Weekly Check-In #15

This past week we discussed our plan for implementing the Visions6 DVD and we were all assigned different edits. I personally didn't do a DVD edit, but was called upon to do a Vimeo edit of all the video race clips. We reflected on the event together and talked about our hits and wishes regarding it. Based on these hits and wishes, we are compiling a new and updated video race manual which is looking pretty good so far! I have a couple sections left to do and a few things left on my video race edit and then I'll be set! I'm excited to see how the DVD itself turns out and to have a chance to reflect back on the highlights of this event. On a even more happy note, I'm really excited for our "final" at Defy Gravity! It'll be a nice stress reliever, and the best part is that it's a great final to end on! I'll be finished with all of my papers and all of my projects, and I'll be able to relax and say that I've successfully finished my junior year! So crazy how this year flew by! Can't wait to see what my senior year entails!

Visions6 EVENT REFLECTION

This past Friday, we finally had our event and I'll have to say I'm so glad everything went smoothly. For this event, I was a video-race co-coordinator, and it was a crazy ride. First, Aedan was my original partner and he helped me lock down some of the pre-event materials, such as the questionnaire for sorting teams. When Jessica came on board as my new partner, she was able to help with more ideas that helped us with the organization of this event. We also simplified certain aspects of the event such as the Mind Race portion in order to meet our time crunches for the video race. I was told by some staff members that at first they were apprehensive of the event, but ended up having so much fun. I'm glad to hear that our hard work has paid off and that people have enjoyed themselves. From securing our location to creating several team shirts, it's great to see a wonderful end product that caused so many filmmakers to bond with each other. Every event does have its flaws however, and the big one is that we did include glitter on our shirts. For our manual, we are going to have a bolded rule within it that forewarns the future coordinators of the glitter issue. Another thing I would like to have done differently next year if possible is to have teams determined just a couple days earlier than we did this year (and without last minute changes). While it was nice to have a lot of people on our teams, it was stressful stenciling all of the individual shirts in just two nights and this could cut back slightly on the stress levels. What went well was the fact that we allowed enough time to view our submissions to make sure everything went through and worked properly. We also met all of our time constraints despite any minor issues. All in all, I'm grateful to have had this opportunity to connect and bond with so many filmmakers and make new friends! Now everybody can relax and focus on the highs and lows of this event. Most importantly, we can reflect on all of our hard work and realize that we put on this huge event that is going to be an experience we always remember.

Weekly Check-In #14

We finally had Visions6 and I'll admit that I was a little bit apprehensive of how everything would run, but I'd say it went pretty smoothly with only few errors! I was particularly happy with the video race because the submissions had hardly any technological errors and I'm thankful that Dustin helped to ensure that. I also loved that everybody bonded through this activity and seemed to have this closeness that wasn't there prior to this part of the event. I'm happy to have taken part in this event and see the effect it has on visiting filmmakers, scholars, and filmmakers at UNCW. I've made so many new friends that I hope return next year and I feel that I did make the most of this experience. This weekend left me so exhausted but I also had this sense of relief and satisfaction over this spectacular event we all worked so hard on through the semester. There were times where people got stressed, cranky, or overwhelmed, but we all persevered in order to put on something great. Even though my event had its flaws, I've definitely learned a lot from this experience that I can apply to any future endeavors and obstacles I might face.

Weekly Check-In #13

So after receiving a lot of tough love from the rest of the Visions6 staff, Jessica and I have conjured up a day of event plan that is fairly detailed and I feel more comfortable knowing that we are ready to face most issues that are thrown our way. I know that nothing is going to be perfect, but all we can do is try our best to problem solve this issues. Recently, we had an issue with our shirts regarding glitter, but we are trying to resolve it in the best way possible. We sprayed the shirts down with hairspray and I think it's containing the glitter so well. If Amelie does not approve the shirts, then we can at least say we gave it our best (we spent hours trying to solve this issue). All we can do at this point is suck it up and face our mistake and keep our momentum. No matter what, this event will be fun for all and I can't wait to see what videos our teams come up with! I know that the minute I have a negative demeanor, things can "go to shit," but if I remain positive and optimistic, the event can run much smoother. I'm going to take a deep breath and face this event head on, because the fact of the matter is nobody is ready for everything. For big events, there is always this element of unpredictability and I'm trying to be ready for it all, but I know some things are out of my control. I really hope that our shirts are approved, but if not, I will own this issue and take responsibility.

