Hiya!

We're so glad you decided to come and find a little more about the people behind this little website of ours. We are happy people, happy twin sisters; it's a good thing too because we read that happy people create great things. We're sure there's probably a lot more to design and media production than just being happy people. So not placing all our chips on 'being happy' alone, we decided we better get some formal training under our belts.

In 2003, we earned ourselves a Diploma of Multimedia from Natcoll Design Technology, gaining practical skills in interactive web design, 3D modelling and animation, audio and video production, and interactive CD-ROM production. In this intensive one-year course, we worked towards creating models and 30-second animations; user-friendly and aesthetic websites for our chosen companies; and filming and editing a few pieces: our own advertisement using a mixture of captured footage and 3D animation, a music video, and an interview.

The next few years were spent at the University of Canterbury, working towards our Arts degree. Our time here was spent studying the theoretical side of media production and its effects on the audience. It focused around critical analysis of the media, their consumption and their audience, journalistic practices, visual communication in the media as well as the physical world, advertising, and broadcasting standards. To create a little more versatility and roundness, other areas of study include linguistics and computer science, as well as economics, finance and management science (which we believe would enlighten us to the world of business and business management — a subject we find important in order to understand the capitalistic world we live in). We earned our degree in 2007, graduating in 2008 with a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications.

In 2009, we moved onto getting some practical experience in a short course on television production. At our local television station, we took part in a number of roles in the studio (camera operation, floor management, and presentation) and in the control room (directing, sound operation, and vision mixing). Working towards producing our own pieces for television, we also received knowledge and advice from industry professionals in scripting, interviewing, voice work, and news presentation.

Some of you might be wondering if we did all of this together. Yes. We both love multimedia design and the media equally the same as each other and have taken the same path to learn about it. You can't expect anything else from twin sisters. And we would love to get into editing for film or television. Another dream and perhaps our ultimate dream is to manage our own media-related company. We would love to change some of those conventions and views that are so often perpetuated on advertisements and on television.

A little more about us: someone we most admire is Kate Mulgrew; she is an inspiration, talented and a gracious actress. We first noticed her on the US science fiction series, Star Trek: Voyager. It is also this series, its story and its special effects that sparked our interest in working towards a career in media production.

We are rarely sitting still and are always working on some project. We love and enjoy writing (which is something we'd love to get into also!); we enjoy singing, and like to give almost anything a go. When we're not doing any of that, we'll be reading a book on writing, the web — just about anything on media production that we can get our hands on whilst listening to our favourite tunes.

When we sit back and relax a bit, we like to browse the online fanfiction and fiction archives. We like to play with our Nintendo DS games, go hang outside kicking a footbag around, or go down to the mall and get our favourite Oreo Choc Frappé. We do like technology and sometimes you'll find us in those electronic stores just for fun; and if we feel like it, we'll head into those clothes and shoes stores and admire those too.

Well, that's almost a wrap! We just have a few last words: don't hesitate to send us any comments or questions about our site. We do love to help and will be more than happy to try and answer any questions you might have, or supply any information you might want to know relating to writing, media, and/or multimedia design as well.

- Julia and Tania. :o) :o).