Week 13

Again this week has been quiet. At our Art Department meeting we did discuss flyer designs needed for the Film Kid Mixer (now retitled the "Cinemixer") that is taking place 2 weeks after the Spring Semester begins. Since this is too short of a time frame to properly get the posters approved by the University, we have decided to finalize a design over Winter Break. We will further discuss details regarding the flyer with Simone at the next Directors meeting or in class.

I sent Giovanna Kevin's Call For Entries email to forward to her students that also includes the CFE poster image as well as links to our Facebook page, FilmFreeWay, and website.

The Call for Entries poster were officially sent out on Wednesday after I received the addressed envelopes from Kevin in class on Tuesday.

I have yet to receive full confirmation from the rest of the Visions staff as to who is going to the George Mason University Film Festival in December. As of now, the only people who wish to attend are Simone and Rob. I would like for four people to go, but I do understand that the event is right after finals. I also hate that I personally cannot go due to a family vacation to Cabo. After I receive full confirmation and details about who will attend the GMU event, I will then send Giovanna a follow-up email that will include scheduling details for the official GMU college tour in late February. My goal is to confirm a date for the Visions6 college tour by the end of the semester.

Cucalorus Reflection

This year was the first time I have ever gone to the Cucalorus Film Festival. After my experience, I hate myself for not going each year while enrolled at UNCW. I always talked myself out of it because I couldn’t afford this passes. Thank to the amazing Visions team, I got to enjoy a free Pegasorus. Unfortunately I had to work most of the weekend, but I still used the Pegasorus as much as I could. I attended the Devil’s Tongue shorts block, Devil’s Candy, Bedevil, The Anthropologist, PRINCESS, and 10X10 screenings as well as the Opening Night Party, Midnight Brunch, and the late night gatherings at Jengo’s.

The Cucalorus branding is phenomenal because the ‘monster’ characters they designed are easily recognizable and also have a cute element to them. A huge flaw I had noticed on the film blocks scheduling pamphlet was that the color choice for the Narrative and Documentary Feature screenings were impossible to differentiate. The animation displaying the Cucalorus sponsors was absolutely fantastic. It had this fun ‘show-tune’ soundtrack in the back with the different Cucalorus monsters interacting and playing on the screen. I think this would be a nice addition to for Visions6 so Cosmo can play an even larger role in the event.

One of the best moments I experienced during the film festival was meeting and conversing with the director of The Anthropologist, Jeremy Newberger! My dream career is to do exactly what he does and it was inspiring to meet someone who has had a successful career in this field. Jeremy also directed The Linguists, which addresses the death of languages and how the studies of linguists help preserve endangered languages. I even viewed this film for my linguistics course a few semesters ago. At first, I was terrified to start a conversation, but he ended up being very welcoming and offered me terrific advice in pursuing anthropological documentaries, such as how to scout for a topic and how to prepare for travel. We exchanged contact information and I hope I will be able to contact him to kick-start my career!

Week 12

This week, I followed-up with Giovanna of George Mason University after she meet with a few of the Visions6 staff at the Virginia Film Festival. I also answered the questions she had regarding Visions6 and their role as the Partner School. 

She confirmed that they will without a doubt be our Partner School this year. Giovanna said she may not personally be able to attend Visions6, but she will send another faculty member in her place if she cannot. She also offered us a generous opportunity to attend the GMU film festival on December 11-12. Sadly, I will be leaving for Cabo on the 12th and will not be able to attend the GMU film festival, but I will ask if anyone in the class would like to attend in my place. After my presentation on Tuesday, I will finalize and clarify the plans for the Visions6 College Tour. 

Since George Mason University's spring break is at the same time as UNCW's, I think I may try to schedule the college tour near the end of February. I do not think there will be a great outcome to our Visions6 presentation if we travel to GMU the Thursday before spring break.

I also just received the addressed envelopes from Kevin, so I will mail the CFE posters tomorrow. 

Week 11

Now in my newly appointed role as the Art Co-Director, I researched some articles for advice on how to manage a group. I found the article "How to Manage a Group of Professionals" quite helpful. It can be found at http://www.pmpconnect.com/_blog/Company_Blog/post/How_to_Manage_a_Group_of_Professionals/
It's advice included:

• being a source of creative ideas and stimulate creativity in others
• enforce standards
• being a constant source of encouragement
• criticizing and correcting in a productive way
• express your passion and investment for each project, no matter how small

This past week I had a meeting with Tyler and in Google Calendar, we created a schedule for each of the upcoming animations (this includes the Cucalorus, Final Exam Week, Thanksgiving, and Christmas animation shorts). We also created a document in which we brainstormed ideas of the narrative structure for each animation. I am excited to see what Tyler will create with our new alien friend, Cosmo!

I also drafted an email for scheduling the College Tour to George Mason University. It looks like the meet up with GMU faculty and students at the Virginia Film Festival went very well and I am excited to hear how it went in class tomorrow. My goal is to confirm a College Tour date by the end of this semester. 

Week 10

This week, as the Printing Project Manager, I made my first little mistake, but I learned from it. I did not fully think through about protecting the CFE posters in the mailing process. Luckily Shannon saw the envelopes before it was too late and suggested a cardboard insert. I went to Office Max and purchased 8X11 cardboard insert, which only cost $4. However, the insert did affect the postage mailing quote, but it only put us $8.50 over our $75 budget. I will be giving Kevin the envelopes to address in Tuesdays class and mail them out by the end of the week. 

I also confirmed our Partner School this week! I talked to Rebekah a few times this week to coordinate a meeting at the Virginia Film Festival. Kevin, Rob, and Zoe were nice enough to volunteer to network with George Mason University's Giovanna Chesler, the Director and Associate Professor for the Film and Video Studies program. Giovanna has expressed she would love to build a partnership with Visions6. I provided her with Kevin's contact information so they will be able to schedule a meeting to discuss Visions in more detail. I am still disappointed I will not be able to attend myself, but at least this will allow us to network more personally with George Mason University before planning our College Tour.