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        Pro - uses unpublished archival material, interesting look at adaptation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.