Search for books/eBooks using Library Search. Your Course Readings list will also have mandatory and recommended texts that will help you with your research.
See here for details on borrowing, requesting digitized chapters scans, renewing or finding out how to join other university libraries near to you.
Producing videos : a complete guide
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The Video Editing Handbook
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White Space Is Not Your Enemy
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The Filmmaker's Guide to Visual Effects : The Art and Techniques of VFX for Directors, Producers, Editors and Cinematographers
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Visual Effects for Indie Filmmakers
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Identify key journals in your area of research by selecting Journal Title Search from the Library Advanced Search page.
Find research articles from the most prominent journals in your field by narrowing down your results by selecting the Peer Reviewed filter option on the left side of your results.
Some peer reviewed journals are listed below.
Journal of Film and Video, an internationally respected forum, focuses on scholarship in the fields of film and video production, history, theory, criticism, and aesthetics. Article features include film and related media, problems of education in these fields, and the function of film and video in society.
Quarterly Review of Film and Video publishes critical, historical, and theoretical essays, book reviews, and interviews in the area of moving image studies including film, video, and digital imagery studies.
Research in Film and History is a peer-reviewed online journal edited and published by staff and postdoctoral researchers in Film and History at the University of Bremen, Germany. Research in Film and History offers an international platform for cutting-edge debate, new approaches, and interdisciplinary perspectives on the intersection between film and history.
New Review of Film and Television Studies publishes peer-reviewed research on the theory, history, aesthetics, and politics of expressive screen culture. Committed to a broad definition of film and television studies, NRFTS welcomes articles on digital, sound, video, and web-based media.
See here for a list of highly relevant databases that have a subject focus within the area of film and media production.
Some additional highly recommended databases are listed below.
AustLit contains a wide range of Australian literature and storytelling, with biographical and bibliographical information, It includes writing for the theatre, biographical and travel writing, writing for film and television, criticism and reviews.
Taylor & Francis provides full-text access to journal articles covering Arts, Business, Education, Health Sciences, Humanities, Social Sciences, Spatial Sciences.
Kanopy is a leading supplier of DVD and online video on all subjects, with special emphasis on Australian content. View and preview videos, see transcripts, create playlists and embed into courses.
Margaret Gee's Australian Media Guide. Basic company and personnel information on Australian media outlets.
Below is a curated list of Australian and international organisations that support students and graduate film/media producers. These groups offer scholarships, mentorships, training, funding, development programs, and career pathways. These are great places to start for emerging creatives looking to break into the industry.
Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) offers internships, placements, traineeships, and paid/unpaid attachments to help students and graduates gain career-building experience with broadcasters and production companies.
Screen Producers Australia (SPA) is the peak industry body for independent film, television, animation, and digital media producers. They offer vital support, advocacy, industrial advice, professional learning and networking opportunities essential for fostering and expanding our unique screen industry.
Media Mentors Australia runs workshops, masterclasses, mentoring, and networking for screen creatives (producers, directors, writers, actors), nurturing skills and careers.
Ausfilm works hard to help film & TV makers and studios find what they need in Australia to bring their stories to life, not to mention on budget and on time.
The Australian Writers’ Guild is the professional association representing writers for stage, screen, audio and interactive and has protected and promoted their creative and professional interests.
Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA) is a union for people working across the arts, entertainment, sports, outdoor, music and events industries – those behind the scenes and on centre stage. They look after the interests of a huge variety of members; screen technicians, professional basketball players, costume designers, make-up artists, sound engineers, ushers, venue event staff, broadcast technicians, animators, live performance crew etc. As the largest and most established union and industry advocate for creative professionals, including workplace health and safety, and protecting wages and conditions.
FILMMAKERS WITHOUT BORDERS (FWB) is an educational nonprofit organization that is dedicated to empowering the next generation of digital storytellers. Through various grants, educational resources, and international fellowships, FWB provides youth from underserved communities with the technical training, media literacy skills, and digital tools to leverage the creative process as a means for interpreting their role in their society.
Working in film production requires a diverse set of creative, technical, organisational, and interpersonal skills. As filmmaking is a highly collaborative process, team members often focus on specific areas of expertise; however, having a comprehensive understanding of the overall project is also beneficial.
To search for research resources in Library Search on cinematic production, use these terms in your search string:
Search: (film OR cine* OR tv) AND production
A selection of results may include:
Production design & the cinematic home
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Directing
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The Visual Story
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To succeed as a scriptwriter in film or television, you need both creative vision and practical skills. Strong storytelling ability is at the core—crafting compelling plots, authentic characters, and dialogue that feels natural on screen. Technical knowledge of screenplay structure, formatting standards, and industry software (such as Final Draft) ensures your script is professional and production-ready. Knowing your target audience helps you shape tone and style for maximum emotional impact. A strong sense of timing, rhythm, and dramatic tension ensures your screenplay engages viewers and holds their attention from the opening scene to the final shot.
