EYES Planning Portfolio

As part of the Creative Enterprise Project module, I was required to produce a document that would detail your vision, research and planning for your project. This is my planning portfolio document which is a synthesis of a the Planning Portfolio document I produced before Christmas and the updated one I completed just before the final submission in May. In addition to the Appendix Materials, this document is an expression of the administrative elements of the project.

The previous three drafts of the planning portfolio can be viewed in this Google Drive folder.

EYES Vlog Update 23 - Influences and Intuition

EYES Vlog Update 21 - Preproduction (Recap)

Dream - Motivational Video

I just came across this - very inspirational!

"This is what I believe and I am willing to die for it. Period." 

My course is set.

Rise: A Reflection on Being Enterprising

What follows is essentially my final reflection or plea, if you like. I have put a great deal of work into this project and its holds a great deal of content. I will now allow it to speak for itself.

My attitude this year can best be summed up in the following image.

'Deshi Basara' means Rise.

I would also like to take this opportunity to direct your attention to a resource that has had a huge impact on the project and changed the way in which I think about storytelling as a whole and my attitude towards making a living from that venture.

Synopsis:

The writer's guide was developed through the Australia Council's Story of the Future project to explore the craft and business of writing in the digital era. It includes case studies from Australia's rising generation of poets, novelists, screenwriters, games writers and producers who are embracing new media and contains audio and video content from seminars and workshops, as well as extensive references to resouces in Australia and beyond.

The Writer's Guide

The Writer's Guide has been my bible while undertaking this module and formulating EYES.

Another resource that as had some impact on the project and my thinking in storytelling in general is Getting Started in Transmedia Storytelling. While the guide's strong emphasis on transmedia is not something that I have completely incorporated into my project (it was a strong component in the initial planning stages), you will see that it has still had an impact on my vision for the EYES web series. 

While my approach can be considered slightly messy, it is highly intricate and progressive.

By understanding the fundamental influences these guides have had on my thinking, you should be able to understand my intentions for the EYES project and my personal approach to the business aspects of the Creative Enterprise Project module.



 
My iPad ran out of memory while recording this, hence why it suddenly cuts off. However, I feel that it says enough and acts as a good introduction to what I have done artistically with EYES...



 
...as well as my intentions for doing so, from an enterprising point of view.




Collected in the notebook below are the online resources I've looked at in an effort to improve my professional image in relation to the module.


This seven month experience has been utterly exhausting, but undoubtedly rewarding!
 

My enrollment in the CEP module has been out of a desire for self-improvement.

I believe I have risen a great deal in the last seven months.

EYES Feedback: Claire Rowbotham ('Lianne')

FEEDBACK

Claire Rowbotham- Actress

When approached to be a part of this project as an actress, I was thrilled as Pete seemed really keen to have me and this enthusiasm was what made me sure that I wanted to commit to the film. EYES for me was an extra-curricular project during my own very busy third year, and if it wasn’t for his passion and drive for the film I probably would have chosen to not do the film and concentrate on my own studies. So a note for Pete would be to keep this attitude up because it really is the difference between people wanting to be a part of a project in their own time and not.

Saying that, the script was also a huge reason I wanted to be a part of the film. The script intrigued me hugely and I wanted to find out more; both about the storyline and the characters. This is great as obviously if you have the audience hooked and wanting to know more then you are onto a winner. The script went through quite a few drafts throughout rehearsals, but this for me was a good thing rather than a bad thing; Pete was brilliant at watching us in rehearsals and then adapting the script so that both his actors felt happier and so that his script communicated more clearly what he wanted it to. It didn’t mess the process up for myself as an actor because changes made were always beneficial to my character and he didn’t have us learn lines for the shoot until he was sure that he was happy with the script. The only thing I would say he could change about the rehearsal process would be to have a slightly clearer structure for rehearsals. I believe this was Pete’s first time directing and I feel that he could achieve more for himself and actors, as a director, if he knew of more exercises that would could participate in to help make our performances stronger. Pete however, had a naturally lovely way of telling us what he liked us doing in rehearsals and this was encouraging.

As Pete was so full of ideas, which ultimately is a good thing as it led to bigger and better things, it could be a little bit confusing knowing what he wanted. But I believe this was a part of the development process rather than a hindrance. It was also very interesting to see how his ideas developed and blossomed. I must point out that in the end, once he realised what it was he needed portraying, he was very clear in what he needed for us. To make the process quicker in future I would just say maybe he should have the idea slightly more developed in his head before getting other people involved with it.

Throughout the whole experience, Pete kept everyone very well informed via the facebook group page and he was always very communicative. He was always easy to get hold of which was brilliant for when I needed questions and queries answered. Through the facebook page I also got a great insight into the huge amount of research he was doing; I could tell he was looking at lots of different elements of the film and because I saw him doing all of this, I felt more like a part of the production team rather than just an actress. I am not sure if this was his intention? But I feel like this was a good thing. Maybe on larger projects he would need to define the boundaries between production team and cast more, but I felt that for this intimate production it worked and I learnt a lot more than I would have done if I was just sent a call sheet and the lines I needed to learn.  The only downside to the facebook page is that as there were so many posts, sometimes I would lose track of the posts that I actually NEEDED to know about. So maybe a more direct approach to certain individuals about what was need to make things clearer if it only concerned them? 

Pre-production seemed to be organised well as when we turned up for the actual shoot, there were no problems with locations or anything and we could just get on and film. Everyone knew what they were doing and I didn’t feel as if he ever forgot to do anything important that slowed down the shoot. I would say next time however, that he get a slightly larger production crew so that he could concentrate on solely directing.  During actual filming,-on set directions were clear and he knew what he wanted which was great.