Weekly Check-In #12

This past weekend, we made our shirts for the video race! We took this black shirts and twisted them, bleached them, and painted them with blue, purple, and silver glitter paint. To make stars, we used white glitter paint and splattered it onto the shirts into little specks. We also recently started our prop drive and will be checking out the box tomorrow morning to see what props have been donated so far. We are also in the midst of sorting our teams based on all of the responses that we have received via our questionnaire. Now we are just gearing up for the day of the festival and I'm excited to see what the outcome of our event will be! In other news, Sean Ahlum is coming to talk to our class and I'm very excited to see what tips for success he has to offer to us! I don't often say it, but I am always nervous for the future and while I know it will be hard work, it would be nice to see somebody that could maybe relate to where I am now. There's nothing I love more than success stories and how I can conjure up the motivation to be whatever I want to be.

Weekly Check-In #11

Exciting news! We have ordered are shirts and they should be ready to decorate this coming weekend. Simone will be arranging a crafts night where we can all get together and make the shirts as well as work on crafts for items such as the swag bags. Currently, we are developing questions for the day of the race when we determine which groups will get to pick their prop and their quotes. We also will be launching on March 29th and will get to initiate our prop drop within the film studies department! We are so excited to get this underway and feel that this event will be a success considering that most everything has been going according to plan. I feel that Jessica and I will accomplish so much as long as we continue to put our heads together as we share and develop our ideas for this race. I really hope that everybody who participates gets the most of their experience and that they can have fun doing so. I'm slightly nervous for the day of Visions6 just because every time I've worked an event, I've been taught that you should go in with the expectation that something could go wrong. If this does happen to us, I hope that Jessica and I can find a solution in a good amount of time and still keep the race running smoothly. I have no doubt that we can find a solution as long as we assess the situation and remain optimistic.

Weekly Check-In #10

This past week we were unable to present, but we will now be launching registration for the video race TOMORROW, March 21st. Today, we are decorating our galaxy box for our Drop a Prop drive, which is also starting tomorrow. I'm really hoping that we engage the rest of the FST department through this process and that they are encouraged to sign up for the video race this year. My goal is to have a bigger turnout than usual. I hope that we can make this race as badass as possible and hmaybe even surpass last year's video race in terms of bad-assery. NOW, we have to order our shirts so that we can begin to decorate them and make sure we construct our own day of show plans in order to know where we need to be for the entire day of Visions6. I'm so ready to get this details finalized and stayed proactive and prepared for the day of so that I don't fall behind. We are very excited to be a part of something so integral in getting our visitors to engage with each other, and things have been running smoothly for us so far. I can't believe we have less than a month until it finally happens!

Weekly Check-In #9

This past week was Spring Break, but regardless we were able to accomplish one of the biggest tasks we have as video race coordinators: securing a location. Now we're set for registration launch on March 18th and we're so excited! We are going to be working on decorating the box for our "Drop a Prop" that we will be having within the FST department and we will be starting on shirts ASAP as well. This year, I also hope we will be incorporating the bandanas to represent the individual teams because I think that they could add a fun twist element to this race. We also have locked down Fanboy comics as our sponsor for this year's video race. I've attempted to reach out to other businesses to sponsor but with no such luck unfortunately.Despite that we were apart from each other, it felt like we were able to accomplish so much in such a short time frame! Now we are hitting crunch time and must be prepared for the traffic we're about to receive for this video race. I'm so excited about putting together an event that allows people to network and connect with other filmmakers. A month and two days until we will finally be in action! Can't wait to see how this goes down! :)

