Time Invested: 01/11/2012 - 27/11/2012.

Here I record the amount of time I have invested into my CE Project so far.

In my Money and Time post I said that I was going to start keeping track of the time I invest in my project. 

Thus far, between 01/11/2012 - 27/11/2012, I have invested a whopping:

89.7 hours!

However, this figure is only representative of what I was able to deduce from my Google Calendar, I know I have invested a lot more besides. Therefore, to avoid losing track of the time I am investing I have created a Time Invested Google Docs spreadsheet that I'm going to update daily from now on.

My 366 Project: Day 332

27/11/2012. I learnt a new trick today. If you have work to do: do it standing up. You get SO much more done, it's unbelievable!

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

My 366 Project: Day 329

24/11/2012. This is what my life has come to, I'm so busy these days If I want to watch a film I have to do it while I'm working. Tonight's work-film combination is EYES Pilot script draft 2 and 'Blade Runner' workprint.

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

10 Reasons Independent Filmmakers Can Be Thankful 2012

10 Reasons Independent Filmmakers Can Be Thankful 2012

All good reasons :)

First Impressions: The Science of Meeting People

First Impressions: The Science of Meeting People

A strong handshake and assertive greeting may not be the best way to make a good first impression. New research suggests that people respond more positively to someone who comes across as trustworthy rather than confident.

This is a very informative and reassuring article. Definitely worth a read if you want to learn how to more accurately read people and create better first impressions.

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 Land of Puddings

Here is a short montage that I had to produce for a Documentary assignment, the aim of which was to use Clara Butt's recording of Land of Hope and Glory and juxtaposition to create an alternative ironic reality. I was in a very black mood when I put this together and I like to think it conveys some of the darker elements of the EYES Pilot script that I was writing at the same time. 

My 366 Project: Day 323

18/11/2012. Nearly have the episode 1 script ready for the core production team.

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

7 reasons you WON’T get a first - Challenge Accepted!

7 reasons you WON’T get a first

Check out of list of seven things you're doing that will stop you from getting that coveted first class degree...

Article, when I have been awarded a first - you have my permission to die!

My 366 Project: Day 319

14/11/2012. Filming a new video diary in between auditions for Remember This.

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. 

My 366 Project: Day 317

12/11/2012. From today's makeup test for Remember This.

My 366 Project: Day 315

10/11/2012. "That gum you like is going to come back in style."

Twin Peaks.

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

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.

Email Signature

My email signature.

I used the wisestamp app to make this today. This will now appear at the bottom of any email I send and will allow any reader of my emails to access my online profiles and projects. Once I've got an appropriate link up and running I'll also add that I'm the "Creator of EYES". Hopefully, this will enable my online content to reach further afield; as well as making me look very professional.

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.

My 366 Project: Day 311

06/11/2012. Today, I had some major breakthroughs with the story for my creative enterprise project web series. It is developing into a very, very, VERY strange tale!

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

Time Management, Part 1

Here I discuss how good time management has been making my life more enjoyable.

Time management was the only area in my skills survey that Mimi identified as needing improving upon. I’ve never really been one for schedules; I’m more for completely disregarding everything else until I’ve got what I’m working on done. To this end, she suggested that I book myself onto the time management workshop offered by the University’s Academic Writing and Learning Centre. However, the time management workshop was not in the list of the upcoming workshops, so I switched to my tried and tested approach of teaching myself.

Naturally, I started with Google and the first link that came up was: 20 Quick Tips for Better Time Management. I had a good look through it and the links it suggests to look at. Overall, I’ve been attempting to integrate all of the article's tips into my life, but I won’t bore you by going through all them. Instead I will just discuss on the one’s that are having the most impact.
 

Google Calendar

I absolutely love Google and the whole array of free services they offer: Gmail, Google+, Google Drive, Picasa Web Albums, YouTube, Blogger, Google Chrome, Google Dictionary, Google Reader, Google Scholar, etc (see Google Products).

The Google Products I use most often.

But Google Calendar is something I have always shied away from. Last year I used it to record the deadlines of my assignments, but that was it. 

My year 2 Google Calnedar. Bleak isn't it.

However, now that I’ve started using it to plan my days out thoroughly my life has completely changed! Now it feels like someone else is in charge of this busy life I occupy. Google Calendar is my new best friend!  

My year 3 Google Calendar.

Since using it:

• I feel less stressed. 
• I feel more in control of my life.  
• I feel like I’ve achieved more at the end of the day.  
• I feel like I’ve achieved more at the end of the week. 
• It allows me to put other people in their place and for me not to give away my time too freely. 
• I don’t forget appointments. 
• It allows me to see what commitments are not getting enough of my time. 
• It allows me to see which commitments are taking up too much of my time.  
• I feel like I might actually make it through this final year, just as long as I stick to my Google Calendar! 

Google Tasks/To-Do list

My Google Tasks.

Google Calendar comes packaged with a to-do list function and after I started to get more comfortable with using Google Calendar I started to use Google Tasks.