Try a range of simple Library Search strategies such as an style and genre.
scriptwriting
scriptwriting AND gam*
scriptwriting AND Drama
Scene dev*
Using * (an Asterix) helps the search to identify core parts of a word and any derivatives from it. Example gam* = game, games, gaming etc.
This is a quicker way to find a number of variations on a word.
Successful Scriptwriting
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The Palgrave Handbook of Script Development
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To work with sound, music, and visual effects in digital media and design, you need a blend of creative, technical, and problem-solving skills. You need to know how to use audio software for recording, mixing, and adding effects. For VFX, strong digital design skills are key, including knowledge of 3D modeling, animation, motion capture, and compositing. Mastery of industry-standard tools like After Effects, Maya, or Blender helps bring ideas to life on screen.
Audacity is an easy-to-use, multi-track audio editor and recorder for Windows, macOS, GNU/Linux and other operating systems. Audacity is free, open source software.
Linux MultiMedia Studio (LMMS) is a 100% free, open source, community-driven project. It is a full-featured digital audio workstation (DAW) for composing, sequencing, and producing music and sound effects.
SFXR / Bfxr is a simple tool for creating retro-style sound effects, popular for game development and pixel-art projects.
Adobe After Effects allows you to create stunning motion graphics. Animate a logo or character. Add eye-catching visual effects. UniSQ students can request access Adobe Creative Cloud.
Blender is a free open source 3D CG software platform. It includes contributions to Blender Modules, technical and user documentation design, code, testing and QA, demo files.
A Creative Works research project at the level of 4th year, Masters level and above usually involves a creative component (e.g. composition, performance, sound installation), as well as an exegesis or critical written component, which situates the creative work within scholarly contexts. Your work should demonstrate originality, critical engagement, and contribution to knowledge in cinematology or 'film theory' (e.g. cultural and post colonial, film criticism etc.).
Common research methods in cinematic creative practice can include:
For higher level research projects, ensure you visit the library guides for Research Support for comprehensive help in publication planning, data management and complex literature reviews.
Handbook of the Arts in Qualitative Research: Perspectives, Methodologies, Examples, and Issues
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The Content Analysis Guidebook
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The SAGE Handbook of Visual Research Methods
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Video Ethnography in Practice
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Systematic-type reviews include systematic reviews, systematic literature reviews, scoping reviews, rapid reviews, systematic quantitative literature reviews, and many more (Sutton et al., 2019). The common theme is that they follow a systematic, structured process.
To see examples of literature reviews in the field of film and media:
For higher level research projects, ensure you visit the library guides for Research Support for comprehensive help in publication planning, data management and complex literature reviews.
The Literature Review: Six Steps to Success
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Project Planner: Reviewing the Literature
Film & Media Production has a lot of “non-standard” APA 7 sources, especially because so many materials are collaborative, visual, and non-textual. See UniSQ APA 7 guide for assistance, and QUT APA cite for Creative works.
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TV episodes or web series
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In text (Surname, Year) Example: (Caron & Morgan, 2019) |
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Reference
Surname, A. A. (Role), & Surname, B. B. (Role). (date aired Year, Month Day). Title of episode (Season X, Episode X) [TV series episode]. In C. C. Surname (Executive Producer), Title of series. Production Company.
Example:
Caron, B. (Director), & Morgan, P. (Writer). (2019, November 17). Bubbikins. (Season 3, Episode 4) [TV series episode]. In B. Caron, P. Martin, S. Daldry, J. Jarrold, P. Lowhorpe, S. Donovan, J. Hobbs, & C. Schwochow (Directors), The Crown. Left Bank Pictures; Sony Pictures Television Production UK.
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Screenplays, scripts (published or online)
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In text (Artist Surname, Year, Act #, Scene #) Example: (Wilson, 1985, Act 1, Scene 3) (Shakespeare, 1623/2006, 1.2.177) |
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Reference Online a) Author, A. (Year). Title of play. Publisher.
With an editor b) Author. (Year). Title of play (Editor, Ed.). Publisher.
Example: a) Wilson, A. (1985). Fences. Plume.
b) Shakespeare, W. (2006). Romeo and Juliet (B. Gibbons, Ed.). Routledge. (Original work published 1623)
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Behind-the-scenes / production materials (e.g., director’s commentary, production notes, DVD extras, YouTube making-of)
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In text (Writer/Creator Surname, Year) Example:
(Lucasfilm, 2015)
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Reference
Author/Creator, A. A. (Year). Title of screenplay [Description e.g. DVD extra, Behind-scenes video]. Platform/Publisher. URL (if online)
Example:
Lucasfilm. (2015). The making of Star Wars: The Force Awakens [Behind-the-scenes documentary]. Disney+. https://www.disneyplus.com/star-wars-makingof
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