Weekly Check-In #8

With Jessica as my new Video Race co-coordinator, I feel that we are going to be a dynamic duo! So far, we have secured Fanboy Comics as a sponsor and have finally gotten an email back regarding our location! We are currently corresponding via email and locking down our location details. We are also in the midst of working on a day-of plan and developing a solid list of rules. In other news, Aaron has said he is willing to provide a box for us to use for our "Drop-A-Prop" idea that we are using to involve the FST department. By doing this, we hope to further promote the race as well as get people outside of Visions6 involved much sooner than usual. We are so excited to launch after spring break and think that this will be a successful event! So excited to see filmmakers from different regions come together to create, compete, and network with each other! So thankful for the opportunity to help put this race together! It's also been such a great experience watching the other departments make progress as well as collaborate with each other. We really are a great team that supports each other whole heartedly and wants to work towards a great film festival & conference! So ready for April 15th, only a little more than a month left!

Weekly Check-In #7

As adults who are learning to problem solve, we also must learn to adapt to specific changes. This past week, I was assigned a new Video-Race co-coordinator: Jessica Jackson. I'm very excited to be working with her on the Video Race and can't wait to see what ideas we can collaborate on and what assets she can bring to the table! Currently, we are trying to find a sponsor that can donate some sort of the prize for the video race. Previously, Fanboy Comics was the V5 sponsor and had donated some comic books. My ideal sponsor for this year would have to be Defy Gravity if they are willing. I called yesterday, but unfortunately could not make contact with the manager. I'm calling them again today in the hopes that I can get an answer. If not, our back-up ideas for sponsors are: Game Giant, Nerdvana, or Fanboy Comics again as a last resort. I'm also excited to announce that we will be launching our registration on March 8th! With that being said, there is still a lot of work to be done, such as finishing our budget as well as acquiring the necessary props, and of course we still have to secure our location. We are calling Kimberly (Pam Elliot's assistant) daily in the hopes that she will get back to us ASAP. If this does not pan out within 3-5 days, I will ask Dave to step in and provide his assistance regarding the matter. In other news, we've finished finalizing our films and I'm very excited to see which filmmakers we bring in and I can't wait for our panel! Everybody has been working so hard and it's so incredible to see everything coming together. Less than two months until this festival happens, so crazy how much we've accomplished in such a short amount of time!

Weekly Check-In #6

This weekend I've been working on day-of-requirements for the upcoming video race. I'm also working on a budget for this year's t-shirts, dye, and potential props we might need. Samantha has been designing our logo and it looks so amazing. We also put in our marketing request and we are so excited for our launch next week! It's great that the other departments collaborate and I know Aedan and I could not accomplish this without their assistance. We finished the registration form and information this past Monday, and we are going to give access to it to Carson soon so that he can put a portal on the Visions6 website. I also went to the career center and they helped me revise my resume. I've also updated my resume formatting and will be posting that to my staff folder tonight. Currently, I'm looking over films that I remember are in consideration and I am trying to determine which selections I'm willing to fight for. I'm excited to see how our line-up will turn out and I hope that we have enough diversity in our film festival & conference. I'm also so happy that we get to host a panel for the first time this year!

Weekly Check-In #5

As the semester has progressed, so have our plans for the video race. We have continued brainstorming and should have the majority if not all of our preproduction phase completed by next week. I can finally say that out of the films we've just judged, I've had a favorite film in every category and can't wait to fight for my choices when we program them. In other news, we just had our Bake Sale AND our Love You To The Moon and Back Party for Visions6 and surpassed our goals for each event! I had a blast participating in both and I'm even more pumped to see what April 15th brings. I'm big on planning and it's fun to put those skills into action via Visions6. I continuously check my calendar to double check that we are on schedule and I cannot wait to see how Aedan and I can make this video race into our own event and embellish it to make the event even more fun! The only obstacle so far has been getting a hold of somebody to secure our location, but hopefully we can lock that down by next week as well. As long as we remain optimistic and hard working, I don't see how we would crumble trying to put this video race together. Here's to a semester of good efforts with (hopefully) amazing results!

