approach

A typical film crew involves people taking on certain roles and not going beyond those roles. For example, the writers only write, the producers only produce. I have coined the program I am bringing to camp as a "Community Digital Video Program" for my capstone. My role in this program is not the boss (the director), but a guide, someone who helps the kids push their ideas forward into stories and visual representations.

Having a group of about 12 Hill Campers to work with is ideal. The first few sessions will be getting familiar to the equipment. After everyone is comfortable using the equipment we will begin to talk about the steps we’re going to take as a group. Every camper will be given a small notepad to carry around with them to jot down ideas as they think of them outside of our meeting time. The following is a guide we’ll do our best to follow. But film can’t always be perfectly planned out. I can assure you there will be happy mistakes.

Step #1: Brainstorming (An actor enters through the door; you've got nothing. If he enters through a window, you've got a situation.-Billy Wilder)

I will lead a discussion and get the kids into a creative mode using exercises to help them think outside the box*. All ideas will be considered as we can make a film with multiple plots that we will figure out how to connect into one story. I will ask questions to make every scene exciting, such as
-What could happen next to make the audience’s jaw drop
-What traits could this character have to make it easier for the actor to portray?
-How could this character enter the film to make him/her unique?

* One exercise is to take a photograph and have them write a story outline in 3 minutes based on that single frame.

Step #2: Story Development(Life is too short for a long story.-Mary Wortley Montagu)

The next step is trying to piece the story together to make it the most exciting for the audience. There are many different ways to tell the same story; we will be discussing the order of what we reveal to the audience, perspective, timing and how these affect the film. This is also the time where we develop a loose script. A loose script means we will not write down every piece of dialogue, but order the scenes and describe in each scene:
-What happens
-What the characters learn
-What the audience learns
-How a character might change

Step #3: Character Development(If you create an act, you create a habit. If you create a habit, you create a character. If you create a character, you create a destiny.- Andre Maurois)

As a group we will discuss how to make the characters feel real. Good characters are going to make a story believable, no matter how far-fetched it may be. You have to think about everything that could make a character stand out. Little catch phrases, the way they talk, the way they walk, and how they act around other characters in the film will all be defined as best as possible.

Step #4: Casting/Location Scouting

After our characters are developed enough to be believable, it is time to find locations to shoot and actors to play our characters. The casting environment will be comfortable. No one will be negative, only helpful suggestions will be offered when changes need to made. I can coach any actor into delivering a good line. No prior experience is necessary. Locations are limited but we can talk about how tight shots can be blended with an establishing shot to make the audience believe the characters wherever we would like.

Step #5: Pre-shooting

This is when we make a list of anything we’re going to need when we’re on location. This includes people, props, equipment and preparation. We will plan out each scene, but not stress specific shots until we’re actually on location. We will shoot one scene at a time so steps 5-7 will be repeated for each scene.

Step #6: Shooting!

What everyone can’t wait to do. This is when we go out, get dirty and have a great time. I want input from everyone. This is no one person’s film, it is a group effort so we will succeed or fail together. If someone makes a mistake, it’s all of our faults for not helping him or her. We will shoot many takes from many different angles trying many different approaches. It’s easy to cut down on tape, but it’s not easy to go back out and re-shoot.

Step #7: Editing

What commonly happens in films is the director will hand over the raw footage and will be blocked from seeing his footage until the producers edit it. Since we’re all directors and all producers, we will make decisions and piece the work together, together (community!).

Step #8: The DVD

A master DVD will be made with all the features that Hollywood DVDs have. We will make cover art and the back will have a summary and list everyone’s name involved etc. From this master DVD, we can make copies.

idea for Maury's camp

A new idea I had was to spread awareness of Maury's camp and ways to contribute to helping. The kids would help make a video that would be streamed on the web and the video would be similar to the way that Sarah McLaughlin made her "world on fire" video. (can be seen at http://www.worldonfire.ca/ ). Indian Head Camp is already involved in getting Maury's idea of letting less fortunate kids a chance to experience summer camp. They swim laps to raise money for this program. I am going to get more information about Maury's Camp tomorrow when I will have a phone conversation with Dave Tager.

media proposal not ready

I need more time to finish my media proposal. At this time my program isn't distinct enough to be considered new media. The next step for me is figuring out how to make it more interactive and push the idea of how the films will be viewed. Revisiting The Language of New Media modularity and variability are two components that my project currently lacks. I am working with these two terms to implement what they mean to new media into my project.

license etc

This was the license that the site suggested Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 License

I was also thinking a lot about how to make this program different from existing ones. I thought about doing several projects at once and having the different groups do different parts for each project. For example, each group would help write for one and then it would be passed onto the next group for acting, and then the next group for editing.

reaction to Manovich's article

The language of New Media

This beginning of this article gave a clear look on what new media is. We know that new media is always changing, so what today is new media will soon not be anymore. Manovich said, "In short, media became new media." That is really a perfect way to put it when referring to when the Daguerrotype combined with the Analytical Engine and when the Cinematographic met the Tabulator. When something no longer has a restircted function or when its functions expand, it becomes new media.

I'm not sure if I agree with everything Manovich says about a new media project in regards to its Numerical Representation, Modulation, Automation, Variability, and Transcoding. I think a new media project could do without having all these be true. Number Representation is the principle that I question the most. How do you put an idea into an equation. Many of our projects start out extremely conceptual, and I'd like to know the numbers that go with those ideas. Also in his automation section he describes that intent can be taken away in many cases. Happy surprises happen, but this idea says a new media project isn't one after all if things go EXACTLY according to plan.

As far as Manovich describes my project is far from new media. In many regards, he's right. I do need some pushing of the envelope and need to add something more than just a simple film program to a place that doesn't have one yet. I want to push the interactivity, but not force it. I do want the kids to consider viewing space and presentation when thinking about making a film, but starting off easy and working towards that is most practical.

Reaction to Crosby's article

What is new media?

By Crosby's definiton, there are only 3 types of mediums, land and water which have been around virtually forever and sky which turned into a medium as soon as we built a vehicle for it. There are also 3 types of communications, one-one and one-many, which have been around virtually forever and many-many which became a communication when it became possible through technology.
From what I put together it sounds like something can't be new media without technology. Crosby says himself that without technology the new medium and the new communication couldn't be possible. He listed scenarios for us to imagine using the the new medium and one of them sounded like MY YAHOO and the other sounded like TIVO (without the user controlled plot changes).
Media is only new if it satisfies the new transportation medium or the communications medium. Basically it has to be interactive or personalized (individualized).

By Crosby's definiton I can make a case for everyone's project in the class to be new media, but someone could make a case for none of our projects to be new media. This term is defined and interpreted differently by everyone. As the word itself is debated, each individual has their own criteria to consider something new media or not. The great new media debate continues... it reminds me of 206 and semantics.