Week 6 Seminar

The week of our seminar! This week was really hectic trying to get everything in order. I was asked to contact David Delmenico (our designated host) so that I could organise a meeting time with him and usher him into the Seminar. I contacted David on the Thursday before to make sure he knew what time he had to be in the city and he had told me no one had messaged him for weeks about the seminar. It made me panic a little since he almost pulled out from the seminar completely, however I managed to convince him that we really needed him (which we did since he was in our promo video) and luckily he agreed to still do the show. The people in charge of contacting him had proof they had contacted him earlier so I think it was a little bit of miscommunication however it ended up okay!

Since David was really nervous about the seminar since he hadn’t practised or anything, my full attention was given to him in the final couple of days. I made up some run through sheets and cue cards for him, booked a room for a rehearsal where I joined him to work on his performance, all while doing last minute edits to the script to include the third guest.

I joined Max in introducing David to the guests before the show and they seemed to get along fine so I brought David into the seminar room where everyone had done an amazing job of setting up and baking food and such. I helped him get miked up and ran him through the seminar and where everyone was going to be.

During the seminar my job was to make sure David was on time with all the segments. I learnt it’s very difficult to get an actor to understand your lipreading from stage. Although I was signalling at times that it was time to wrap it up, the guests loved to talk!

I think overall our whole group did really well. We put together a great seminar and I heard heaps of great comments from fellow students. Our guests got along great as did David who learnt everything very last minute and I was very grateful for it!

Week 5 Seminar

With two of our guests confirmed, I completed the script intro for David Delmenico and gathered questions from others in our team (mainly Max, since he knew the guests personally). I was able to collate a draft copy of a script and posted it in our group so everyone could have a look and give suggestions. Writing the script required a little research of each of the guests so I could ask them questions personally tailored to their professions and a little bit of research on the history of Television. I won’t be able to properly finish off the script until the third guest is confirmed.

In this weeks meeting I suggested an audience guess-the-theme-song competition much like radio stations do (since I am a radio station nerd). My idea is to play snippets of 4 different theme songs and audience members can tweet in or write down the four songs in the order they play and who ever gets it write gets a prize. Someone suggested a competition where one audience member has a remote under their chair and if that’s you, you win. I think that sounds a little less interactive than the song competition. I think at this point we may be doing both.

After watching the first week (social media) present, I think the Graham Norton style seminar will work a lot better. Having our guests interact should be a lot more entertaining for both the guests and the audience (I hope!).

Week 4

This week we had a meeting to discuss how much we have all done in our roles. I have written up a draft and very brief intro however there isn’t much I can do until our guests are locked in. I have also got some general questions to ask the guests that are particularly beneficial to students graduating:

Did you ever complete an internship when you were starting out? How can you ensure that you stand out and do the best you can in an internship?

When was a time when you thought to yourself, you had made it in the industry?

I think questions like these will be a lot more beneficial to students rather than questions that ask about the guests current jobs. Although it is interesting where our guests are at in their career, personally I’d like to know a few tips of getting my foot in the door!

Within this meeting I worked with a couple of other students to plan the structure of the overall seminar. I suggested that we do a ‘Graham Norton’ show layout so all three guests can talk to each other and bounce off each other’s answers. It would be a lot more engaging to hear the three guests interact about their experiences rather than them almost give a speech one by one.

I also offered a discount I can get at Krispy Kreme donuts for catering during our event and am looking into prices of that currently.

Week 3 Media Seminar

This week we discussed our roles in the Seminar. My group have the topic of Television which I am super excited about since I aim to work in the television industry. I have interned with TV Production companies like Princess Pictures so I have a few contacts I could perhaps get to come down to our seminar.

My role is to write up the script for the seminar and plan the questions. Since I am really interested in scriptwriting I put my hand up for this role. I have a little bit of experience in it as well. I also have heaps of questions since I want to work in the TV industry. We have a lot more to organise like the layout of our seminar and audience interraction.

 

Week 8 Story Lab: Progress Report

Now we have allocated roles and set out what everyone needs to do. We each have to create 5 fake Facebook accounts for the party photos and event, I have to find a diary and make a plan of how to go about it.

We have also decided as a group to cut out the webisodes of the point of view of the mother and the neighbour. We have cut out everything that is ‘fake’ and not supposed to be interpreted as real life media. I think we are better off doing this because we had a lot on our plate for just a few weeks, and making not one but two or there short films is a lot to take on. Locations were also a problem as we couldn’t find two houses next to each other that we could use.

With the diary I am planning to connect the fake facebook accounts people are making with the people Connor mentions in his diary. I will create personalities around them and significant histories with some, which could create another pushing off point for the Facebook event.

Our Project – The Story of Connor

Inspired by the Elliot Rodger Massacre in the U.S our project looks at a socially awkward teenage boy by the name of Connor who chronicles his hatred for the world he lives in and more specifically targets the kids at his school. He ends up going on a rampage, murdering a bunch of other teenagers at a party in which he wasn’t invited to. We are looking at the psychology behind Connor and how the perceptions of other people affected him.

Firstly we will construct a public opinion about him through a news article, highlighting the facts of the murderous event. He won’t be named specifically in this article, but the journalist will signify what sort of person it takes to commit a crime like this. Then, in a “tell-all” A-Current-Affair type piece, we will show an interview will those that knew him, perhaps his mother and some class mates. This will indicate his odd and aggressive behaviour and perhaps delve into the psychological world of Connor. In addition, his personal Youtube Channel and diary will also be mentioned, to really explain to the audience about Connor’s mental state.

