EYES - A Web Series Concept Proposal Package

EYES is an experimental, dramatic, surrealistic, cognitive web series concept proposal package that is a reflexive expression of contemporary networking attitudes and their implications on our ways of being. The project was orchestrated as my final year creative enterprise project/practical dissertation. With this project I have endeavoured to create a highly progressive concept for a web series story-world; in addition to providing an example of the storytelling potentials offered by the emerging web series medium and of a larger transmedia entity.

When I officially submitted the project for examination on the 20th May, 2013 it was unfinished. However, as my guiding tutor, Kate Pullinger, commented: "These materials are comprehensive and strong, showing a close attention to detail throughout... verging on the overwhelming, from an assessor's point of view." EYES went on to be awarded the highest mark of the 2012-13 Creative Enterprise Project module!

The Project Components

• A Series Bible document that provides an overview for the EYES web series concept proposal. It details the story-world rules, storylines, characters, target audience, format, thematic focus and artistic/film formulaic style. 

• A Pilot Episode (Episode One: "Search Me") that is a seven minute introductory episode that establishes the form, tone, story and main characters of the EYES web series story-world. Ultimately, the pilot is an expression of the dramatic, surrealistic and cognitive ideas detailed in the Series Bible.

• A Planning Portfolio document that is an 11,000 word detailed overview of the research, planning and administration I conducted for the project. 

• EYES of a Storyteller is the blog/portfolio that I have been using to chronicle and reflect on the development of the entirety of the EYES project; as well as hosting the plethora of materials generated for the project.

Originally there were two additional components of the project - a Mock-Up Trailer and an original Video-Centric Website - but these were abandoned due to a lack of time. For more on the project's development, see the vlog posts and my final reflection. 

People like me have something inside... something to do with film.

My full range of roles included: Creator, Showrunner, Researcher, Writer, Director, Director of Photography, Editor and Co-Producer. In terms of the workload I would rather not have fulfilled all of these roles, but I did so as EYES provided an opportunity for me to demonstrate that I was capable of executing all of these skills. However, I was not the sole practitioner of this project, see project members.

While I do not intend to continue the EYES project as an ongoing web series in itself, I have presented the entirety of the project on this blog/portfolio as a record of the experimentation and research I conducted while orchestrating the project and how that experimentation and research has allowed me to grow as a storyteller, a researcher and a filmmaker. Ultimately, in addition to Ways of Being: The Spectator and the Spectacle, this blog/portfolio exists as a testament to the knowledge and experience I have acquired as a result of undertaking my undergraduate degree, BA (Hons) Creative Writing with Film and Screen Studies, and my proactive abilities as a creative progressive thinker; as my final year tutor, Mike Johnston, commented: “I can't help but feel your careful consideration and reflection has developed formidable power. I wish that all my students had a fraction of your application and drive to dig deeper."

Additionally, if you would like to contact me to query me on anything that is one this blog/portfolio or would like to discuss potential future opportunities and/or collaborations, then please do so via the contact page and I will endeavour to get back to you as soon as possible.

EYES is a mystery wrapped in an enigma contained within a Rubik cube.

I hope you enjoy exploring the project and making sense of EYES, it has certainly been a pleasure to orchestrate!


Peter O'Brien,
02/10/2013,
Bath, UK.

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.

Updated Blog/Portfolio Banner Graphic

The updated blog/portfolio banner graphic.

As I am in the process of bringing this project to its conclusion, I have updated to the banner to include slightly more information than was on the first one. I believe all the information I have included on this new banner graphic is enough to get any new visitors off and running in relation to what the EYES project entails. It still retains the slightly disjointed aesthetic of the previous banner, as this dis-jointed aesthetic is an integral component of the entire EYES web series concept. As I was not able to build a separate website to act as the project portfolio, the blog now fulfills that purpose and, as such, the banner graphic has also become a hybrid of the 'EYES Web Series' and 'EYES of a Storyteller' components and identities. Ultimately, I am pleased with this result.

