SEARCH ME: A Final Reflection on EYES

"The you of today is a survivor, a very close survivor, of the you of yesterday. It is a survivor, though a slightly more distant survivor, of the you of last week, and a much more distant survivor of the you of last year. In a single body is not one person one self or person, but a succession of selves, a river of selves, each one a survivor of the one that went before. To the extent we can talk of the self, we are talking of something that has the character of a river, a process, not a thing."

- The River of Selves from The Philosopher at the End of the Universe.

"Memories - you're talking about memories."

- Rick Deckard, Blade Runner

Anxiety and Boredom: June 2012 – September 2012

This project started life in the spring of 2012 as a short film and was something that I did a great of deal of preparation for during my summer break. The short film idea that I toyed with throughout the summer was called A&B (which stands for ‘Anxiety and Boredom’) and it was hugely influenced by the experimental art house film Radio On. 

However, while A&B was a very strong visual idea that would have intensely explored the themes of anxiety and boredom, it lacked a clear narrative to express those themes. I certainly was all for creating a very strong visual presentation in acknowledgement of all the films that had nurtured me and which I had come to fully appreciate through my academic ventures in Film Studies, but as my degree was also concerned with creative writing, I felt that it was only fair that I honour both sides of my degree by delivering a final product that was visually very strong and complimented by an equally strong narrative. As such, I abandoned A&B and started again.

Look familiar?

Coinciding with the initiation of my final year in September 2012 I hit on a new idea – an idea that concerned itself with a character called Boris who liked to collect photographs of peoples’ eyes and this became the EYES short film idea. This Idea I certainly appreciated much more so than the A&B idea as it provided a better starting point from which to develop a narrative. I even toyed with the potential of doing it as a mockumentary! Very early on I could see that the basic premise of the idea was building on my Busybody script; a script that I had submitted for my short filmmaking module in the previous year and which also concerned itself with the process of looking as it had been a script about voyeurism. The starting idea for Busybody was of a landlord who installs hidden cameras into all of his properties; from that basic premise I was able to develop a narrative that dealt with two characters who liked to engage in voyeurism. Clearly I had a subconscious agenda to look at the gaze, as this same theme came up in my other two final year projects Ways of Being and Fencing. 

However, as I now had a clear starting idea that offered both visual and narrative potential, I was confident that I could produce a strong short film out of it – a calling card for myself.

And then I listened to my doubts.



Storytelling and Experimentation: October 2012 – November 2012

The redeeming feature of the Creative Enterprise Project module is that it provides each student with a blank canvass on which they can paint whatever project they like; it is also a module designed to get the students out into the industry they want to work in, so that when they graduate they can get employment in that industry. To this end, I wondered if there was something better I could do than a short film. The reason why I wanted to do a short film is because I felt that the short films I had helped produce in Planning and Making a Film, my filmmaking module from the previous year, were only marginally representative of my potential and, now that I had access to the necessary resources, I saw the Creative Enterprise Project module as a chance to rectify previous errors and produce a short film that absolutely expressed my potential, opposed to being a botch-up. However, at the end of it all, I was really just making a short film for myself, because it had always been something I had wanted to do to a high level. The industry initiative was secondary. Therefore, I felt that I owed it to myself to do something that would be highly beneficial to my career aspirations and would directly assist me in securing a job once I had graduated. 

It was always about looking for a new approach.

To this end, I sought advice from the person who had tutored me in Planning and Making a Film: Mike Johnston. Mike was the person who suggested that I could do a web series project that would entail the construction of a series bible document and a pilot episode. He suggested this as a better option because it would more fully exploited the full range of skills that I had nurtured over the course of my degree. Furthermore, the ability to tell an ongoing story, opposed to the self-contained narrative of a short film is much more appealing to the industry. Today in the industry, there is much more emphasis on television and movie franchises and stories that are told in multiple parts.

The marvel cinematic universe is a key example of this shift towards mulit-part stories.

Mike made a compelling case for undertaking a web series project and he even suggested that I take it down the transmedia route, but I was hesitant to do this as it would have created more work. However, I was pretty sold on the web series idea because it would still allow me to conduct filmmaking in the form of the Pilot; as well as allowing me to express my creative writing and contemporary industry awareness. It was also a challenge as I knew virtually nothing about the relatively new web series medium, but challenges generate a great deal of creativity. 

I seem to be obsessed with looking.

