REFLECTIN'

What did you expect? 
I honestly have no idea what I expected. The two or three weeks leading up the festival I actually sort of stopped thinking about it, if only because I knew I would freak myself out tremendously. There gets to a point where you literally cannot prepare enough. But, I guess I expected that it would just generally be harder, more complicated, and way more hectic. I totally did not expect that I would be able to actually enjoy most of the festival and the work that that class did together to make it possible. 


What surprised you? 
How smoothly everything went!! Everything ended up way exceeding my expectations. In particular the conferences, having to attended that many, I wasn't sure what to expect, but everything scholar was super engaging and the audience was very engaged. There was slightly more diversity in the audience than I expected, and I was surprised when people would only show up for one or two things, or leave in the middle. There were, by no means, very many that did that, but the few that did surprised me. Who would spend money and not participate in the entire event?!? Kiva was amazing, hands down. 
Oh! Something that did surprise me a lot: When Shannon went up at the very beginning of the day to introduce the event and got all the Visions staff to stand, I totally got a little overwhelmed and teared up some. Way to go Shannon! 
Also! How appreciative everyone was! That made me feel so great, all the compliments from all the different people.


What would you differently?
There were a few things that I thought of during the festival, but of course I was too distracted to remember to write them down.....
Personally, I wish that I had been more involved in the set up, I feel like I could have helped more with that sort of stuff, but at the same time, it didn't seem like anyone was scrambling or seeking out extra help. I also wish that I had mingled more, I definitely made sure to say hi to everyone that I knew, but again, I was distracted by enjoying the event that I kind of forgot to actively put myself out there socially. I also wish there were more pictures, but I understand that there wasn't the best lighting etc. 


What would you do the same? 
The dinner in the courtyard was AWESOMEE!! We definitely should do that again, and invite me plzzz. So was the after party so were the filmmakers/scholars so was the class so was pretty much freakin everything. 

<3 you guys.

Week 11

3/18-3/26

Departmental Meeting: 1.5 hrs
Meeting with Shannon: 15 mins
Class visits: 20 mins
Email to Aramark: 10 mins
Drafting poster email: 30 mins
Creating contact list: 30 mins
Sending emails: 30 mins



THE FINAL COUNTDOWN!!!

All of the plans are (mostly) in place, now it is time to execute! Final push for registration and outreach and preparing mentally for the day of event! I cannot believe that one week from today we will begin to pick up our filmmakers and scholars. I know that there are small fires in many places, and we are scrambling for time with some things, which is nerve-wracking, but I don't know, there is no way that this event will not happen, will not run the way we want it to. The pressure is on and as some people's jobs are waning, others to amping up big time.

Week 10

3/12- 3/19

Departmental Meeting: 1 hr

Meeting w Steven about posters: 20 min

Meeting w Steven& Jill: 1 hr

Hawk e-news/campus activities research/sign up: 1 hr

FST 204 Class visit: 15 min
M&S Class Visit: 2 hrs

We're so close!!!! I can barely contain my excitement. Now it's to the nitty gritty finale and setting of details. These next two classes/weeks will be about bringing everything together, finalizing everything and making it all tangible. I am putting all my research into action for the final stretch, talking to classes, setting up solicitation tables and getting my brain ready for the day of the event. For the class visits I am going to try to emphasize the video race and the networking opportunities that Visions gives filmmakers and scholars. I keep running the day through my head, I don't think I can really fathom how it is going to go, but think the adrenaline and excitement will be up full force. And, I really like the tshirts. 

Week 8& 9

2/26-3/5-3/12
I decided to put these two weeks together, since one of them was spent Spring Breaking. 

Blog/Crew Evals: 1 hr
Copying Wilmington contacts: 30 min
Finding contacts: 1 hr
Departmental meeting: 1 hr
Watch past Visions films: 2.5 hrs
M&S initial meeting: 30 min
M&S crew meeting: 20 min
M&S crew planning: 1 hr
Outreach calendar/update: 1.5 hrs


We're in the final stretch! It's exciting and stressful at the same time. Now it's down to the last details, thousands of tiny things to keep track of and remember. This is the time when time management skills are the most useful. I just need to remember to stay focused on one thing at a time and not let the big picture overwhelm me too much. And keep making lists, everywhere.

Things I need to do and focus on this week:
Reserve tables week of Visions, figure out flyers and giveaways
stay on top of class visits (make sure they all have representatives)
nail down Hawk e-news/campus activities 
meet with Jill/Steven about mail out posters-- who/how many?
talk talk talk it up.

Week 7

2/19-2/26
Departmental meeting: 1.5hrs
Outreach research/presentation making: 2.5 hrs
CFEFF Bakesale: 3 hrs
Talking with Zoe about Outreach: 20 min
Scheduling M&S meeting: 10 min


This week was relatively light, which was really nice for me; it's given me some time to recoup and meditate on my upcoming tasks without stressing too, too much on them. I will continue to put most of my focus on furthering outreach and figuring out a solid strategy to put in the manual and pass onto my predecessor. 

I think that my next step is exactly that, I need to really think about specifically what I'm trying to do and make it easier to wrap my head around. I need to make a very detailed weekly schedule/plan, which should help with that, and I need to finish compiling a list of contacts in the greater wilmington area and on our campus. For the rest of the month I will be working more closely with Anna and Audra, Anna to send out invites and help Audra set up events and market them. I also need to get in contact with Campus Activities and see what we need to do to get Visions on the weekly events hawk e-news (or whatever it's called) that goes out to ALL of the uncw students. 

