Lectures

Developed for RMIT Media Arts, 1985 - 2000

History

Philip Brophy started teaching in the Media Arts department of Preston Institute of Technology in the second half of 1982. Lecturers Peter Cole (Sculpture) and Rod Bishop (Film) had a show on 3RR-FM at the time and were familiar of the work of → ↑ →; they suggested Philip fill in for lecturer David Tolley (sound) when he took leave. Philip was familiar with many staff and students at PIT as key → ↑ → members Maria Kozic and Jayne Stevenson had studied there (Maria in Painting, Sculpture and Printmaking, and Jayne in Graphic Design), and through them gained valuable access to much equipment borrowed for → ↑ → productions and events.

What was meant to be a few weeks for Philip extended to many years of casual work. Across this time, Rod shaped the Media Arts department, incorporating film, video, performance, sound and photography. By 1985, Media Arts had consolidated into two primary streams - Time-Based Art (headed by Rod) and Fine Art Photography (headed by Les Walking). In 1983, the institute was renamed the Phillip Institute of Technology (no relation to Philip). By this stage, Philip had become contracted for part-time teaching, and expanded the Sound area substantially to embrace experimental music, a range of post-punk/art band activities, and soundtrack production. Considerable cross-fertilization occurred between staff and students, as evidenced by Philip's films No Dance (1985) and Salt Saliva Sperm & Sweat (1988) - each of which were produced by Rod and involved many current and graduate students from Media Arts. Present Records was formed in 1988 and involved ex-Media Arts students Philip Samartzis and Ian Haig, both of whom would become lecturers in the Media Arts department.

In 1992, the Media Arts department left PIT and joined the Department of Visual Communication at RMIT. At the same time, Philip and Rod commenced work on the film Body Melt (1993). Co-written with co-producer Rod, the film's EPK was shot by student Barry Lanfranchi heading a student production team. (Philip edited this original footage for the 2016 short Making Bodies Melt, included on the Blu-Ray releases.) Around this time, Philip substantially expanded the Soundtrack stream of the Media Arts course, which led to the instigation of the Cinesonic International Conference on Film Scores and Sound Design. Rod left RMIT Media Arts in 1996 to become director of the AFTRS in Sydney. Philip left in 2003 to concentrate on his various projects and productions; Les Walkling left to do the same around 2011. The department soon after dissolved into the digestive tracts of the RMIT School of Art.

All the courses Philip taught in Media Arts stem from his interest and research in areas related to his many productions. The lectures involve close analysis viewing/listening to the films or records, accompanied by detailed breakdowns of the works. The courses and/or select components therein have been presented independently in a variety of contexts since. A selection of these courses are listed below.


Course modules

  • Dissolving & Reconstituting Narrative Cinema

    16 lectures

    Currently being archived

  • The Modern Soundtrack - Historical Markers

    15 lectures

  • The Modern Soundtrack - Contemporary Traces

    15 lectures

  • Sound Design

    2 lectures

  • Folk, Rock & Pop within the Cinema

    10 lectures

    Currently being archived

  • 20th Century Music within the Cinema

    10 lectures

    Currently being archived

  • Collapsing Rock, Pop & Noise

    12 lectures

    Currently being archived

  • Record Production & Phonology

    5 lectures