The next step was taking the story idea for the EYES short film and moulding it into something that could be an ongoing story. Fortunately, as the EYES short film idea had only recently been formed it was still a proto-idea and, therefore, was very ripe to be shaped into any form or medium. During the process of creating the web series story idea it became obvious that what I needed was an overarching concept that would carry the web series identity and allow each episode to develop its own stories based around that common concept. Another problem arose that I was running out of time and by this point I was already going into November and I knew that if I was going to pull this project off I would need to get the pre-production phase largely done before Christmas! Therefore, I took to recycling previous Ideas that I had used in past projects. P.S. was the first short film script that I had written for submission in the Planning and Making a Film module, but had decided against submitting it as it was very complicated – it was complicated because it dealt with telepathy.

Imagine a world where all human consciousness was connected together like wifi.

I had written P.S. about telepathy because telepathy is something that has always interested me and I have always wondered what the world would be like if it actually existed. Therefore, as it was an abandoned script I felt that it made sense to give that concept a second chance and I realised that the complicated nature of something like telepathy meant that there were innumerable stories that could be told about it – therefore, it would serve as an exceedingly good overarching concept for an ongoing story. Also, the idea of putting thinking and looking together immediately seemed like a very natural idea. Telepathy is also a very unconventional subject that does not get covered much and I saw it as offering the potential for experimentation in the way that a story could be told around it. I was sold.

EYES Series Bible

This is a document that provides an overview for the EYES web series concept proposal. It details the story-world rules, story lines, characters, the target audience, the format, thematic focus and artistic/film formulaic style.

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.

My 366 Project: Day 325

20/11/2012. Mike Johnston lent me this book; he didn't say why but I suspect he had good reason to.

This was originally posted on my blog: 366 FRAMES 2012.

This Sounds Familiar

An Interview With the Creators of the web series Glitch.

Much of this sounds familiar, apart the published part.

Choosing Your Own Adventure

The Writer's Guide to Making a Digital Living

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 resources in Australia and beyond. 

Mike J. gave me this. It is definitely worth a look!

Ramblers

Ramblers - A web series about coffee, comics and geeking out.

Tom, Dave, Dan and Ben are four twenty-something geeks living in Manchester. Together, they exist in a world of comics, coffee, sci-fi and miniature golf. Realising the days between university and becoming a 'real person' are flying by, they ask themselves the question: "Did the Rebel Alliance send a medical frigate to the battle against the second Death Star as a propaganda stunt?"

No money. No responsibility. No problem.

  

Tish posted the Ramblers Facebook page link in my Facebook group. She knows the people who made it, which may come in handy in future! For the time being, though, I'm just going to watch it and start taking notes on the web series form.

People and Pitches

Here I discuss dealing with other people, elevator pitches and three project proposals. 

The focus of today’s seminar was 'dealing with people' and how, whether we like it or not, we would have to deal with them at some point during our CE projects. It’s was all pretty obvious and I have no problem working with other people (as long as their not lazy). However, the profiling we did of ourselves (I was green) was very useful in allowing us to see how different mentalities can actually complement each other! We also touched upon CVs and, while there were some good pointers on layout, it was mostly stuff I’ve already covered.

The main point I was hoping/dreading we would touch upon was creating loglines (elevator pitches) for our projects. I’m fully aware that I am useless at explaining anything constructive to a stranger, if I have not prepared it in advance. Certainly, this exercise was designed to allow us to compile a succinct synopsis of our projects, which we could then present to other people.

Using twenty words, we had to write out what our project was and make it sound as exciting as possible. Using project proposal 1 (My blog that investigates the work of industry established filmmakers) I found it increasingly hard to put down its purpose in twenty, exciting words (which may be an indication to drop the project). Therefore, I tried my hand with project proposal 3 (Transmedia web series) and this is what I came up with:

“Through planning out an overall web series and producing the pilot episode, my project is an exploration of transmedia storytelling.”

I don’t think it sounds terribly exciting, but it is only twenty words! Although, when I presented it to the class, the response I got was very positive. They said it did sound exciting, but I think that is mainly because they didn’t know what ‘transmedia’ meant (I didn’t). I was quite struck by just how positive people were towards proposal 3. In addition to this, when I discussed all three of my proposals with the table I was sat at there responses were much more positive towards proposal 3, opposed to proposals 1 and 2 (Making a short film to investigate what is required of a director, packaged together as a means of application for postgraduate study).

Out of the three, I would be lying if I said 3 wasn’t the most promising proposal and, following on from the positive reactions I’ve had to it, I’m thinking this could very well be the project I end up doing. I don’t want to entirely rule out the other two, because there may still be life in them. However, In terms of pushing myself academically towards a career and delivering a project that meets the criteria of the module I couldn’t go wrong with proposal 3.

For next week I have to create a ‘background context report’ and I’m going to have to do it for all three proposals (I’ve shot myself in the foot here). However, by establishing what the contexts my projects can work in I’ll be closer to deciding which one I want to do. I also suspect proposal 3 will operate in the most contexts and, therefore, be the best project to pursue. I won’t give up on the other two quite yet, though (Although, subconsciously, I think I already have).