During the whole process, Pete was very accommodating to my own needs with regards to what suited me and my studies and this was a necessary trait which he needed to have for me to be a happy member of his team. So big well done for that. 

Pete’s general approach to everything was very passionate and he was clearly determined to create the best film he could which was contagious, but I would say he needed to be careful of his manner at times. Sometimes I was unsure if he was angry/stressed or just concentrated and determined. Overall I think he could have made it slightly more obvious if he was feeling positive about what was happening, but he never spoke to be rudely and so I enjoyed being around him. I was just unclear with how he felt at times, if he was joking or not, which made me unsure of how to react. Pete was great to work with though and it would be a pleasure to work on another film with him again some time soon.

From the entire project I have gained a lot for myself; I have had a lovely on set experience, I have learnt a huge deal about how different people work, I learnt a lot about the script development process and I have obtained fantastic random information from the research facebook page. Being a part of EYES was a great experience and Pete deserves to do well in the future.

EYES Feedback: Daniel Tapper (Sound Designer)

Daniel submitted his feedback on the project today.

Daniel's Feedback post in the Facebook Group.

Pasted below is Daniel's complete feedback:



EYES Feedback – Dan Tapper – Sound designer
 

• Your experiences of working on the project.

My experience of working on the project has been essentially good. Its nice to work on a project with someone who has a clear vision of what they want to achieve. Most of the time Peter was able to communicate clearly what he wanted but at points what he asked for seemed a little convoluted and occasionally contradictory to something he had previously said. However I felt that both of us were pretty much on the same page meaning we were able to work effectively together and come up with a clear plan of action.
 

• What you've gained from the project.

Previously my sound work has been for quite visually abstract works such as animations, adverts and a short horror audio visual film. Working on EYES was the first time I had worked on a more structured narrative project and proved a good bridge for me between abstract and more structured dramatized work as EYES has elements of both.

• You're views on me and my project management skills, etc

I think Peter has done a good job managing the project. From my experience managing even a small team can prove difficult. The role I am performing is fairly straightforward and doesn’t require a lot of management but from working in the field with Peter I have seen that he is able to inspire others to commit themselves to hard work in pursuit of his vision. Peter is also very personable, helpful and unintimidating making which contribute to his leadership skills as people are not afraid to put their views across.

Sound Advice: Six Secrets to Success

EYES iBook

One of the things I volunteered to be a part of was the Creative Futures event the University is trying out this year. For the event I have to create an iBook demonstrating aspects of my project and I have to attend the event where I will promote myself to industry professionals.

Editing my iBook

However, I don't think I will have the book completed in time! It was always going to be a tall order with the production of the iBook only taking place in the last two weeks. The Uni has even acknoweldged that they miscalculated all that was involved. My biggest problem has been the fact they only installed the iBook Author software in one of the computer rooms; a computer room that has timetabled classes, so I've had to work around them. Thus far, I've managed three sessions in there: Friday 3rd May (Induction session), Wednesday 8th May and, today, Wednesday 15th May.

The cover of my iBook. I still need to add a subtitle and my name to it.

Yeah, I think I'm going to have to knock it on the head!

It's slightly disappointing because I was looking forward to the event, but it's not a complete waste, as I can still submit the iBook as part of my project Appendix. It would also have meant that I would have got out of doing a Viva, but my aversion to doing one was only because I wanted to finish the module quicker. However, now that the film department have given me an extension to cut down my dissertation I won't be finished until the 31st, after the scheduled Viva slots.

I'm glad that I've had this brief dabble with the concept of the iBook because it has opened my eyes to their potential and, certainly, it is something I would endorse the University to use more. Although, I would recommend that they be a little better organized next time.

EYES Feedback: Mykel Elledge ('Boris')

Survey Monkey: EYES Pilot - Rough Cut 2 Questionnaire

Using Survey Monkey, I created an online questionnaire for the second rough cut of the Pilot episode. I didn't do this for the first rough cut as it was missing the first scene, a scene that is curicial in order to understanding the whole thing. Therefore, I waited until I had a thorough representation of what the final product would look like, as now represented in the second rough cut, before I started testing its effectiveness with its target audience. While I'm not able to complete a final cut for the submission, the results of this questionnaire will enable me to identify any problems in the edit and to implement refinements for the when I do complete a final cut, for my proffesional portfolio. 

Below are the 10 mostly multiple choice questions that make up the questionnaire.

Questions 1 & 2

Questions 3 & 4

Questions 5 & 6

 

Questions 7 & 8

Question 9

Question 10

BBC

 

For something related to EYES, guess where I was today.

A Stress-Free Workaholic

7 Ways to Be a Stress-Free Workaholic

People say I'm a workaholic so I might as well start trying to live with it harmoniously and these are some useful tips to achieve that.

Fine-Tune Your Focus

Productivity Tip: Fine-tune Your Focus

There are two types of people in this world: those who make lists and those who make piles.

3 very simple tips to fine-tune your focus. I will be putting these into practice.

Re-think Your To Do List

You Don't Understand Your To-Do List

This is something I needed to read because it has taught me to re-think the purpose of a To Do list. Essentially this article places the To Do list's status as something that is a good guide for getting things done and not something which is the law!

The To Do list then is something that I shouldn't get stressed out about if I don't complete all of its items in the time period the To Do list dictates and you know what... I'm not going to.