1. Andrew Miller, Nicola Conroy, Erin Lyons
and Kevin Cheong

2. Introduction
• The Block Arcade in Melbourne’s CBD
• An historic shopping complex located two blocks from Flinders St
Station.
• Near the corner of Collins St and Elizabeth St.
• It sprawls over Block Court, to the Collins St Wing, and over Block
Place, to the Elizabeth St Wing.
• The Block presented a once new way of shopping- the arcade.

3. Interviews
• Interview One: Don Parsons, the Centre Manager at The Block
Arcade.
• Eileen Irvine from the management team has all but confirmed a
date for a tour of the complex and the interview with Mr Parsons.
• This will enable us to get some great footage for our episode and a
great interview with someone who knows all about The Block.
• The meeting is planned for 10am on Wednesday the 1st
of May.

4. Interviews
• Interview Two: Prospective interview with the owners of Basement
Discs.
• Basement Discs, an underground indie record store that’s been in
operation since 1994 and represents the iconic music scene of
Melbourne.
• This interview with the owner would provide a modern insight
compared with the history behind the complex.

5. What will we focus on?
History of the Block Arcade
• Focus on the history of The Block Arcade.
• It’s past is important since it is one of the
oldest arcades in Melbourne and it is a part of
the city's heritage.
• The Block was built in 1889 following the Great
Fire of Melbourne.
• It is a standout building in Melbourne with distinctive architecture that
outshines its neighbours.
• Includes the historic Hopetoun Tea Rooms, still open today after their
opening in 1892

6. Architecture
• It was rebuilt and modelled to replicate
the Galleria Vittoria in Milan
• It is one of Melbourne's most richly
decorated interior spaces
• It was completed with mosaic flooring,
and glass canopies
• The exterior of the six storey office has
identical facades on Collins and
Elizabeth Streets
• It is one of the country’s best remaining
examples of the Victorian Mannerist style

7. The Hopetoun Tea Rooms
• It is important to mention the tea rooms in our documentary because they
are a representation of Melbourne over a century ago.
• The Hopetoun Tea Rooms are not our main focus but we will briefly
mention them.
• The tea rooms are intriguing because they are over a century old (opened
in 1892) and are still a popular destination for coffee/cake and high tea in
the CBD.

8. Basement Discs
• Our main focus will be on a music
store called Basement Discs
• We chose to base our documentary
on this store because Melbourne is
widely recognised for its music and
vinyl culture
• We will be speaking to the owners of
Basement Discs (they will be the
basis for our documentary)
• We are hoping to gain a further
insight to the music history within
Melbourne and to the vinyl culture in
our city

9. • All of these ideas should be expressed through the voice of either
The Block Arcade tour Guide or from the owners of Basement Disks
Images are either author’s own or have been sourced from:
• http://www.theblockarcade.com.au/
• http://melbournecurious.blogspot.com.au/2010/07/block-arcade-hopetoun-tea-rooms.html
• http://melbournecurious.blogspot.com.au/2010/07/block-arcade-introduction.html
• http://www.terrafirmatourist.com/exclusive-specialty-shops-iconic-block-arcade-
business-centre-of-melbourne/

10. • Both Block Arcade and Block Place have cafes, restaurants and
shops identifiable by Melbournians and would be of interest to
outsiders.
• We would use these landmarks as part of our opening sequence
when we introduce the Arcade, mainly through still photography and
quick cutaways that we will film on the day.
These places include…
Ideas and Concepts

11. Haigh’s Chocolate
Courtesy: Tina Barker

12. Mimco
Courtesy of
http://ohwhatlarks.w
ordpress.com/tag/m
imco/
Oh What Larks -
Wordpress

13. The plethora of cafés down Block Place
Courtesy: Ali C

14. Episode Introduction
• We will use still shots similar to these as part of our brief
introduction. It is likely that we will also use cutaway footage
highlighting the structure that is the Block Arcade ceiling.
• From there we will introduce the two main focal points…

15. Basement Discs
Courtesy: Justin McManus

16. The Hopetoun Tea Rooms
Courtesy: Jennifer French

17. Concept of our interviews
• Our interviews with the manager of The Block and the owner of the
record store ‘Basement Discs’ will give viewers a personal insight of
those whose lives revolve around the structure.
• What we are looking to get out of the interviews are an idea of what
The Block means to those whose livelihood revolves around the
place.
• Furthermore, the history of the building which has been an iconic
part of Melbourne since the 19th
century will enlighten those viewers
who may have previously not known of its background, even though
they may walk through it everyday.

18. Incorporating Narration/Cutaways
• Our intention will be to have the narration at the start to introduce to
our subject.
• We will use narration in other places, such as in between snippets
of our interviews.
• During long quotes, we will mainly use cutaways rather than leaving
the shot solely on our interviewee.

19. Cutaway Footage
• The cutaways will obviously have to be a reflection of the subject
spoken about.
• Cutaway footage should not be hard to obtain in Block Arcade
where there are wide expanses, which allows for many potential
shots.
• However, Block Place is rather narrow so attaining footage may be
difficult, in which case still shots may be the go.
• The main piece of cutaway footage we will require will be of the
Block Arcade ceiling, which will be shown at the start.

20. Courtesy: Ross Spirou

21. Equipment
• First of all, we will need to obtain permission for the two interviews
we are doing.
• We will require both a video camera and a digital camera for
recording and taking still shots.
• We may possibly need a tripod depending on the length of the
intended interviews as well.
• We may possibly need to get creative on how we wish to film our
cutaway footage, including moving shots of our subject. In saying
this though, trying to roll something like a dummy trolley across the
mosaic floor of the Block Arcade may not ensure still filming.

22. Group Roles
Nicola Conroy: Narrator
Erin Lyons: Photographer and Cinematographer
Andrew Miller: Editing Lieutenant
Kevin Cheong: Script writer and editor
As a group: Write the interviews and collaborate when editing
•The Narrator will be the voice of the episode, not including the interview
subjects.
•They will narrate at the beginning of the episode to introduce The Block
Arcade and at various times throughout over cutaway footage or still
images.

23. Group Roles
• The role of Photographer will be to use the camera equipment to
take still images of The Block Arcade to incorporate into our
episode.
• The role of Cinematographer will be to film the interviews that we
will use as the main focus of our episode and the cutaways which
will be dispersed throughout.

24. • The Editing Lieutenant will be in charge of the video editing
process of the episode. They will make the final call on the finished
product.
• Their job will be to to cut, insert and edit different pieces of video
and audio into a clear, educational and entertaining episode.
Group Roles

25. • The Script writer and editor will be in charge of writing and editing
the script for the episode.
• They will write the narration and edit the questions for the
interviews.
Group Roles