My Graduation

The moment I found out it costs me over $200 for a graduation I decided to make (almost) everything about my graduation as budget as possible. All stuffs attached to my body are either free or on discount. Except for makeup coz I can’t do my own makeup and I had major breakout just couple of days before the big event due to stress and PMS. Only a professional makeup artist can handle such situation so yeah~ Despite being budget, my graduation went well thanks to my unbeatable A-team consisting of @nanience (Road Manager and Official Videographer) @purrfectbee (Official Photographer) and @shineshineee.z (Assistant Manager). Now, bear with me coz I’m gonna be posting heaps of graduation photos for days to come. Also, a graduation vlog is coming your way!

Above is the initial wording for an Instagram post containing a picture of myself in regalia.

Tadinya mau gw post sehari setelah graduation, but then I thought, hey, kenapa gw memperlakukan Instagram lebih eksklusif akhir2 ini? Clearly the main audience for my internet presence platform is you—the readers of my blog. So yeah, last minute gw memutuskan untuk premier perilisan foto dan cerita wisuda di blog, instead of Instagram. :)

Yep, that’s true. Wisuda gw memakan biaya lebih dari $200—alias 2 jutaan. Emang ga mahal2 amat, terutama untuk standar kampus di Australia. But please note that I didn’t get to bring home the regalia~ I only got to rent it for 5 hours! $200 itu cuma include tickets for the ceremony (1 tiket untuk graduand dan 2 tiket untuk guest), ijasah, dan refreshment. Foto2 official wisuda, regalia, souvenir, dll charge-nya lain lagi.

Like seriously, kalo wisuda gw ga dibiayain Purpose gw pun ga mau ikut~

For me celebrating graduation is only for undergrads alias S1. Postgrad, I’m so sorry, I am too old for that. Makanya gw strict banget soal budget. Gw mau wisuda gw sesederhana mungkin. Nyokap bokap tadinya mau dateng, gw larang, coz it would’ve been costing so much money! It ain’t worth it.

I mean, buat gw kuliah S2 itu becanda banget sih, cuma 1-2 tahun normalnya. Just like that dapet gelar master. That is insane. In my case, S2 cuma 1,5 tahun dan maybe setengahnya gw habiskan dengan getting wasted drinking, that is definitely NOT something to celebrate~ LOL~

Lagian gw berpendapat graduation is not a family day~ But of course budaya Indonesia yang super lame itu melestarikan konsep graduation = family day. Sama halnya kayak nikahan, it’s supposed to be your day, but it’s your family that celebrates more. Nope, that ain’t gonna happen for me.

So yeah, bottom line, I wanna keep it low-key. Just one fine day to be pretty, hang out with my friends and laugh the degree away, and I did. :)

My graduation was everything I could ever ask. Pertama, gw mau wisuda gw super duper budget. Literally ga mau keluar duit banyak karena biaya wisudanya aja udah mahal. Ga mau naik Uber/taxi ke venue, naik kereta+tram aja. Ga mau pake kebaya. Tadinya mau beli dress biar terkesan formal. But nah, a dress costs at least $100~ Same with high heels, a good one also costs $100. Ngapain beli barang yang cuma bakal dipake sekali seumur hidup, terus dibuang~ Literally you guys, gw GA PERNAH dan GA MAU pake rok/dress kecuali terpaksa (misalnya seragam atau occasional outfit). That’s just my life policy. Jadi tolong ya kalo mau ngasih gw kado, JANGAN kasih rok/dress, ga bakal gw pake~

So yeah, gw putuskan nggak ada spending untuk baju sama sekali. Pake yang ada di lemari aja.

Blus soft pink yang gw pake itu hibahan temen China gw yang lagi pulang kampung. Masih brand new karena orangnya memutuskan untuk ga suka setelah beli~ LOL~ Dia mau declutter lemari. Jadinya dikasih ke gw. Untung muat.

Celana merah maroon gw beli di Dotti berbulan2 yang lalu karena diskon, jadi cuma $10 dari original price $40. Bahannya mayan bagus dan bisa dipake ngantor suatu hari nanti. Good long-term investment.

Sepatu boots juga long-term investment, bisa dipake ngantor atau formal event lain. Gw tipe orang yang kalo beli sepatu mending sekalian yang mahal tapi bisa dipake bertahun2. This 5 cm heeled boots costs me $80. Udah gw pake berbulan2 buat menghadiri berbagai formal event di Melbourne. Kebetulan harus tampil sedikit lebih tinggi ketika wisuda otherwise gw tenggelam di regalia, jadi kepake juga deh boots-nya.

