Week 13

Leading up to Visions, Taylor and I were finishing everything up for the video race. Tuesday we put together all of the goodie boxes and then Audra and Naomi helped us Wednesday night with the t-shirts. I am so grateful for their help, without it Taylor and I would have been up incredibly late.

The Visions weekend was amazing. Thursday I picked up Caroline, Leah and Kiva with Maddi and we took them to the hotel to relax. About an hour before our Thursday night dinner I picked up Caroline and Leah and took them to Wrightsville Beach. At the dinner I got to talk to them a bit and they were super cool girls. Friday morning I picked up people from the hotel and took them to campus. The day of the event I stayed as busy as I could. I moderated the keynote, set up video race, had the video race and screened the videos and then had a short break before helping set up dinner and the after party. The entire day was amazing. I think it went smoothly and everyone seemed to have a great time. It was great to see all of our hard work come together for a great event. 

Week 12

The final week before the event has been crazy, to be expected. Taylor nailed down the logistics and so we've been spending the final days leading up to Visions getting all of the materials set. Tuesday we spent two hours painting and filling the goodie boxes. Tonight we will get the t-shirts done with the help of Audra and hopefully a few other volunteers from the class. Then it's a matter of getting everything ready to bring to campus Friday.

Taylor and I met for about two and a half hours Monday night before our meeting with hospitality and development. We had our usual hospitality and development meeting Monday for about an hour and forty-five minutes. Zoe gave me the names of the students coming from VCU and UF so I sent them along with the other people that signed up (excluding the filmmakers and scholars) for the video race an email about the main details regarding the race. The last few days will be spent getting everything together for Friday.

Week 11

This week Taylor and I have been trying to get every aspect of the video race solidified before next week. Ms. Elliott was out of the office for a few days so hopefully we’ll get everything concretely set in the next few days. Once the location is taken care of we’ll be spending a lot of time decorating the video race t-shirts so that they’ll be all ready about a week before the event. On my own time this week I revised the mad lib to make sure it is as good as it can be and I types up an email to send to video race participants about the technical aspects of the race. Taylor and I met with Channing for about a half an hour on Monday to go over the tech and make sure it would work well for the event. Then later that night Taylor and I met before going to the weekly hospitality and development meeting. Overall we met for about 2 1/2 hours so that combined with the meeting with Channing, I had 3 hours worth of meetings Monday. Looking ahead, Taylor and I will be getting the t-shirts and goody bags ready and solidifying the logistics of the race. 

On Tuesday I also met with Dr. Richardson about my moderating duties and she was very informative. I have a few questions that I hope to have answered in the coming days so that I can be well prepared for Kiva and the keynote speech. 

Week 10

This week has been hectic. Taylor had a family emergency and that set us back a bit because she was dealing with something very difficult and important. I attended the weekly Hospitality and Development meeting, this week it was on Sunday, for a little over an hour and was told by Zoe all that we needed to have done. I’ve been trying to work on all of the things we need to do. Taylor came back earlier then she wanted to so that we could try and get back on track. We spent about three hours trying to get as much stuff prepared as we could on Tuesday. I also met up with Jill Monday night and spent an hour printing off posters for the video race and then spent about another hour going around campus and posting them on any bulletin board I could find Tuesday morning. Hopefully people will see them and sign up. We’re also trying to set up a meeting with Channing to talk about the tech for the video race but because art department is so swamped it probably won’t be until early next week. Hopefully all of the hard work and care that Taylor and I have put in this week, and throughout the semester, will pay off and we’ll get everything set for video race moving forward. 

Week 9

Opening the video race sign-up over spring break has caused things to feel a little weird. We only have 10 days until sign-up closes for good and so we’re really going to have to make a push to get all the people we want. Hopefully we’ll know about posters this week and can start putting them up around campus as soon as possible. We started a facebook event that hopefully a lot of people will see and then sign-up and I’ll be talking up the video race in the Movie Makers and Scholars class on Thursday in the hopes that it will do the same. It’s going to be a busy few weeks getting everything ready for the race but I look forward to having everything as it should be so that the event can be a success. I met with Zoe and Eliza on Sunday night to go over the Movie Makers and Scholar class and talked about what I planned on doing. I’m going to pull up the video race sign-up page on the website to show the class where to go and how easy it is to sign up. I also plan on showing the teaser that was posted on facebook last week and posibly a video from last year’s race. This week I met with Taylor as usual on Monday and we put up the facebook event and just went over the things that we need to accomplish in the coming days. At the weekly meeting for hospitality and development we asked Zoe about questions regarding the posters and account info on how we pay for the materials we need for the race. Overall I probably met regarding Visions a total of 3.5 hours. Time is running low and we’re really going to have to work hard to get everything done and perfect but I look forward to the challenge. 

Now that programming is over...