On a more minute and mangaeble level, a to-do list allows you to break down a task into its basic required actions. So to write this blog post, I didn't just put "write blog post" on my Creative Enterprise Project to-do list (left). Instead I broke it down into four tasks:

1. Identify specific areas to talk about.  
2. Write post. 
3. Proofread post.  
4. Publish post.

By breaking the task up I was able to make it more manageble because I assigned different parts of the task to different days. I did "identify specific areas to talk about" on Saturday 3rd November and the other three tasks on Sunday 4th November. This allowed me to avoid doing the two biggest parts of the post: planning it and writing it, one after the other. It proved a lot less stressful that way.

Google Tasks allows you to assign specific tasks on to specifc days of your Google Calendar.

I've started to break down all of my University related tasks in this way. Although, because my single to-do list was getting very overcrowded, it has meant that I've had to assign a to-do list to each of my modules, which is taking a bit of getting use to.


Timeboxing

Timeboxing is where you assign a specific amount of time to a task. I was slightly wary of this one, becasue I hate leaving anything unfinished.

What I've found, though, is as long a I don't allow myself to be distracted while doing a task, my subconious forces me to stick to the time limit and pushes me to finish what I need to get finished in the time limit. I'm amazed how easily I have taken to this concept and how much it has already benefitted my work flow.


Perfectionism

This is one I've alwasy been guilty of; for me a task is never done, even when it is done. Being a perfectionist is time consuming work and one of the aims I had for this year was to become less of a perfectionist, so it was just as well when it popped up in the article (see this Perftionist article).

This I want to achieve because it will reduce the amount of time I spend on one task and increase my overal workflow. This is especially important to me because on top of my CE Project and this blog I have numerous other things that demand an equal amount of my time in the final year. 

The perils of being a perfectionsit.

In regards to this, I've been following the example I've set in my writing - just getting it done! There was a time when I would spend hours writing something that was truly minute in the grand scheme of things. Now, though, I write almost completely stream-of-conciousness all the time (which is hell of a lot faster) and then I edit it later.

If I stand any chance this yeat then my attitude has to be: let's just get the job done!



Learning to say "No"

One of the annoying things about the final year of University is this when you start getting offers for things all the things you want to do. The only problem is you get them from left, right, center and all at the same time! 

Stress relief.

I learnt this one the hard way when I agreed to make one final video for my Video Producing job at the Bath Institute of Medical Engineering. I filmed four hours of footage and then realised I didn't have enough free time to edit my through it, so I had to drop the assignment. Really, I should have looked ahead and said "no" when they first sent the task my way. I am glad I said "no" when I realised I had bitten off more than I could chew, opposed to just doing it and stressing out. 

I'm not Superman (I'm Batman).

Certainly, this is a good skill to nature and one I plan to continue doing so. However, I have to be equally careful not to say "no" to something that might actually benefit me and/or something I'm working on in the log run. Thinking things through is the key here and not to feel always obliged to say "yes".

An Inforgraphic on Time Management.

In Conclusion

The five items I have outlined here are not the only areas that I have taken from the 20 Quick Tips for Better Time Management article, but they are the ones which have proven to be used most prominantly in my life, so far.

What I have gained from maintaining good time management is a less stressful and more stable lifestyle. Therefore, it is something that I'm going to keep doing with the aim of improving further.

As I've already had slight instances of it, the one major factor I feel I need to be very careful of is not to let organising my time become my new form of procrastination! It I allow this to happen then I'm sunk.

Web Series Channel

Web Series Channel

Web Series Channel was created to answer a simple question? Where can I watch web series? Our mission is to provide a one stop shop to watch the latest and most popular web series online.

I think I'll be spending quite a bit of time on here doing research. It's good that there is a place which exists just to host online web series, this is very promising.

Escape My Life - Web Series

This is a very clever little web series designed to advertise "the all-new 2013 Ford Escape". This it does do, while also telling a very engaging and entertaining story. It reminds me of the BT commercials where each new advert is the next episode in the life of the BT family (now it's been spun-off to focus on the Son). I hope more commercials adopt this format, because I can't stand commercials as they are - a complete waste of my time.

This is a real gem!

My 366 Project: Day 308

The eye motif continues.

03/11/2012. The world's worst tumble dryer! You never know, three or four more spin cycles and my clothes might be dry.

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

Boost Your Writing Creativity with a Camera

Boost Your Writing Creativity with a Camera

As adults, we live busy lives. But if we are constantly busy, we will miss out on all the story ideas around us. And if we don’t write them down, we do forget them.

Some of us also find ourselves stuck for story ideas because, instead of looking to the world we live in for inspiration, we see the rushed, unromantic lives we’re living.

But it all depends on the point of view. Look at your life through the lens of a camera, and then suddenly things will start to look different.

I came across this article today. It seemed relevant to EYES so I've posted it on here.

My 366 Project: Day 306

01/11/2012. I started reading this today: the companion book to the documentary series. The subject matter sums up what I'm doing for my three final year modules - this is my new bible.

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