Peter.

This project raised all sort of mysteries about the very organisation that I was involved with.

If someone were going to steel, why would they use a low quality version? How could someone steel something that was not published? Why Rice credited just this 2 person when every other project has pretty much everybody’s name? Is this channel belongs to someone from inside of Rice? Who and why all this happened is still a mystery to me.

The founder of Digipost, Alan Seet, after [the previous project][] and more over this project, tried to make friend with me. Alan suddenly show up to the office more often and were very keen to let everybody aware that he was the investor for Rice. He would alway said that “Digipost is a training school” and “people who graduated from here becomes has always been very successful after they left.”

Silly me to have thought that I was working in a professional enviroment all along and not attending school of Digipost. I was very amused to learn that Digipost ban relationship among staff. They really thought that we were children in school. I don’t know if Đức the data manager and Mi the Graphic Designer got sued by Digipost’s management board for getting married or not.

At this point it was quite clear to me that the staff that were working here was just cheap labour for the managemnet board. I realised I trusted the wrong people. With the amount of work at the time, I was also thought I was being too easy on everything.

While we talking about training and techniques, I also want to have a moment to mention about all the cutters that were working at Digipost.

If I remember correctly, I learned quite a bit from Nick and Bon at Digipost with all their techniques and tricks in the software. But to be honest we all have our own tricks and we never hold back anything.

[Quang @ Digipost (?? chụp 2016-02-27)](pictures/digipost_quang.jpg “Quang at Digipost)

I don’t know much about Quang’s because his room is on the top floor and very rarely that I climp 3 floor up unless it was for food. But I do remember Quang used the Apple’s mouse that for me was like torture. Nick was the Senior Editor. He also used the same mouse like Quang. Also this guy change the hotkeys because he used to cut in Final Cut. When I first joined, I thought he was a God with the speed that he cut in the software. Took me the whole month just to get to half of his speed. Bon used the gaming hardware to control the computer. This guy was also another God with computer. Bon would programmed a button to do multiple command at the same time. Đông and me had a similar approach at the time. We both had to use less custom stuff in the software because we shared the machine with many people at Rice. But I have my own mouse. I like a very slow and heavy mouse because I used to play Counter Strike.

Nick @ Editing Workshop (?? chụp 2016-02-27)

None of us can use the other’s guy machine to cut at the normal speed that we did. Also none of us would brag that we taught the other guy anything. In contrast, we shared knowledge and experiences because if anything happened, any of us can be a subtitute for the same role.

Bon @ Subaru Workshop (?? chụp 2016-09-28)

Everytime I think back about Digipost I always feel very proud that I used to be part of this team.

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Credits

The list is still missing some names because my memory is very limited. Please forgive me. If friends are reading this please contact be so I can add your name.

published: 2018-08-03

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/Production Unit/
/Executive Producer/
/Director/
/Production Designer/
/Art Department/
/Editor/
/Assistant Director/
/Producer/
/Assistatnt Producer/
/Colorist/

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