On his Youtube Channel, Connor will talk to the world, explaining his problems about how he feels ignored and teased at school. He will show signs of aggression but none of his plans of murder will be revealed. If audiences haven’t read his diary yet, they could assume his acts of violence were merely an outburst, because it is in his diary that he outlines his plans for revenge. In his diary we see a more personal side of Connor. We really get an understanding of the inner workings of a psychopath and how he manages to blame everyone else for his own problems. We are thinking of included profiles on particular people at his school he has a hatred for, much like the diary from the television series “The Fall” (2013 – ). The diary will also have a lot of parts stuck into it, drawing information from a lot of different places. We have taken inspiration from J.J Abrams’ “S”. The diary will serve a similar function as Elliot Rodgers’ Manifesto did, allowing audiences to see what went on through his head.

At this point we are also thinking of including a couple of webisodes to further display how others perceived him. The webisodes will be from an elderly neighbour’s perspective, restricted to their house because of their old age so they notice things that others don’t and his own mother who also notices odd behaviour from her son. One night when he is out she goes into his room finding the diary and realising his plans for murder. Only it will be too late because he will already have begun murdering people at the house party.

The house party will have it’s own event on Facebook with people uploading photos in real time, where we see Connor in the back of some photos, and some people lying in the bush thought to be intoxicated but actually have been murdered. This will be the only content form the night available.

We are splitting up the roles and the work evenly, according to our interests and skill levels. I am really interested in creating the diary as I am fascinated in the psychology of serial killers and have the ability to write from the perspective of someone with murderous intent.

The Story Lab Week 7

Today we shared out pitches in class for the transmedia project.

A project that really stood out to me was “Dodging the Bullet” about cat fishing on social media. It’s a topic that’s really relevant in today’s society and that I find really fascinating. It’s a modern day thriller. I love how social media is used, and the screen captures of a computer tells the story. It reminded me a lot of a trailer for a new film filmed completing using screen captures and Skype videos called ‘Unfriended’. (CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE TRAILER). Another plus was the music and the suspense created throughout the hovering over buttons and such. Really well presented!

In terms of our pitch, I wish we had a little more time just to make our parts a little more cohesive. I do agree with a lot of the constructive criticism that our group was given. I do feel like we have a bit too much content and could do with cutting some out. I guess it’s hard to make everyone in a large group happy, so putting something in that everyone wants was an easy way to satisfy everyone. However I think we all should have a meeting and discuss what cab be culled. Personally I agree with the idea of scrapping the video logs as I think that can all be said in the diary (yes I am a bit biased because I’m excited for this section of our project). However I think it would add an air of mystery to our project if we get rid of Connor all together.

 

The Story Lab Week 6

Our pitch is done and ready for next week.

We have a lot of different parts to our project and I am a little unsure how many of them are necessary. However, I am especially excited for the diary and have found inspiration in a television program called “The Fall”.

“The Fall” is a television program that follows the life of two people; a detective and a serial killer. They remain anonymous to each other. What I find interesting in this TV show is that the writers manage to make you feel sympathy for the serial killer. You get an insight to his life and although he does really bad things, he seems quite normal at times. It plays with your emotions and makes you feel unsure about the whole situation. He also keeps a journal filled with the women he is obsessed with. A lot creepier than we are planning to execute though, the serial killer keeps hair clippings and naked photos of the women’s dead bodies. It is his little secret that he keeps very close to his hear, above his daughter’s bed.

 

Other than the diary we are planing to create the following to aid our story:

Facebook photos of the event where he goes on a murder spree.

News report.

News coverage piece, a “tell-all” story.

Webisode with the point of view of the Mother and the neighbour.

Video Logs.

The Story Lab Week 5

Planning our transmedia projects this week. We have taken a lot of inspiration from what I posted on last week ( J.J Abrams “s”). We are telling the story of a young man with psychological issues who goes on murder spree at the end. We are shown the story from many peoples perspective hence transmedia. It is a way of interweaving different parts to the one story, creating a database. We are thinking of making news articles and little webisodes from others perspectives but to see the perspective of the main boy we have a more direct and personal connection.

We are creating some video logs where he tells the camera his struggles in life and what makes him angry. We tell from this that he is not 100% normal. There’s something about him. Further, we are creating a diary where he lets out his inner most thoughts, his plans for violence, people he obsesses over. In here the inner workings of our character is truly displayed and depicted. This will be different from the video logs because he isn’t opening up fully on the web. He is still trying to remain cool and likeable even though he is a lone wolf at school.

The Story Lab Week 4

This week Daniel brought in J.J Abrams novel (not sure if it is really?) called S. We were working on our final projects and I’m fascinated with the idea of creating a diary/scrapbook for someone, where all the pieces fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. That is pretty much what “S” is. There are a few stories overlapping as people converse through graffiti in a library book. Every little detail of the book was so fascinating down to the time stamps on the back cover. This book is a whole new genre of stories that acts a lot more like a database than an actual novel. It has a collection of news articles, hand written letters and notes, post cards, compasses and so much more to guide the audience through a story. And because of all it’s different interactive parts the books remains nonlinear. For instance I opened the book to a random page with a note sticking out and read it. The book feels like you don’t have to go through it chronologically to understand what is going on. And even if you do, do you read the typed text or graffiti text first? How can the author control that? I hope this is the future of stories because I think it’s a lot more fun trying to piece things together than being spoon fed sequential events.