Also, Michelle, who asked me to help with her breast cancer event, has decided that she would like to have an outdoor movie and a fundraiser, which means that it can't really be a Visions event. Although I would have liked having a Visions outdoor movie, I think that showing our support for her will do well with outreach. I'm thinking that if we stay away from advertising the event for her, but have four-ups, or something, at the event, that might work. No matter, I am going to try to give her as much help as possible, and hopefully everyone, including Visions, will benefit from it. 

Week 6

2/15-2/19
Departmental meeting: 1.5 hrs
Paper reading: 4 hrs
Revisiting films: 2 hrs
Baking/making it look pretty: 2.5 hrs
Bakesale hangin': 2 hrs
Chalking: 2 hrs
Picking up Equip: 15 mins


The bakesale was awesommeeeee, I'm super happy and proud that we were able to raise so much money. Audra did an absolutely wonderful job planning everything. I loved that it felt like a big group hangout, which definitely helps give of the fun vibes we've been going for. 

Although our last few classes have been crazy long, I have to say that now that we have our programming figured out, the event seems so tangible. I know we have a lot more work to do, but I'm, like, super excited now. Everything seems to be coming together (knock on wood), I can see how all the cogs are working.

Now I need to begin the final push for outreach. I will up my research of other festivals and continue talking to other FST majors and people at our school to see what their thoughts, what they want to see, and what they already know about Visions (if at all). I also need to start focusing on the greater Wilmington community. I still think we should focus more specifically on our own department and campus, but I also need to make sure I don't forget  Wilmington as a whole... I plan on looking to the class for a lot of help on this as well, especially for ideas and feedback. 

Pro/Con Papers

13 Ways of Looking at Bill Murray:
Cons: There's a lot, but mostly, this just is not a scholarly article. There are no sources! It even contradicts itself! There aren't even 13 ways of looking at him...
Pros: It is entertaining, if only because Bill Murray really is awesome.

Transmedia Adaptation in the Work of Orson Welles
Cons: I found this paper kind of boring, and I'm not sure I got why transmedia adaptation was important, only the comparison between the play and the film. This would really only be an interesting presentation if the writer showed us the script and/or pictures from the play alongside the film.
Pros: It is well written, although a little redundant, and he does do a good job of drawing from multiple sources and providing specific examples.

A Radical Expedition of Cinema's Birthplace
Cons: Excessive use of jargon. This writer obviously owns a thesaurus and likes the word indubitably. The introduction feels very long to me, and I feel like the paper could have been a little shorter and still get the point across.
Pros: However, it is well written and I found the content very interesting. I totally get the comparison being made, there is a good use of sources and specific examples and it really makes me want to see the film.

Cinematic Expression of Ghosts in Japanese Film
Cons: Very redundant and doesn't seem to actually make a point. There was not enough context for the films or the ghost stories. Also, there is some weird grammar in there.
Pros: I like that the writer provided pictures and I would be interested in seeing the video clips that go a long with the film.

Murders Unavenged
Cons: A little boring, it will be interesting to see what this writers plans to show in the presentation. Also, there are a few grammatical errors, mostly typos.
Pros: It's very well written, he uses good specific examples and appropriate sources. For the most part, I understood the point he was trying to get across.

Irreversible and Techniques of Looking
Cons: I wish he explained what exactly masculine sympathy is supposed to look like earlier on in the paper, I feel like it wasn't really addressed until the end. I also wish that he had talked more about the female directors in this sort of genre
Pros: It's very well written and I appreciate that it works to actually focus on the techniques and formal concepts. I'm hoping he wouldn't show the 9 minute rape scene though, I understand that it's important to the paper and should be studied, I just don't really want to see it unless I choose to.

Blues Brothers & Bollywood Masala
Cons: The structure of the paper is confusing, the thesis statement was not presented until the 6th page of the paper, over halfway through. The writer presented the specific examples first, and then, much later, how the apply to Bollywood cinema, so it seemed disjointed. 
Pros: It is an interesting and original topic, and I agree that it is beneficial to reexamine films in different contexts. Also the Blues Brothers are a sort of universally loved film. 

The Unfilmable Lightness of Being
Cons: It's very long, so I would be worried that the presentation would go over 20 minutes easily. Because there is so much detail and context given, it gets a little wordy
Pros: However, I also really appreciate how much detail it goes into; I feel like this paper actually taught me something. Although there are a few typos, this paper reads like a scholarly article that could be assigned in a class

Multi-Screen Film
Cons: Although I understand the broad topic, I felt that there was no real thesis statement and it is unclear if the writer is trying to make an argument or just compare two films that use multi screen projection. I felt there should have been a more solid claim.
Pros: The content/topic is interesting and original. I am curious to see how this would be presented, and I think looking at film exhibition, esp. in installations, would contrast nicely with the other papers.

Cinema Du Corps
Cons:   
Pros:

Boys Will Be Girls
Cons:
Pros:

Storybooks and Female Empowerment
Cons: Mostly just nit-picky stuff; I wish the paper were not single spaced and I would be worried that it would exceed 20 minutes
Pros: It's well written and researched. Even though Pan's Labyrinth is a more common topic film, it's because it's so interesting, and it's still balanced by the other film, which I had never heard of. I'm also all about female empowerment.