Weekly Check-In #4

This past week, I unfortunately was sick. However, I did get the time to remind my parents again to donate to Visions, pushing my group to $20 from our goal! I was supposed to present my first ever Video Race Update on February 2nd, but now I will be doing it on February 9th instead. I will double check my projected due dates and make sure that Aedan and I are on the same page as well as on the right track. So far, I feel like we've been able to generate a lot of great ideas together. I've even gotten so excited that I've thought about all these cute space names that would work well for advertising. Aedan is so pumped that he's already thought about animation and logo ideas for our race. I hope that with the two of us putting our heads together, we'll be an impeccable team. So far, I feel that we both have it together, but are ready to problem-solve any hiccups that we might face during this process. Aside from the Video Race, I'm sad to say that I missed the second round of programming for our film selection process. From what I've heard, it went well and there were quite a few heated debates. I'm interested to go into the next programming round since we will now be throwing papers into the mix. I've heard how passionate we get when we disown or defend a film, so I wonder how similar or different these debates will be when papers get involved.

Weekly Check-In #3

This past week, we began the process of judging films so that we can begin to debate about which ones to keep in consideration. So far, the film grading process has been very insightful and has had an effect on how I approach my grading rubric. My opinion was swayed on certain films in class due to the fact that I was not looking at them from a different perspective. I like that we are able to give as much input as we like before making an educated decision on whether or not we'd like to nix a film or leave it up for consideration. Aside from this process, I have been rereading my Video Race Manual in order to figure out which ways Aedan and I can improve and embellish this event to make it our own. We have discussed the fact that since this race will be space themed, there will be more free range when it comes to aspects of our video race such as the questionnaire that determines the different teams. We are also trying to think of ways that we can use our budget wisely while still taking advantage of its full potential. We hope to accomplish our list of tasks in a timely manner, and in order to do this we have kept in constant communication during what is now our preproduction phase. I feel that this phase holds much importance because it helps to set the foundation for this event, which in turn will give us a sense of security as we pursue the production phase soon after. I'm so ready to make my mark on this year's Visions6 along with Aedan! We have already had several discussions about this project and gears are definitely turning!

Dirty Dozen on Budgeting for the V6 Video Race

1. To use the budget to secure needed items for the video race in a timely and efficient manner.

2. Visions Staff because they may be crucial in securing props for free or low price, therefore saving money in our budget and they are responsible for approving how we spend our budget on t-shirts, dye, etc.

3. The deliverables of this step in the video race preproduction would be securing items needed for participating teams in the Video Race.

4. The tentative budget is $250 to be spent on T-shirts, dye, bandanas, prizes, and potentially props for the upcoming video race.

5. It will take a couple days for the shirts to ship and be delivered, and possibly one or two additional days needed for extra item shopping trips. The time interval in which we need to accomplish this task is during our production phase, from March 1st-28th.

6. We need to acquire shirts, bandanas, dye, prizes, and props. In order to successfully spend our budget wisely, we must practice time management while we also track our expenditures via spreadsheets.

7. Potentially sponsorships that could fund our cause and help us expand our budget so we can afford nicer items.

8. The people responsible for this task are Devon and Aedan, this year's Video Race Co-Coordinators. They need to create a spreadsheet so that they can develop a budget proposal prior to shopping for items.

9. March 20th- Order T-shirts (Registration will begin in early March, and we are hopeful that by this date we will have a general idea of how many participants we will need to buy shirts for)
March 21st - Buy dye and bandanas
March 22nd - Buy props if staff can't provide them and prizes for the Video Race
March 23rd - The shirts arrive
March 24th- Get shirts as well as prizes ready

10. The risks are dividing the budget unevenly, not securing our materials in time for the festival, or underestimating our expenditures or amount of materials needed.

11. Aedan and I will communicate via calls (if urgent), text messages, or email (if necessary). We consistently stay in contact in order to stay on the same page and to develop a detailed plan and schedule.

