VCD AND MEDIA TUTORING
In-person and online tutoring for primary, high school and VCE students in Melbourne, Victoria
I hope to inspire a true passion for your subjects, going beyond the rigid boundaries of grades.
Hi! I’m Joy Zou, and I tutor Media ,VCD and English – my favourite subjects, unless you couldn’t tell by this website. This is (what I’m hoping to be) my life’s passion, and I can’t wait to share that with you! Trust me, once a subject “clicks”, you will never see it the same way. I am based in Melbourne, Victoria, so I will only cover the Victorian curriculum.
For in-person tutoring, I tutor in the Wheelers Hill area in my home studio. I conduct online lessons through Zoom.
I graduated in 2019 with an ATAR of 97.95 (top 2.05% of the state). I achieved study scores of raw 45 in English and raw 44 in Media and VCD.
Can’t say I’ll miss Year 12 stress all that much, but I have to say I had a blast doing these subjects, and I hope you will too! (Though, the experience wasn’t without its painful moments). Currently, I’m studying animation at RMIT and ditched my ATAR in the process (no regrets, I’ve always loved the arts).
I also hold a valid Working With Children’s Check.
Why online tutoring? (Aside from the pandemic, of course.)
From my experience, online tutoring is great – it’s just as effective as in-person tutoring! Here are the benefits:
- No travel time – you can have your sessions in the comfort of your own home
- No travel fees.
- We can easily share and distribute resources through our Zoom calls. You can’t “forget” to bring anything!
- I can use an online whiteboard to teach concepts, thus boosting your understanding.
- I can immediately annotate any work you have for me.
- Our lessons are recorded and saved so you can review them at any time.
- Any tech issues can usually be easily resolved, so video or audio lag is not a significant problem. Plus, I’ll increase our lesson time if there are severe tech issues during the session.
What I Offer
Reviews
Having undergone tuition myself, I understand the importance of instilling confidence in students. I will tailor my tutoring style to suit your needs, ensuring every lesson brings you closer to your goal. In general, I will base my lessons around your schoolwork.
For all students, I will:
- Send a weekly lesson follow-up email. This summarises the important concepts of that lesson and includes relevant resources.
- Correct homework, tests and exams, as well as provide my own practice material if needed.
- Provide 24/7 phone and email support
- [Online] Record every lesson so you can go back and review it anytime.
- [Online] Send screenshots of everything we cover in class.
VCD
- I will help you build a folio that you can be proud of (I scored an A+ on mine).
- Provide guidance on essential technical drawing skills, such as one and two-point perspective and rendering
- Provide guidance on digital drawing skills, such as using Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and even After Effects for animated graphics
- Teach you how to answer theory questions (design elements and principles) most effectively
- Provide you with my theory notes at no extra cost
- Fill in any knowledge gaps about foundational drawing skills, providing targeted exercises if necessary
- I have completed various brand design and advertisement projects in university, so I can offer specific guidance in that particular field
- If you are planning to apply to a university design/arts/animation course with a portfolio requirement, I can provide guidance in the preparation, having gone through this process myself
English
(Years 4 – 6 only)
- I will guide you on important grammar concepts, which are crucial to developing good writing skills
- I will teach you persuasive, creative and analytical writing
- I will provide my notes and essays I wrote as a student at no extra cost.
- I will help you find a writing style that works for you – the beauty of English is that there is no right or wrong way to structure essays!
- I will help you tackle creative writing. (I received the ‘Highly Commended’ award for the 2018 Monash Short Story Writing Competition.)
Media
- I will watch your school’s set films, and provide guidance on analysing the key codes and conventions, which I am extremely familiar with as a storyboard artist and animator
- I will provide you with my set of comprehensive notes at no extra cost.
- I will help you build a folio that you can be proud of (I scored an A+ on mine).
- I will provide critique and guidance on producing your final production.
- I will teach you how to structure your responses, especially the extended responses, to maximise marks.
- I will provide guidance on important film/media concepts and terminology, which I am intimately familiar with as an animator and storyboarder
- I will provide guidance on how to use the Adobe suite
- I can provide extra guidance on storyboarding, which I am planning to specialise in as an animator. I have also learned storyboarding from GOBELINS, an arts and animation school in Paris whose animation program is ranked #1 worldwide
- My final product was a short 2D animated film, which won ‘Best Animation’ at the Monash Youth Film Festival (2019). If any students also plan on creating an animated film, I can provide guidance on how to use Adobe Animate, Photoshop, or Toonboom Harmony
Reviews
Joy has gone above and beyond in considering my daughter, Darcy’s needs. Her ability to connect and inspire Darcy has been very much appreciated. Joy is an extremely capable and competent tutor, who is compassionate and caring. I cannot recommend Joy highly enough!!
Joy helped me with VCD this year. She has given me invaluable feedback on my work, which has improved my results a lot. Joy is very knowledgeable and has the answer to any questions I could have, and every lesson is always productive and useful. I definitely recommend her.
My daughter now approaches her writing task with enthusiasm and confidence. Prior to her tutoring sessions with Joy, she struggled with her tasks and had low confidence when it came to her literacy skills. Joy has been amazing. Her attention and encouragement have been very impressive. Her follow-up is also excellent. In addition to the comments above, Joy’s sessions have been very beneficial to Mia. Especially during the current circumstances. I am very confident that Mia will be ready for secondary school next year and will not fall behind.
Joy is very useful in assisting my learning and helping me understand what I can do better and what I am doing well. Joy is very sophisticated and takes a good approach to learning. I have had hardly any problems with tutoring since having Joy.
Pricing
First of all, thank you for considering me to be your tutor! Here is my pricing range – I organise my lessons into 6 lesson packages. If you’d like to apply for group tutoring, please let me know in the initial lesson form down below.
Visual Communication Design and Media
$420 per package ($70/hr)
- Weekly one hour sessions
- I will provide a student evaluation sheet at the end of each package discussing progress and picking out specific points of improvement, which can be supplied to the student and parents/guardians.
- I will provide an individualised study plan spanning six lessons, if applicable
- I am currently studying a Bachelor of Design (Animation and Interactive Media) at RMIT University. Its animation program ranked #1 in Australia and #8 globally. If you are wishing to enter a course that has portfolio requirements, I can provide insight into this, since I went through this process myself; I got through the first selection round for this course.
- In June 2021, I was accepted into the Storyboard to Animatic Online Summer School at GOBELINS, l’ecole de l’image. GOBELINS is a school of visual communication and arts in Paris whose animation program is ranked #1 worldwide.
- I am well versed in traditional and digital drawing techniques and familiar with programs in the Adobe Suite
English (Years 4 – 6)
$360 per package ($60/hr)
- Weekly one hour sessions
- I will provide a student evaluation sheet at the end of each package discussing progress and picking out specific points of improvement, which can be supplied to the student and parents/guardians.
- I will provide an individualised study plan spanning six lessons, if applicable
Get Started Today
I offer an initial 1-hour lesson tryout at a discounted price of $30, to see if we’re a good fit. Payment is conducted through bank transfer and needs to be done so at least 24 hours before the lesson. If interested, please fill in the initial lesson inquiry form below, and I will contact you via phone call.
Not sure yet? No worries. Meanwhile, feel free to download my ‘Mistake Tracker Template.’ This was my lifeline for all my subjects and allowed me to pinpoint and improve on my weaknesses.