Cucalorus

So originally I thought Cucalorus was going to be fun. I even thought it might be awesome, but I was not prepared for how much I would love it. I already enjoy watching movies to the extent that I will watch them until my eyes bleed, even if I dislike them. This is not a new development, it is something that I gained from film school while being forced to watch things I did not want to watch, sometimes more than once. As a filmmaker, and more importantly a storyteller, I have learned that there is something I can gain from watching almost any film. (and the ones I can't learn from are generally youtube exclusives my friends con me into watching like "cat on a vacuum") So naturally film festivals are something I want to participate in. 

I grew up in Oklahoma, the land without trees and film festivals (although some are springing up/developing atm) so the only one I'd really been to was a festival put on by the school district where I went to high school, and it functioned more like an awards ceremony (well and of course I'd been to Visions). I was unsure of what to expect. What Cucalorus brought to the table was so much more than just exhibition, but a chance to interact. One film I went to see, "How to Lose your Virginity" featured an uncomfortably entertaining quiz at the beginning, and a fascinating Q&A with the director at the end about her topic. I loved that you got to feel like you were taking part in a film. It wasn't distant, like some giant living in the Hollywood hills..and at the end of the presentations, people clapped. (What?) 

Overall, it was an incredibly real, personal experience and I kind of wished it would last forever. I have to constantly remind myself that making a good film is attainable. Having the normal but sometimes slightly crazy people in front of me, telling me how they struggled, how they found their passion, and how they channeled that to make something great was a fantastic "YOU CAN DO IT" just when I needed it. 

What I loved about Cucalorus, and what I really hope we can achieve with Visions, is that feeling like when you graduate high school. You stand next to (in my case) 2,000 other people and for once in the whole four years you've been inhabiting the same space you connect. People you don't know are your friends, and conversations happen that never normally would. Because passion and storytelling connect people who would normally have nothing in common. It's the most awesome feeling in the world, and I'm sure you agree. :D

Starting Over

I think that pre-Virginia tour our class had gotten a little off kilter. Definitely there was an imbalance between getting stuff done, and taking responsibility for our roles. At this point I think it had become a class more than a film festival.

This is something that seems to happen mid-semester a lot of times as people become burnt out. It's important to realize when this is happening so that you can correct it in it's beginning stages. I think it was in our readings on procrastination and time management that it said guilt from not getting stuff done often times prevents us from moving forward. I agree with that statement. Accomplishing goals is motivation in itself to continue on because if you can do the one thing, why not another?

Sometimes it's a good idea to go back and list out the reasons why this festival & con is exciting and use that momentum to get going again. It's also a good idea to think about the ways in which I as an individual can contribute to the class. If I feel my talents aren't being fully utilized then it's up to me to find a way to use them.

Procrastination, Oh the Irony!

So I am 100% an avoider, and probably a good percentage over loaded as well at the moment. Blogs, for example I generally am not motivated to do. This is because I am extremely introspective, to the point that by the time I get to writing it down I've moved on. I'm not a feel-y person, I don't enjoy talking about things like that, what I've learned..etc. If it comes up in conversation I'll definitely mention it, but there is something about writing to a mysterious online community that I'd rather avoid. That being said, we don't have enough time in class to have these discussions and I'm assuming blogs are in place of a paper, and I'm okay with that.

I liked what the article said about doing the stuff you don't like first, while you still have energy. Wow, is that a good point. Because of my tendency to avoid things I dislike doing, I often find myself doing it late at night, last minute, with no energy. NOT the recipe for quality work. It seems to me that the people who adopt the strategy of "I don't do anything unless the house work is done" all have a really clean house. I on the other hand, have a moderately disheveled home because at the end of the day, who wants to vacuum?

Time Management Tips

I found that the time management tips were really just a good reminder. I already know them, but wasn't applying them to my daily life. One thing I learned from working retail is that things seem less daunting if you break them down in to smaller groups. I would mainly do this when thinking about having to work eight hours, but it works with other things like writing papers and planning events. I'm not generally a one-step-at-a-time type of person. My brain hates me, because it will switch rapidly from big picture to minute details constantly. It's good to have some sort of outline or list to add a method to the madness. (I get things done, I do!) If you make a clear list of all the tasks you have to do in order to accomplish the bigger objective, you normally get a better sense of the time and energy that it will require for you to do it, and you can plan accordingly.

I am really opposed to scheduling, because I just don't work that way. Almost everything I do is on the fly. I'm the antithesis of a planner, but I realize that I'm getting to the point where I have too much on my plate to not plan it out, so I'm making the adjustment.

Me at work:

IndiGoGo video

This was my first time creating a video for IndieGoGo. I participated in most aspects of it, from writing to shooting, and then editing. I feel as though I have a decent understanding of the process from start to finish. It was interesting to consider all the different approaches. Some people choose to go with the staff/crew interview approach, others a trailer, some serious, some funny, etc. We decided to go the route of humor and staff interviews. Our intention was to get across the point of why we needed the funding, but not with a serious tone in order to avoid looking desperate or whiny. There is an aspect of humor that includes a sense of confidence that needed to be conveyed in order to make it seem like we had a worthy cause that we believed to be important. For some reason during the production of it I assumed it required far less planning than it actually did. Luckily I was working part of a team and we worked together to plan and shoot. It was a good lesson on planning and the art of good humor. Jokes are really hit-or-miss and we worked hard to find that balance. As an editor it also posed a challenge to correctly represent the humor.

Overall it was a great learning experience that I hope to use for my projects in the future.

Mini-Restaurants

Mini-restaurant fundraisers are a popular choice for fundraising among many different organizations. The reason is that they are low-maintenance. You rely on the restaurant itself to provide the attraction, there is no front-money involved, and in most cases they even provide you with the flyers. However, as easy as they sound to set up, they also come with some complications. For one, each restaurant comes with different rules and stipulations. In our case, this became and issue because we were functioning as a campaign, doing weekly fundraisers. It would have been much easier if the restaurants had the same rules and stipulations for streamlining purposes. It also limits the amount of money you can make off the event. The other unforeseen complication is that most of the checks have to go through corporate so it takes forever to get them. As it stands we are still waiting for 2 checks that we earned back in November.. So the convenience is robbed by having to go through another organization.

For this reason I have come up with the idea of a 50/50 or other kind of raffle. By setting up the event on our own we can maintain full control of the earnings.