That choker is just plastic, only $3 from Lovisa’s sale. But it looks super elegant and totally matched my outfit. Love it!

Yang gw spend lebih hanya makeup, coz like I said, I can’t do my own makeup. Well I can, but it’s gonna be disastrous! So I booked a pro MUA, dapet diskon harga mahasiswa. Still a bit pricey though, $100. Standar harganya di sini $150-200. Tapi yasudahlah ya, event sekali seumur hidup, at least ada effort untuk look proper. I like the makeup tho, walaupun gw merasa bulu matanya terlalu cetar~ I mean, aku kan anaknya low-key, ga suka yang cetar2. Tapi si MUA cuma punya either cetar atau cetar membahana, so…

Anyway, moving on!

So I have 2 guest tickets. Normally anak rantau akan pake tiketnya satu buat plus one, satu lagi buat fotografer, atau dicaloin ke desperate Chinese fam. Ketika gw bingung mencari fotografer yang bisa gw pakai jasanya dengan harga murah, temen Thailand si lebah yang hobi fotografi menawarkan jasanya GRATIS. Woohoooo!!!

Gw nungguin plus one 1,5 tahun ga dateng2, so fuck it, I’ll just save it for someone else. Kebetulan Nanien dapet tiket murah ke Melbourne untuk akhir tahun dan doi butuh penginapan. Nanien adalah vlogger/videographer. So, simbiosis mutualisme. Dia akan mendokumentasi wisuda gw dalam bentuk vlog dan gw akan menyewakan kamar gw gratis untuk dia.

So my graduation will be documented in both photo and video, and I got both for free!!!! Muahahahaahahaha~~~~

I purchased one additional ticket for Matahari, coz I thought I would need help with flowers and souvenirs from people. Matahari jadi pembantu umum. Wkwkwk~~

A’ite! Graduation team assembled! It’s gonna be awesome!!!

And it was. :)

In total 5 hours of graduation, it was a total blast. Ain’t no second wasted. Super sibuk foto2, bikin video aneh2, reuni+farewell sama orang2, ketawa2, becanda2, makan+minum, bolak balik keluarin+masukin bunga buat properti foto, bolak balik ngerapiin regalia karena merosot melulu saking banyaknya gw gerak. Seru deh!

Upacaranya sendiri, hmmm… boring~ Mainly karena gw lapar dan mengantuk, tapi yah namanya upacara wisuda bule ya, mereka emang ga hebohan. Sederhana banget. Paduan suara cuma nyanyi gaudeamus igitur. Abis opening speech rektor/dekan, satu persatu wisudawan langsung dipanggil ke panggung tanpa ba bi bu. Lalu, ga seperti di UI yang wisudanya sekaligus semua fakultas digabung, wisuda unimelb per fakultas per hari. Pretty small-scaled. There were only around 200 graduands and they managed to squeeze everyone into 2 hour of ceremony. That’s another level of management.

Thank God 2 hours ain’t feel long when you have your powerbank ready. Jadi gw asyik2 aja main IG Stories, bales2in reply. Tau2 nama gw udah dipanggil aja. So quick!

My A-Team, Nien, Lebah n Matahari NERIAKIN NAMA GW KENCENG BANGET ketika gw maju! I WAS SO PROUD OF THEM!

Emang sih konsekuensinya adalah gw jadi ga tau nama gw disebutkan dengan benar atau salah, but hey fuck it! I’d rather remember my graduation as the time when three of my best girls shouting my name out loud fucklessly in front of 1000++ people, than feeling salty about my name being mispronounced! ;)

So yeah it was awesome!

Tapi cukuplah, ga mau mengalami yang namanya graduation lagi. Cukup sampai S2 aja. Hehehe…

Nanien will upload the graduation vlog when she has free time. I don’t wanna rush her coz  it's the end of the year, I know she has lots of work to do. If it has been uploaded I will update this blogpost with the embedded video, so check back in the near future! It's gonna be sick! I've watched the preview and I can tell it's already awesome. Y'all can tell I was having fun! It was wild! LOL~

Meanwhile, enjoy the pictures!

 

More on my Flickr!

Thank you so much for reading. Thank you so much for your virtual companion during my postgrad. Thank you for your congratulation, sorry if I can’t reply one by one, but I am always thankful for sure.

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This post will be my last writing written in Australia. The next blogpost will be written in Jakarta. I try to do a recap post before the new year. Okay then, I’ll catch up with you later! Byeee...