Now that programming is over I have been putting all of my focus on the video race. I sent the rules that I had types up to Steven to make revisions and have it ready to post to the website the day that we launch sign up for the race. I have some questions about the website that we need to set up to register for the video race and will ask in tomorrow’s class. I think that Taylor and I need to set up a meeting with Anna to discuss what exactly we need to do for registration before the launch next week. In our hospitality meeting this week, Zoe said she’s set up a meeting with the art department after class for us to go over everything. I’m excited about going ahead and starting registration so we can get people pumped up for the race. I had my weekly meeting with Taylor before our hospitality meeting and so we had meetings for a total of around two and a half hours. Zoe also put us on the schedule tomorrow to discuss the race budget, which Taylor has been working on, and we’ll get feedback from the class about the costs (particularly t-shirts). I hope to have all of the answers I need to get everything we need done for the launch of sign up next week and I’m ready to kick things off. 

Final Paper Notes/Picks

Here are my picks for best papers with a pro and con for each.

1 - "Going Around the World in The Lady from Shanghai: Transmedia Adaptation in the Work of Orson Welles"
        Pro - uses unpublished archival material, interesting look at adaptation
        Con - Orson Welles has been written about often

2 - "The Blues Brothers and Bollywood Masala Cinema"
        Pro - original
        Con - takes awhile to get into its point, connection to masala

3 - "Irreversible and Techniques of Looking"
       Pro - look beyond the obvious subjects of eroticism/pornography to focus on the technical aspects                    
      and how they presented difficult subject matter
      Con - there was a paper about rape at last years festival

4 - "The Unfilmable Lightness of Being..."
        Pro - interesting subject, well researched
        Con - not a particularly easy read, have to focus to really follow it, not as engrossing as others

5 - "A Radical Expedition of Cinema's Birthplace: Popular Cinema, the Avent-Garde...."
       Pro - topical, current
       Con - mostly uses a basic film source (Gunning)

6 - "Boys Will Be Girls: How Alice Guy Challenged a Male Dominated Industry...."
       Pro - not widely written about
       Con - read like more of a book report, transitions need work

7 - "Tradition of Modern: Cinematic Expression of Ghosts in Japanese Films"
       Pro - flows well, easy to read
       Con - more of a summary/comparison of films, doesn't make a clear point/conclusion

8 - "Murders Unavenged: A Brief Look Into the Realism of the Police Procedural"
       Pro - well written
       Con - defining a genre rather than having an argument

9 - ""Cinema Du Corps and Avant Garde Cinematography..."
       Pro - good to have a paper on the avant garde
       Con - relies too heavily on sources, not enough original thought

10 - "The Active Viewer : Use of Multi-Screen Projection...."
        Pro - interesting content, shows the variety of the medium of film
        Con - more informative and personal opinion than using research to make a point

11 - "13 Ways of Looking at Bill Murray"
         Pro - crowd pleaser
         Con - more website article than scholarly paper

12 - "Pied Piper vs Faun: Storybooks ...."
        Pro - considers a lot of sources
        Con - unoriginal

Week 5

This has been an interesting week. Another ice storm tossed things around but having a make up day on Saturday helped us to get back on track. There were so many interesting and varied films to discuss but I think we did an efficient job of narrowing them down. I think this years lineup leaves a lot to be excited for. 

Along with being in class from 8-3 on Saturday I met with my co-coordinator, Taylor, on Saturday for about two hours. It’s always hard to say just how much we spend on Visions because we meet weekly to discus the festival as well as the documentary we are working on for 495 but this week was definitely heavy on Visions. Our final plan is due in this weeks class so we went over everything that we needed to be prepared for the coming week. I was tasked with writing the mad lib which each group will use as well as the race rules. In the coming weeks I will be working on setting up the website for registration to the video race. The art department also took some ideas I gave them for posters and created a few samples for Taylor and I to view. We gave back some notes and it will be good to have class feedback when they are shown in class on Wednesday. 

The Hospitality/Development group also had their weekly meeting Monday night for about an hour and a half. We basically went over what we were working on and in regards to the video race, Zoe gave suggestions and told me a few things that I needed to be working on, mainly securing the amphitheater for the race. Along with all of this I have been reading the final papers in contention and reviewing the films so I can give my picks for awards and what should be cut. It has been a busy week but also hopefully a productive one. 

Week 4

Now that Taylor and I have presented our ideas and have the mad libs concept set we are working to get the final plan ready by the 19th. I’ll be working on typing up a mad lib for every group to use for the event that allows for the most amount of variety and fun. I need to keep the sample simple and not over complicate it so that it leads the groups too much and they’ll be in control over what their minute entails. I went ahead and gave Channing some ideas for the posters in last weeks class and her and Kyle have been working on them. They’re going to post them on the google drive for Taylor and I to view in the coming days so that we can make comments/suggestions before the final plan presentation on the 19th. This week hospitality and development met for a little over an hour to go over what we were working on and what we need to be preparing for. Zoe let Taylor and I know what we should have ready for the video race’s final plan and other things to keep in mind in the coming weeks as it pertains to the race. On my own time, I have been watching the last batch of films which were varied and took more time to consider than the past batch not just because of length but also content. I think Matt said it added up to four hours but I split my viewing up over a few days so it didn’t seem that daunting. It will be interesting to discuss the films in class this week and consider the films based on other people’s observations and interpretations.

