Work experience program
Each year, ACMI has a small number work experience placements for Year 10 students each year, with a new and improved program running since 2022.
Here you'll find examples of student work made during their work experience placements at ACMI.
Participating students are invited to choose a topic relating to ACMI and our exhibition, The Story of the Moving Image.
To find out more about applying for the work experience program, follow the link below:
Using this resource
This resource can give prospective work experience applicants an insight into our current work experience program. We receive a high volume of quality applications each year, and we encourage students to keep an eye on the above page for updates, and carefully consider if they think ACMI is the right place for them.
We also want to showcase the amazing work students create during the program, as well as inspire other students not part of the program using these short films.
2025 student work
In June and July 2025, ACMI hosted four work experience students over two weeks.
Wren and Edward chose to explore animation in the exhibition, with a focus on Adam Elliot's Memoir of a Snail. Georgia and Ella chose to look more broadly at world building and the moving-image, and even included their own animated avatars to 'host' their project!
2024 student work
In June and July 2024, ACMI hosted four work experience students across two weeks. Jada and Fiona chose to look at how the history and evolution of videogames is explored within the exhibition, whilst Akira and Zoe looked at how the exhibition explores the pre-production process, including storyboarding, set design, costume, and more.
Both pairs work collaboratively on pre production, production and post-production process.
2023 student work
In June 2023, ACMI hosted six work experience students across two weeks.
In Week 1, Ava, Louis and Verity were challenged to choose a topic, research and script a voiceover, pre-visual their projects, then produce, film and edit a short documentary; all within the space of a week! The three chose the Games Lab within ACMI's ongoing exhibition, The Story of the Moving-Image as their topic. After working collaboratively throughout, the three then edited their own versions of their films
00:00 Ava's Edit
02:39 Verity's Edit
10:18 Louis' Edit
In Week 2, Macy, Toby and Christian were challenged to choose a topic, research and script a voiceover, pre-visual their projects, then produce, film and edit a short documentary; all within four days.
The three chose the Lens, Constellations and Entities - a huge data visualisation wall at the end of ACMI's ongoing exhibition, The Story of the Moving-Image - as their topic. After working collaboratively throughout, the three then edited their own versions of their films
00:00 Toby's Edit
02:48 Macy's Edit
05:42 Christian's Edit
2022 student work
Maya C produced this wonderful piece that explored The Lens - not just how it's used but the implications of such a device for users and museums alike.
Maya worked individually, planning, researching, filming and editing this piece solo, with guidance from ACMI Educators.
Maya displayed a keen eye for framing, and was able to show the 'journey' of the Lens and its users.
Meija B and Darcy D chose to provide an overview of the entire exhibition, The Story of the Moving Image, producing this short that covers the various sections of the exhibition, as well as a few chosen highlights.
Both students worked extremely well together, and contributed equally to the creative vision. They planned, researched, filmed, and edited the entire short together, and showed great collaborative skills whilst evolving their production skills.
Skye S and Isobel R produced this short on the exhibition's optical illusion toys and artworks. Both were taken by the opening section of The Story of the Moving Image exhibition and its exploration of light and shadow, movement and illusion.
They worked extremely well together and were both willing to experiment with the camera whilst filming objects that can be tricky to film; not all optical illusions can be picked up easily by the camera (as opposed to the human eye).