It's Arts and Cultural Management

 I can’t believe it!

Bahkan di h-3 minggu kelulusan, masiiiihh aja ada orang yang salah mengira jurusan kuliah gw. This is insane!

Gw itu sering banget dikira jurusan Global Media and Communication (GMC) atau Communication and Media Studies (CMS). Rata-rata orang yang tau gw kuliah jurusan Ilmu Komunikasi waktu S1 atau orang yang tau kalo dulu gw kerja sebagai jurnalis, pasti mengira gw kuliah jurusan GMC atau CMS~

Mungkin karena branding jurnalis gw terlalu kuat.

Don’t get me wrong, I still love being known/called a journalist. I was a proud journalist and I still think journalist is the most awesome job in the world.

Sayangnya, kecintaan gw pada dunia jurnalisme ini tidak cukup memotivasi gw untuk mendalami ilmu jurnalisme, studi media, atau semacamnya. Karena di samping mencintai dunia jurnalisme, gw juga main hati sama dunia entertainment—sebuah dunia yang udah gw suka sejak kecil dan selama ini hanya bisa mengamati dari jauh, dari kacamata seorang jurnalis. Tapi belum pernah gw masuki sebelumnya. Walaupun sudah sering bermimpi untuk bisa masuk ke dalamnya.

Keputusan gw untuk ambil jurusan yang beda banget sama ilmu komunikasi/jurnalisme untuk S2 salah satunya dimotivasi oleh hal tersebut. Menuntut ilmu lain supaya bisa mengantarkan gw masuk dunia entertainment. Bukan sebagai artis, tapi lebih ke orang di balik layar yang bantu-bantu sepak terjang artis atau artwork atau produk entertainment atau whatever you wanna call it. 

To manage them, making sure to give them platforms to express themselves. To be heard, to be seen, to be acknowledged, to be appreciated.

Demikian, gw, seperti majority orang Indonesia pada umumnya, mengambil jurusan manajemen untuk S2 (yes, jurusan gw kalo di Indo gelarnya setara dengan Magister Manajemen atau MM).

Sounds conservative? Indeed, tapi manajemen yang gw ambil spesifik untuk satu industri, yakni arts and culture. Karena menurut gw percuma mempelajari ilmu manajemen secara general untuk S2. Itu tugas S1~

Mempelajari manajemen khusus industri seni dan budaya membuat pemahaman dan pemikiran gw lebih terarah. Pengaplikasian teori yang tersedia bisa lebih tepat sasaran dan sesuai dengan perkembangan dan kebutuhan industri.

In conclusion, I know what I wanna do and what I wanna be. To be specific, I wanna take on a management role in entertainment industry—which is part of arts and cultural industry. That’s why I took arts and cultural management—literally, that is the name of my course.

I studied Arts and Cultural Management (manajemen seni dan budaya) and will be graduating in couple of weeks.

So, jangan salah lagi, ya. :)

Such a NERD!

Hi, guys! Wassup!

So, seminggu sudah hidup gw diacak-acak Stranger Things. Thank you, Netflix. Lo bikin gw menghilang dari peradaban. Literally ngomongin ST melulu baik di kehidupan nyata maupun di internet. Setiap malem binge-watching diulang2. Mulai dari Joyce-Will focus, Mike-Eleven focus, Hopper focus, Demodogs-Mind Flayer Focus, Dustin-Steve focus, Hawkins Lab focus, etc.. Diulang2 terus sampai gw bener2 dapet konteksnya sehingga bisa memahami jalur cerita dengan baik dan benar.

Sekarang sudah mencapai level menuju bosan, tapi insya auloh khatam luar dalam dari segi cerita, dan siap di-argue dari segala angle. So, shoot! :D

Anyway, yang mau gw omongin sekarang bukan itu. Postingan ini juga bukan untuk review Stranger Things 2, karena kalo udah masuk review gw bisa nulis essay panjang lebar that nobody will read, so I keep it simple, mau ambil satu angle aja.

So, gw baru selesai semester 3 alias semester terakhir gw di dunia perkuliahan yang fana ini. Yes, I did it, guys! But no need to congratulate me coz it wasn’t anything special. Just prepare yourself to see me next month. We gon have fun!