I did also receive some feedback that the banner graphic was too tall and occupied too much of the screen; therefore, making it difficult to tell when a new page on the blog had loaded, because the graphic appears on the header of each page. While I did try to re-crop the image, it remains (mostly) the same dimensions because compositionally it just did not work any other way. In this case, I have reverted to and trust the photographer mindset I employed when I first photographed this self-portrait back in October 2012. However, to counter the problem of someone not being sure as to whether the page has changed, I have included "scroll down to find out more" in the bottom left hand corner, as an incentive and reminder to scroll down.

The previous blog/portfolio banner graphic.

EYES Vlog Update 19: A Re-Introduction

Clarification on what the EYES web series project is and its ongoing status.

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 Pilot

Due to the extraodinary workload of this module and my other two modules (Documentary Making and Film Dissertation), I have not been able to complete a final cut of the EYES Pilot Episode. However, this is not something I will apologise for and I do not believe that it is detrimental to overall success of my project. In fact, I would rather submit a rough cut and openly admit it was a rough cut, instead of trying to submit something that I was pretending was a final cut. A good editing job requires 80% of the overall production time! For more of my reasoning in this respect, see the vlog below.

The primary reason I enrolled on the Creative Enterprise Module was so I could produce a film-like entity that I could put into my professional portfolio to demonstrate my theoretical and practical filmmaking skills. Therefore, the Pilot will endure long after I am finished with module and I fully intend to complete the Pilot episode. As much as I want to finish it, I have to finish it to ensure that the other members can use it to demonstrate their work, as I promised. Myself and Daniel are already planning out when we are going to meet up for additional sound design session. 

Therefore, while I have not a fully complete project for the module, the module has enabled me to create a project and a mindset that will endure beyond it. Surely, this is the point of the module. 

As this is a rough cut, the current state of the picture and sound are indicative in terms of layout and style, they are by no means representative of the final presentation quality. 

Below I have embedded rough cut 2, the most up to date edit of the Pilot and rough cut 1 that features some of the intended sound design for the final cut. The final video is my reflective commentary on the Pilot and the overall EYES web series concept, this video provides many explanations.

The Springpad Notebooks

Springpad is something that I have been using a for about two years now, as I read a lot of online articles I find it to be a very good tool for storing the articles I would like to reference later on. Therefore, I have used it to store resources on all of my University work and I have been using it to keep track of all the resources and research I have done for the EYES project and the Creative Enterprise Project module. To this end, I consider the Springpad notebooks to form a part of my project's appendix and they should be reviewed as such!


The notebooks and their items can be viewed in the following embedded windows. Alternatively, you can view my Springpad homepage.











Below I have also embedded the notebooks for my two other final year modules: Documentary Making and Film Dissertation, as the research I did for these has had a very direct impact on the work I have done as part of the Creative Enterprise Module, and vice versa.

EYES Pilot - Rough Cut 2 - Reflective Commentary

EYES Vlog Update 16: Target Audience

Weekly CE Projects Sync

Due to our working together for One Door Opened, our second year assessed short film, Matt, Tish and myself have banded together to assist each other with our Creative Enterprise Projects. As such,  I have insisted thatt each week we meet up to have a meeting, no matter what!

An extract of the one of the meeting agendas I prepared.

I call these meetings our Weekly CE Projects Sync as it gives each of us an opportunity to discuss the progress of our projects and for the other members to make suggestions. I've found these meetings to be really useful because of their general support and, more importantly, for the feedback they generate. 

The Agendas and Minutes I wrote for these meetings can be viewed here.

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.

My 366 Project: Day 318

13/11/2012. Today has all been about my Creative Enterprise Project.

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

Photo of a Draining Sink Looks Like an Eye

Photo of a Draining Sink Looks Like an Eye

I was filled with joy when this showed up in my Facebook newsfeed! Random elements that come to together to represent something else vastly more meaningful - this is exactly what EYES is about.

It's even got the black and white tone I've been going for in the EYES promotional material I've already created.

I love it how there are similar things out there that creep popping it. It's like EYES is really out there and keeps finding me to inspire and motivate me to continue with the project.