Week 3

This was a crazy week given the snow/ice storm canceling class. We had a lot of films and abstracts to view so this week's class should be interesting with so much to discuss. Outside of class this week Taylor and I met with Zoe for an hour on Monday night to go over all aspects of the video race that we will be presenting in class on Wednesday. Zoe was incredibly helpful, giving feedback and answering any questions that we had. Taylor and I split up aspects of the video race in a way that made sense. I will be presenting the theme ideas for the race as well as poster/slogan ideas and goodie bag ideas. Taylor will be presenting on the more logistical aspects of the event including camera, registration, trophies, etc. We hope to get a lot of feedback from the class on Wednesday and move on with the planning of the race.

After out meeting with Zoe the Hospitality/Development group met for an hour and a half and everyone discussed what they had been working on and keeping everyone up to date on any going ons.  On my own time I was working on Visions mainly by viewing and grading the films and abstracts submitted to the festival and keeping up on emails and tasks from my to do list. After class Wednesday, Taylor and I will have a more concrete idea of the direction of the video race that we will begin working on.

“The Dirty Dozen”

Project Management Questions

Video Race

Identify the "what".

1.  What is the project supposed to achieve? - A fun event where attendees get to participate and create while also networking with other students and filmmakers.

2.  Who is the customer? - Film students and other filmmakers/film enthusiasts attending the festival.

3.  What are the deliverables of the project? - Opportunity for young filmmakers to create and network with other filmmakers. Building relationships that will hopefully carry on throughout their career. 

Identify the "how".

4.  What is the budget? - $200

5.  How long will it take? - 1 hour

6.  What specific skills are needed? - developing a theme, getting the necessary materials, registration, marketing, organization, scheduling.

7.  What special resources are needed? - materials for the theme, cameras, item for each group (to distinguish one from another)

8.  Who is working the project?  What is each person's job? - Taylor Woodell and Kateland Lee - Co-coordinators

9.  What is the schedule? - brainstorming, promotion/marketing, registration, rules sheets, filming permissions forms, day of event: assigning teams, set up, hand out materials/theme info, collect footage, equipment return, screening, surveys, announcement of winner, prize handed out, post-visions tasks

Other considerations.

10.  What are the risks?  (Small vs. large impact, likely vs. unlikely) - camera issues, the theme being restrictive/too broad

11.  How will you communicate with your team? - being that Taylor and I are co-coordinators we have been working closely and communicating regularly. When it comes to the day of event the easiest way to compete with the volunteers who will be with each group would be to exchange numbers and text/call to ensure that the event runs smoothly

12. How will you determine if the project is successful? - No complications during the event occur, everyone who wants to participate does (no issues with registration, assembling groups), as much fun and networking as possible takes place, no technical issues with the videos/screening, positive feedback by those that participated/spectators

Week 2

This week the Hospitality group met twice. The first time we met it was briefly after class on Wednesday. We met for a half hour to go over the syllabus and for anyone to ask questions that they had. We mainly met to set up another time to meet that worked for everyone. The time that we met was for about two hours on Monday night. Each person discussed what they had been working on and what needed to be prepared for Wednesday’s class. Taylor and I threw out the ideas that we have been coming up with for the video race which has been all we’ve really had to do to this point before we present on the fifth of February. I mentioned the idea I had for mad libs being the theme and everyone seemed to like it and even gave me suggestions on what I should do to firm up the idea so that it would be as successful as possible. Taylor also mentioned her idea for using go-pro cameras and the group had a discussion about the various options, including smart phones. I’m sure this will be a discussion that we continue with the class as a whole. In my own time I have been working on Visions daily; checking emails, working on my to do list, and reviewing the information about past video races. Next weeks class will be when Taylor and I pitch ideas so I will be spending the rest of the week preparing for that presentation. 

Week 1

Being that this is my first week working on Visions I have just been trying to get acclimated to the way things work. My main focus has been on completing the items on my to do list which I will have each week. I’ve just tried to get a rhythm with my completion of the tasks that hopefully I can continue throughout the semester. Other than being able to mark off the items on the to do list the other area where I have been putting my focus is reviewing my job description for the video race and attempting to brainstorm some ideas for this year’s race. Once I we know the specific theme for the overall festival I’m sure I’ll be able to know which of the now broad ideas that I have will be applicable to this year’s Visions. One of the great things about working on the video race is that I have a co-coordinator to collaborate with and bounce ideas off of one another. I met with my co-coordinator, Taylor, outside of school; something we’ll do each week. We spent the time discussing some ideas for the video race and figuring out what we need to do in order to make sure we get everything together in time for when it needs to be completed. I feel that this weekly meeting will help the two of us stay on the same page and having someone to work with so far seems to be a benefit that I think will continue to grow the more time we spend working on Visions.