Anywaaay~~ 

So yeah I just finished semester 3 and all the assignments, meaning otak gw sekarang lagi fresh2-nya mengingat dan mengerti semua materi kuliah Semester 3. Stranger Things 2 dirilis pas banget barengan sama berakhirnya Semester 3 itu, meaning ketika gw nonton, otak gw lagi dalam posisi super nerd, so I can’t help but connecting some of the show materials to what I have learned during Semester 3.

So I studied this subject called Managing Creative Content that is basically the continuation of Arts Law which I studied in Semester 2 (wrote about it here). Deskripsi resmi matakuliah itu sebagai berikut:

This subject examines the practical legal aspects of the management of intellectual property in the area of creative production. The focus is on contracts and copyright in a range of specific arts and cultural contexts. These include film and multimedia production and distribution, fashion and design, the commissioning and production of public art, the creation and presentation of performing arts; the management of museum and gallery collections and the administration of artistic and literary estates. (Unimelb Handbook, 2017)

Kata kuncinya:

-       Legal

-       Intellectual Property

-       Contracts

-       Copyrights

Assignment untuk matakuliah ini adalah 5000-words case study essay, dimana kita diminta untuk memilih salah satu bentuk creative practice dan menganalisis peran intellectual property di dalamnya:

Drawing on the readings and additional research, analyse the role that intellectual property rights play in one or more areas of creative practice referred to in the course.

For that assignment, or for my every case study assignment to be exact, I always use my favorite things approach to do it. Meaning gw akan memilih hal-hal yang gw suka untuk gw analisis. Kenapa? 1) Supaya proses mengerjakannya lebih menyenangkan, 2) Supaya along the way gw bisa discover awesome things yang bisa jadi bekal pengetahuan kalo gw berkarier di dunia yang berhubungan dengan my favorite things someday (amien~~), 3) Supaya gw ngerjainnya ga cuma pake otak, tapi juga pake hati.

Doing things that you love simply gives you no pressure, only motivation. #SeetaTheWise

So what’s my favorite things? That’s easy, it’s music and movie. So for that assignment, I decided to include both of them and named my essay:

Intellectual Property Rights for Music and

How They Help Musicians Explore Their Works Commercially in Films

I basically talk about any kinds of music exploitation (it’s good term in law by the way) in a movie, for example as a soundtrack, scoring, adaptation (cover song), and how the musicians got paid for those, and how if they decide to make an album off, how’s the royalties, how’s the license, what rights each party has, such as what rights the musicians have, what rights the record labels have, how copyrights works, which area copyrights don’t protect, etc…

Sounds epic, right? Well, it’s epic for me and my lecturer at least, coz I got a freaking 90 from that! H FUCKING 1, BABY!!!! So I don’t care if you think my essay sounds lame~ I was certified H1 from Australian #1 University, your opinion doesn’t deserve me giving fucks~ LOLOLOLOL~~

So, what does it have anything to do with Stranger Things?

Here’s the thing, I am referring to this one particular scene.

The Snowball.

Let’s just not focus on the kids or the ball. I know they were cute as hell. But instead, let’s pay attention to the underlying music that accompanied the scene a.k.a the song.

If you recognize the song as The Police’s Every Breath You Take, congratulation! You can conquer two generations within two decades! :D

I don’t mean you’re old, but more like your knowledge is so extensive that you can recognize the original version of the song!

I mean, me, myself was failing so hard in this department. When I first heard the song on the show, I recognized the tune and I was like… “Whoa, wait, what is Puff Daddy’s I’ll Be Missing You doing over here?”

LOL~ I know~ So embarrassing, right? I don’t even know that song was The Police’s at the first place~ I was like, this can’t be happening, they seriously can’t make this huge mistake~ I mean, how come they didn’t know I’ll Be Missing You was released in 1997, while the event in Stranger Things took place in 1984???

But don’t worry, instead of quickly roasting and calling out The Duffer Brothers or Shawn Levy on social media, I decided to do the right thing. I jumped on the curiosity voyage (GOD WHAT A BEAUTIFUL TERM I LOVE YOU DUFFER BROTHERS!) and googled it up.

There I had it. Finally. The truth revealed.

I’m just gonna go fuck myself now.

LOL~

Anyway, just a bit about the song, Every Breath You Take by The Police. It was released in 1983, so it was contextual, very relevant, and perfect for the 1984 snowball scene. It was written by Sting and it is about him cheating on his wife with her best friend who lived next door to them~ What the fuck? LOL~

So now that I know the provenance of the song, my nerdy post-assignment self kicks in. I am curious about what’s gonna happen to Sting after the song being played in Stranger Things 2. Moreover, Wikipedia says Sting owns the publishing royalties, which means 100% royalty-nya adalah milik dia, ga dibagi ke performing rights organization yang biasa berfungsi untuk ngumpulin royalty, seperti ASCAP (The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) atau BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc), and… (kalau dugaan gw benar) ga dibagi ke record label-nya juga.