The Short Film is Dead!

The Short Film is Dead: Time for the Emerging Filmmaker to Get a New Calling Card - NoFilmSchool

Filmmaking is full of traditions. These traditions are the “way things are done,” they are what is “expected,” they are “industry standard,” they are “default” and “accepted.” This is all fine and dandy until we recognise the innate implication of such Traditions is to imply Right and Wrong – that there is a correct way to do things and deviations are “incorrect,” not “acceptable” or, worse still, not “professional.”

This is a very interesting and eye opening article which follows on from what I was saying about Transmedia and my meeting with Mike Johnston. 

Transmedia and Web Series

Here I discuss the storytelling possibilities of Transmedia and my meeting with Mike Johnston 12/10/2012.

I wanted to discuss my Creative Enterprise Project proposals with Mike Johnston because, being the tutor who assessed me for Planning and Making a Film, I knew he would provide some good advice. Boy, did he! I sat there talking with him for an hour (he did most of the talking).

I started off telling him what I had said to Mimi, in regards, to what I wanted to do after Uni – that I just want to tell stories through filmmaking and that I want to make a short film for my CE project. I also told him about my concern over being marked for making a short film again and how this could clash with Planning and Making a Film, but he said not to worry too much.

The key point he made - he has no doubt that I am capable of making an engaging short film (which was immensely reassuring to me). However, if I wanted to tell stories there are other ways in which I could do it and in areas that would allow me to branch out and explore the industry, which is what the CEP module criteria encourages.

He introduced me to a phrase I had never heard before: Transmedia Storytelling, which, if you want an example, is what the modern series of Doctor Who is doing. Doctor Who is transmedia storytelling because it tells its stories not just through the television episodes, but through novels, webisodes, comics, etc. You also have vast amounts of content detailing the behind the scenes information, toys, merchandise, conventions, fan fiction, podcasts, blogs, websites and the Doctor Who Experience. Transmedia storytelling is your basic exploitation of a franchise by its overseers and by its fans to tell stories across multiple platforms. I mean, I’m doing it now! If I do make a short film it would link to what I’m writing now, because I’m writing the story of how it came about, right now. Blimey, that makes my head hurt!

The reason why Mike flagged it up to me is because this is still a new, emerging area that is crying out for people to produce content. If I could somehow plug my CE project into this area it would bring in the marks and act as a good springboard for employment.

However, he voiced the same anxiety I have strolling around the back of my head – is making a short film going to push my skills enough to get a good mark for the module, get me the employment I want after Uni or act as a good application for postgraduate study?

Making a short film would be an incredibly inward way of approaching the module because, on it’s own, it doesn’t really allow me to explore outside the module in to the wider arena of the Creative Media Industry. Mike, quite rightly, said that no one has made a career out of just making short films. They’ll make one or two short films as their stylistic calling cards and then go on to other things, such as feature filmmaking, documentary making or television production, etc. These are not bad outcomes but the way in which stories are told is changing and the short film format on it’s own is becoming old fashioned. The way stories are told will change even more once television and the internet are the same thing (it’s going to happen), let’s not even move onto what’s going to happen to cinema (hopefully, IMAX will still be around once the multiplexes have vanished).

Mike argued, by doing a CE project that is concerned with transmedia storytelling, such as producing a pilot webisode for a short web series and promoting it on line, I would be demonstrating real forward-thinking and would be employing all the skills he has already seen me demonstrate. Mike has also supplied me with some links and resources, which I’m going to have a look at.

At the moment Eyes is still only a proto-idea, it is not a full-fledge plot for either a fiction short film or a mockumentary short film. Therefore, there is no reason why it can’t be developed for another format; even if it is across multiple formats.

The fact of the matter is, I’m betting everything I have on this final year and going all in! This year will probably break me but it also needs to make me and the CEP is my opportunity to really demonstrate what I can do. The question is do I do something that may not push me far enough, such as making a short film?

Mike even said it’s possible for me to use the Uni’s resources after (if) I graduate. I have already considered using the May/June period to make a short film, so that is also possibility. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to make a short film, but actually the options I have available to me are vast and varied. All I know is I have to make something for this module – it’s inside me and it’s crying out to be made!

However, I am not saying that I have abandoned the short film; I may even be able to combine aspects of the transmedia option with it. As I said to Mike: “I need ideas to make new ideas”. Therefore, I’m going to keep developing the story of Eyes and keep acquiring new suggestions for other roads I could take my CE project down. The initial proposal isn’t due until just before Christmas and even then it can be altered. For the time being, I’m just going to keep feeding my brain new ideas and options and see what wonderful new combinations it can make from them.