Social Media is One Big Coctail Party

Social Media is One Big Coctail Party
 
Apply the same skills that you might use to work the room of a cocktail party to build the right relationship with your followers and fans.




This made for a good read; especially in regards to online advertising. The article was comprised of five key points:

- Listen first and never stop listening.
- Tell don't sell.
- Be authentic and transparent.
- Respond to everybody.
- Be valuable. 

It certainly makes for a good argument to treat online networking more like real life social interaction and less like a business transaction. I will follow this advice while promoting EYES and Remember This.

EYES Overview - Postive Feedback

Feedback like this is always welcome.

As I wanted to get preproduction on the Pilot episode moving I put together a brief overview of EYES so that Matt (my Producer) and Tish (Production Manager) would know what it was all about and if they wanted a part of it. I think the screen capture speaks for itself. 

H+ The Digital Series

Here is a web series that has some serious money and ideas behind it. I won't lie there are a lot of parallels between this and EYES. I'm letting it be known now that I thought up EYES before watching this. I've also become hooked to this series - it's AMAZING! I will certainly endeavour to top it with EYES.

EYES - A Panic and a Breakthrough

Here I'll discuss the progress of my web series EYES.

I already discussed a great deal about my the orignal idea for the EYES short film, then about whether I should do it as a mockumentary or fiction short film and then how I considered developing the EYES proto-idea into a web series.

Well, now I have decided to develop the EYES idea into a web series - this is 99.9% what I want to do! However, the nature of a web series is it tells an ongoing story and I have been having some toruble developing the EYES idea beyond its intial proto-idea state. By this, I mean it was not presenting broad enough ideas to satify an ongoing narrative.

Suffice to say that when everyone had to present their ideas to the the module group in this week's seminar, I was in a state of panic. A state of panic that was helped by Mimi telling us that he if we wanted to change our projects then now was the time. 

I presented my idea, pretty much the same as I had presented it the week before. I also added in that I was looking to get Creative Writing students on board to write some of the episodes.

In hindsight, I'm glad I kept to my guns because that night my brain kicked itself into gear.

Love a breakthrough.

Not only do I now have a story for a season, but for two more seasons besides and a vision of the whole universe that these stories opperate in. 

I see you

Watch this space, things are going to start getting very strange.

The Web Series to End All Web Series

This is a fan made series that bridges the gap between The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. It's also further proof of the potential of the web series format and how it is allowing the user to get involved in the storytelling proces.

Money and Time

Here I'll discuss the financial considerations of my Creative Enterprise Project and the time I'm going to invest into it.

Yesterday's CEP preparation session was on financial considerations. I've never been one for Maths so it was pretty dull. However, some good points were offered in regards to maintaining a good hold on the finances of our CE projects.  

Good points raised:

• Keep a balance sheet. Record the project income and expenditure.
• Record all finances, no matter how small.
• If you gain a resource for free find out how much it would have cost and add that cost to money the project income.  
• Work out the millage, not the amount of petrol purchased. 
• Increasing my contacts is an investment.
• Establish speculative profits.
• Good catering always brings people back. I'm in charge of the catering for Remember This. 
• My time is valuable! I would argue that my time is more valuable than money, seeing how I don't actually have any money.
• Maths is very painful! The finance seminar backed up an argument I read about the day before: Maths problems Can Be Physically Painful.

These things are just as rare as those things you invest your time in and then get paid for.

I'm a student and (this year in particular) I've got used to surviving on next to no money. Not for one second do I ever think my project will make any money. That is not what I'm concerned with, I just want to improve my skills and put together a good portfolio. However, the financial considerations are part of the module criteria and I know I'll get a higher mark if I do include them, so that is exactly what I'm going to do! I will keep a record of the money going in and out of my project.

Another thing I'm going to start keeping a record of is the time I invest into my project; as I've already said, I consider my time more valuable than money. To this end, at the end of each week, I'm going to post on this blog how much time I invested into my project over each week. I'll also go back through my Google calendar and work out how much time I've already invested.