Start to feel your head spinnin? Well if you’re not into music and movie, don’t continue reading coz I’m gonna spin you even faster!

Technically, kalo sebuah lagu dijadikan soundtrack film atau TV show, produser harus punya master use license atau master license lagu tersebut. Master license memberikan produser hak untuk menggunakan versi original sound recording lagu itu (versi rekaman asli yang biasa ada di CD atau iTunes).

Untuk mendapatkan license ini, ada license fee yang harus dibayar. On top of that ada juga royalty yang harus dibayar sesuai dengan berapa kali lagu itu disiarkan. Well, ga cuma itu sih, royalty juga ditentukan oleh beberapa faktor lain, seperti:

1) The length of the song that is being aired

2) Whether it is vocal or instrument or vocal+instrument (harganya lain)

3) When the TV show airs (what day, prime time or not)

4) Which TV station airs the TV show (bigger station higher royalty payment)

Just FYI, those points only apply if the production airs on TV or is shown in movie theatres OUTSIDE THE U.S. For example, My Heart Will Go On-nya Celine Dion, kalau filmnya ditayangin di TV Amrik, TV Amrik ga usah bayar royalty. Tapi kalau Titanic ditayangin di RCTI, maka RCTI harus bayar royalty.

Balik lagi ke Stranger Things. If Stranger Things is aired on TV, it is easy to determine how much the royalty will cost if we refer to those points. The thing is Stranger Things is aired on Netflix, yang adalah global streaming service. Bisa ditonton berkali-kali di belahan dunia manapun.

So how much will Sting earn from licensing his song to a Netflix show?

Mungkin beliau ga dapet royalty dari orang2 yang binge-watch Stranger Things di US, but how about worldwide? Gimana perhitungannya?

There’s no air-time limitation. There’s no prime time. There’s no advertisement.

So how do they decide on the royalty cost?

And I heard that they made a soundtrack album off the show as well, which mean labelnya Sting, atau maybe Sting sendiri harus mengeluarkan mechanical license. But if that’s the case, how about the album that is being streamed on Spotify? I know Spotify has created Stranger Things gimmick for people who stream Stranger Things OST. How is the scheme giving back royalties to Sting?

Interesting, isn’t it?

This is hella interesting for me~ I wish I could just fly to the UK and ask Sting personally~ But I can’t~

But I already jumped on the curiosity voyage, there’s no turning back, this thirst for knowledge needs to be satisfied~ I NEED MY GODDAMN PADDLE~ LOL~

So, bertanyalah gw ke teman2 sejurusan di Whatsapp Chat. Kira-kira percakapannya begini:

Gw: Guys, udah pada nonton Stranger Things 2 belum?

Friend 1 (F1): Belum.

Friend 2 (F2): Belum.

Friend 3 (F3): Udah, kenape?

*japri F3*

Gw: Have you finished all the episodes?

F3: Yeah~

Gw: Did you catch The Police’s song in the last episode?

F3: Err.. Yeah I think so~

Gw: Do you think Sting gets royalties off that?

F3: Huh?

Gw: I mean he owns the whole publishing rights and he licensed his song.

F3: Oh yeah.. then.. maybe~

Gw: How much do you think he gets?

F3: Err.. Millions of dollar..

Gw: But this isn’t a television, it’s a streaming service~ There’s no air-time limitation. There’s no prime time. There’s no advertisement. How do they decide on the number?

F3: I have no idea, man~ Honestly, I won’t bother to think about that shit~

Gw: But you really do think he will get royalties?

F3: Yeah that’s what I said~

Gw: Like every single time the show being streamed he will get royalties?

F3: Yeah..

Gw: Including rerun? Like if I watch the show again..

F3: Yeah.. maybe~

Gw: So if I watch the show three times, technically I give him the royalty three times as well?

F3: Maybe, dude~ I don’t know~

Gw: But how do they count on that royalty? I only pay $10 per month~

F3: I don’t know, man~ I don’t work for Netflix~ Gosh~

Gw: Do you think within my $10, there is 0,0000000000001% Sting’s royalty?

F3: I DON’T KNOW, MAN~ OH MY GOD~ YOU ARE SUCH A NERD~

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HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA OKAY~

~THE END~