Saving Power Production Exhibition and Dissertation

The day has finally and arrived and unbelievably it is here. Immediately after work at 2 pm I headed over to school to assist the guys again with the remainder of the exhibition. Again we proved that working as a team is vital.It was fun working in the group for the last time as Saving Power Productions.
From displaying the pictures(both production and beach photos), hanging our rural sign to direct those who are coming to look at the exhibition and also putting in place the props needed. The entire finished display was just as we envisioned, full of colours and props linking one to the beach. We were all proud of it.
Today was not only our exhibition but also the day we were each individually interviewed by a panel. We we all gathered up in a room and await our turn to stand and be questioned under the spotlight. Our group was the first group to be interviewed...Simone, Trixie, myself and Sherece.
In my interview I disclosed to the panel my role and responsibilities as Sound Operator, during both production and post production. I also mentioned my role as interviewer and group researcher. I really thought the interview would have been scary, but it wasn't. It was really easy to chat with the panel one on one. I felt good...I just hope I impressed. The questions were heavily on the research aspect of this project, from highlight types of methodologies - Vox pop, Interviews, Literature Review, and even Observation. Also I was questioned as to why we chose this way to show the findings....obviously displaying beaches would best be shown via imagery.
I may have spent approximately 10 minutes in the interview. All in all it was a good VIVA!
It is said the exhibition will be up for a week, that would be great.

Crunch time......

Well it is just hours away. I collected the paper we bought from Guardian Newspaper and transfer to Sherece as she drives. The video is complete and printed. Now as a group we come together again to set up the display area. Purchase some material needed downtown then headed back to school to work with the guys. Today however within the 4 hours I put in we were able to set up the partitions. Seriously moving the partitions from over the street was hard ...wow but the security guard helped us take it across.
I left at 7 to catch the last bus out of Port Of Spain. Sherece who arrived at 6:30 pm took over when I left. I head back to assist tomorrow straight after work.

ROLE AS A RESEARCHER:
On Monday I received a message from Mr Lett at COTT, informing me that as of last year the old rule that allowed students of any institute to use copyrighted music for free, is no longer permitted. In fact as he stated it is now charged in proximity of 40 cents per 30 seconds. Immediately I contacted the Producer and Director, requesting a run down of the song that were used and its lengths. Mr Lett has been so considerate and agreed we can work out the payment issue next week. Thank goodness!

Final run through for documentary

Today the group met for 5 pm at the school, to go over the final documented project. Simone required input and extra eyes to see if anything was missed in editing. It was indeed a project I was proud of, as the entire thing came off perfectly. Obviously there were many things that could not be included in the final edit as the timing for this project was 15 minutes max. The audio was fine,I just suggested some areas where changes in flow of the musical beds were placed, but it was GREAT!!
Trixie also brought a copy of the final print of the dvd covers. There were a few disagreements about the look of the cover. Simone suggested and to some point I do agree a bit, on the inclusion of the photo, of the Treasure chest with the photos of the beaches coming out from it. Trix said she would try to remove a part of the picture to make room for the requested chest.

Sometimes it does feel as though my verbal contributions are looked over at times...or as though I am speaking but no one if listening, my voice is heard but no one is listening to what I am saying. This now has me thinking a bit.

Arts visit

After work which wrapped up at 2 pm I headed across at school to wait Trix, who finished work at 4 pm. We got to the national museum about 15 minutes later( it was a nice walk around the Savannah). Sherece was there already engaged by the art work. I soon learnt why..so much history sheltered in one place.
This suggestion made by our lecture to go to the Museum as soon as was indeed a great idea, as we found so many ideas for our exhibition on the 27th January. As always it was nice to bounce ideas and thoughts off each other, and so we did. We looked at about half of the items in the museum on display and left just a few minutes before closing time.
I did not regret this visit at all.
It is safe to say we have at least 2-3 concepts playing around in our heads for the day itself. We have taken the initiative to promptly book certain items from in school to secure for our exhibition.
Instantly I began researching the material we would need for the concepts for the display. Below is a list and prices i obtained from my visit to Samaroos on Abercromby Street in Port Of Spain. This store had every thing you could think about when it comes to costumes and decorations needed. I will email the information to the group members later on tonight.

ITEMS BELOW PRICED AT SAMAROOS

Some of the items of interest

Brown paper - from 1.50 to 3.00.
Stag blank - 14.99 (this is the sort of thick-ish backing we saw the photos on at the Museum)
4 ply Bristol Board - $3.99
Mop stick- $21.99
Felt - $59.99
Rope or twine or cord - $7.00

Encountering some Audio issues

After Ms Sampson identified some minor glitches in the audio for the interview with the gentleman at I.M.A. It was vital we fixed it as much as we could. This is just one of those moments where as the Sound Operator, it didn't feel good, as for this interview I was unable to attend and fulfill my duties as I was at work. One of the few times I was not able to attend a shoot(which before doing I did ask my lecturer if it was ok to do..she said it was once my group mates didn't oppose, and they didn't). Now I oppose. Anyway cannot cry over spilled milk, so I will do what I can to assist the Director.

Onward we go.Tomorrow both Trixie and I meet as planned to visit the national museum on Keith Street, Port Of Spain.

Music Beds sound!

After confirming(via email last evening)with the Director.I have listed in this blog the selected jams I presented to the Producer to be used in the Documentary. All of which I sourced and forwarded to the Director for use. 

I also sent a reminder to the Producer, to forward the list(as requested) to the representative at COTT - Mr Lett. However, it still stands firm that all copyrighted songs can be used for school purposes for free, but just for my re assurance I still found it necessary to make the folks at COTT fully aware. 

• Brotherhood of the Boat - Brother Marvin
• Red white and black- David Rudder and Faye-ann
• Trini - Benjai
• Island - Patrice Roberts and Bunji
• My land - Nadia Batson

With that covered, it is now onto the next piece of business for this project, getting the exhibition together for "The Day".

And the journey continues into 2k11...onwards Saving Power Productions.

So much has happened within the last two weeks in terms of editing and coming up with creative ideas to exhibit the group's project on the 27th January. 

At this point the wooden sign is completed, now I just need to think of a creative way to show it off on the day itself. Another factor close to completion is the documentary itself, which we are pleased about. We also had the opportunity to show our lecturer the documentary assembly cuts. Some suggestions offered were very much similar to those we discussed in a group meeting the day prior. So it didn't come as a surprise really.

Simone has and is doing a fabulous job as the editor. In fact honestly looking at the piece where it is, everyone did well. Personally I felt good about my role as the sound person as all the audio sounded clear. I was also very pleased with my contribution as interviewer and my role in collating the data received from the distribution of our questionnaires. 

From our final group meeting with our lecturer held yesterday, new due dates were disclosed to us (which are listed below). This has reinforced the intensity of the pace needed for this project. It is really alot in little time. 

I am so grateful for having a great group to be part of, this made working easier to endure. With the new information received in reference to our exhibition on the 27th January 2011, it is now clear on to the route to be take to show this piece off. It was suggested that we visit the museums locally to get an idea of various exhibition styles. Due to work conflicts, both Simone and Shercece will go this weekend and Trixie and I have decided on heading there Tuesday of this week. We have bumped our heads together with a few ideas for the exhibition but no final choice has been made as yet.