Background

Research stories are often told at the end of the process, when the project has gone through the highs and lows that lead to the great discovery. I wanted to capture those highs and lows and tell a research story with a human side.

Idea

I created the feature length documentary Joe’s Drones covering the research project of Joe La Delfa, a PhD candidate at RMIT University. Joe was working on a system of miniature drones that could be used for meditative purposes.

I embedded a camera with Joe in his lab for a year and his recordings covered the difficulties and successes as he worked through his project on the way to his submission deadline. Along the way I interviewed Joe about the constraints of the PhD system, the inspiration behind his project and how his life unfolded throughout this stressful period.

Impact

Joe’s Drones was the first long-form documentary content ever produced by an in-house team at RMIT University. It was selected to be shown as part of the Transitions Film Festival, premiering at the Nova Cinema in Melbourne. On Youtube the video has over 600% more view hours then the average RMIT video.