12. We will know that the project was successful if we acquire all the materials we need in a timely fashion and if we satisfy the needs of our participants.

Weekly Check-In #2

This week, we decided to get the ball rolling on our assigned positions for this year's upcoming film festival and conference. Aedan and I are supposed to present during Week 4 of class, and I'm super excited to get the ball rolling on the video race. I have been thinking of fun ways to incorporate the space theme into our race and luckily, there is a lot of range when picking relevant questions to ask when we have our one hour, one take video race. I have been marking dates in my calendar and reading (and re-reading) so that Aedan and I can plan as far in advance as possible for our video race. So far, we are already emailing Pam Elliot to try and secure our location permit and are going to look into making our registration forms, which tentatively need to be done by 2/21. I am in the works of taking side notes on what we need to be prepared to discuss with the rest of the Visions6 staff, and I'm ready to face this project head on and to the best of my abilities. I am grateful that I get this experience and that Visions is treated as if it were a real job. I can tell that this class is going to be a test of my time-management skills and it will encourage me to stay on task while producing efficient work in the most timely manner. I love that this can prepare me for the challenges and successes I will face in a real job one day and that I am thankful gain this type of experience prior to graduating next year.

Response to Blackboard Reading: Festivals of Their Own

I found this reading to be very helpful when it comes to interpreting what makes a film festival so important and how they were started. I did not realize prior to this reading that film festivals started in foreign countries such as France, who had Cannes Film Festival, and then were followed by American film festivals that are more well known today, such as Sundance. When I continued to read about filmmaker Michael Williams and his BYOF Film Festival (Light + Screen in New York), I learned more about how film festivals are one of the best ways to circulate your work with the hope it gets noticed by mainstream, big-time film industries. However, the article goes on to say that that Light + Screen altered their feature-films only rule to accommodate the acceptance of short films of varying genres as well (which eventually escalated to Monday Night Shorts at the Freight Salon, ran by Victoria Clark, producer). For me, this also means that film festivals are a way for filmmakers to come together and view specific genres which they can then discuss afterwards. Following these festivals, audience feedback to artists' films was beginning to take root through a festival known as the Nomad VideoFilm Festival, which was also a traveling film festival. Mostly amateur filmmakers submitted their work, and this aspect of audience feedback reminded me of what are now our Q & A panels, which are so important in order for the participants of a festival to learn from each other as well as give each other pointers. As far as straying away from genre-specific goes, there are Underground Film Festivals, such as Cucalorous, which allow all types of genres to be screened and are often separated into different viewing blocks. This entire reading reaffirmed the stance that film festivals are important for a multitude of reasons: the networking amongst filmmakers, accommodations for all types of audiences, and the endless opportunities to learn from other filmmakers.

Weekly Check-In #1: Job Description/Manual Response and Goals

I am so excited to be working on this year's Visions Film Festival & Conference as a Video Race Co-Coordinator! From this job, I hope to be able to gain so much experience and knowledge about what it takes to plan an event, which will be important for producing as well. For my job, it is first important to start brainstorming with Aedan, my fellow coordinator, as soon as possible! Currently, I have already started thinking of ways to incorporate our fun space theme into this year's video race! In order to make sure this event is successful, we must budget accordingly for the following items: T-shirts, dye, props, etc. Dustin and Ashley, the previous coordinators, left a bunch of useful information that can save Aedan and me lots of money. They mentioned how they had staff members each bring in their own prop which can be utilized during the video race. I also read about how they created tie-dye shirts for their teams, but diluted the dye so that they could dye more than two T-shirts. I love the amount of resourcefulness that goes into being a Video Race co-coordinator, because in the film world we are typically faced with situations in which we need to make the most of what is available to us. I know that we also must keep locations and liability in consideration and be sure to secure those rights from Pamela Elliot. We are also responsible for having the rules and regulations of the race outlined prior to contacting Pam Elliot for permission. I feel that this job will be a great fit for me because I love to work with people and brainstorm new ideas while being part of such a fun event. I can't wait to see how Visions can benefit me, and how our work will pay off at the festival!