Top Screen 2024 Online

The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority presents as part of the VCE Season of Excellence, Top Screen 2024 Online gives you the opportunity to view the work and creative processes of Victoria’s next generation of filmmakers from your classroom.

Films in the program

BAD CHICKEN

Rebecca Murphy | Animation, Comedy | 7 min

Following a typical school day, Darcy and Evie go to their local chicken shop for an after-school snack. However, upon receiving their food, they notice there might be something wrong with their chicken. Something very, very wrong. BAD CHICKEN aims to represent teenage friendships and show the often nonsensical situations they may find themselves in.

VCE Media 2023, Santa Maria College, Northcote, Wurundjeri Country

L’ecole de Cirque

Matilda Deeble | Documentary | 10 min

This documentary is based in and around the National Institute for the Performing Arts (NICA), the only institute that offers tertiary level study for the circus arts in Australia. Through interviews with NICA students and staff, the film explores why maintaining the magic of circus is socially and culturally important, which is especially relevant with Swinburne’s recent pausing of NICA’s Bachelor program.

VCE Media 2023, Wurun Senior Campus, Fitzroy North, Wurundjeri Country

Agony

Vicky Chen | Animation, Action/Fantasy | 7 min

In this animated music video set in a fantasy world, a Duke and Duchess suddenly pass away from suspicious circumstances, leaving the protagonist Solomon to protect his parents’ fortune from greedy relatives keen on taking it for themselves. However, Solomon meets someone who could save him from this fate.

VCE Media 2023, Balwyn High School, Balwyn North, Wurundjeri Country

Magpie Mocha

Dylan Wijesekera | Animation, Absurdist Comedy | 5 min

In a dystopic vacuum of space, where humanoid robots are assigned to tedious labour, a barista’s habitual work shift is interrupted by the hijinks of an erratic magpie. By incorporating both 2D and 3D palettes into its animation, Magpie Mocha aims to utilise the creative liberties of its medium to accentuate the film’s surrealist humour.

VCE Media 2023, Balwyn High School, Balwyn North, Wurundjeri Country

I Know What They’re Thinking

Fynn Williams | Music Video | 4 min

This music video delves into the world of a teenager who is grappling with her own mental health struggles. Through a surrealist, non-linear approach, the film explores issues around depression, anxiety and dissociation, challenging the stigmas surrounding mental health.

VCE Media 2023, Dromana Secondary College, Dromana, Bunurong Country

LORENZO?

Jasmine Lui | Documentary | 2 min

LORENZO? follows a young lion tamer within a colourful circus troupe whose star lion is missing before their nearing performance. With the aid of his clown companion, the duo search for the lion across the bizarre carnival grounds before the curtains are drawn.

VCE Media 2023, Ringwood Secondary College, Ringwood, Wurundjeri Country

Cat

Gabe Hartshorne | Psychological Horror | 10 min

A boy delves into a mystery surrounding his beloved Cat after he has a paranormal experience while looking into the Cat’s eyes. As the boy desperately attempts to figure out what happened, he begins to lose his grasp of reality, becoming crazed with trying to understand his household pet.

VCE Media 2023, Northcote High School, Northcote, Wurundjeri Country

Open Dining

James Rushbrook-Stock | Food Documentary | 8 min

The backdrop of Portarlington’s bustling mussel trade provides the setting for this documentary about the industry’s inner workings. Open Dining’s host follows the journey of Victorian mussels from sea to plate. This journey is captured through insightful conversations with Peter and Tracy Bold, two of the nation’s most accomplished mussel farmers.

VCE Media 2023, St Kevin’s College, Toorak, Wurundjeri Country

Puddles

Henry Qiu | Animation, Drama | 2 min

Struggling with their sense of self and identity, a young child in a gloomy suburb escapes their own reflection by stomping on puddles. Eventually, they build the courage to peer into the water and confront their image.

VCE Media 2023, Brighton Secondary College, Brighton East, Bunurong Country

Sticky Notes

Jorja Kavellaris | Coming-of-Age/Drama | 5 min

Sticky Notes follows the friendship of two young women, Florence and Anisa, as they pursue their dream of opening hairdressing salon together. Their picture-perfect life suddenly comes to a halt when Anisa is in a tragic accident, leaving Florence to face a tough decision regarding a promise made in the past.

VCE Media 2023, Loreto Mandeville Hall, Toorak, Wurundjeri Country

Don’t Burn the Toast

Lucas A. Taylor | Absurdist/Comedy | 4 min

In order to make breakfast, a teenager must confront the absurd fantasies of the kitchen. ‘Boy’ sees visions when preparing toast in a battle against his own imagination. Don’t Burn the Toast uses an absurdist, comedic lens to investigate young people’s relationships with their imaginary inner-worlds.

VCE Media 2023, Alice Miller School, Macedon, Wurundjeri Country

TAPE 108

Tom Caulfield | Crime | 9 min

An obsessive audio surveillance expert accepts a deadly mission to infiltrate and record a meeting at the infamous Cobra Club. When he crosses paths with a mysterious assassin, he must question the nature of his mission and confront the impending danger that awaits.

VCE Media 2023, Buckley Park College, Essendon, Wurundjeri Country

Reminisce: A Poem

Jesseca Daly | Animation, Mixed-Media Stop-Motion | 3 min

This short film, based on Dr. Earl Reum’s poem Reminisce, defines the various phases of a young boy’s life. Through three chronological sections, it captures the gradual loss of his innocence during the transition from childhood to adolescence. More abstractly, Reminisce is about the isolation commonly felt by young people.

VCE Media 2023, Mirboo North Secondary College, Mirboo North, Gunaikurnai Country