One way that I haven been keeping in touch with the Spanish media industry is through a networking site called Cinemavip. Jobs, festivals, castings, competitions and collaborations are continuously posted up there and sent to me via an email bulletin, it’s very useful.

Also, I’m signed up to most of the job vacancy websites listed here so that employers can find my CV and I can search for vacancies. To be honest though it hasn’t proven to be very succesful so far. Either my CV is lacking a few things or the job offers are just not being advertised online.

In conclusion, my best chance is to go on the EU Work Placement and make enough contacts so that I can find a job at the end of it. I will be looking for work again in the UK when I come back from my placement. The first few port of calls will be the prospects, mandy, talent circle, shooting people and bbc-jobs websites. Also The Guardian on thursdays advertises jobs in the media.

If after all of that I don’t make a succesful entry into the media and film industries, I will start to resort to my alternative plans mentioned in previous posts.

We already have a website for our Better With Beerproduction that has been a very successful networking tool. The actors explained that it was one of the main reasons they took the project seriously and became interested. In the future we will include a trailer of the film, production stills, credits and much more. Then we will start to search for Sponsors to help us enter festivals and competitions and maybe fund future projects. However, in order to find certain types of funding it’s much better to apply as a production company and not as a couple of individuals. So at the moment we are creating the designs, ident and web page for The Missing Atom Production Company.

We will be looking to expand the number of members of the company. Already, we have sent messages out to students of the University through Harminder Kunner looking for specialists such as audio technicians, music composers and 3D designers that wish to get involved with us.

The reasons for the name are varied as our brainstorming sessions took us on a voyage of invention and self discovery. Symbolisms such as the alienation of our youth and our passion for skepticism and knowledge of the universe are quietly present. Yet the main reason is that it is a catchy name that makes for an excellent logo and ident.

Most of my progress and thoughts on this project I have carried out on paper so I am writing this post in retrospective.

It all started in December 2008 when I went to the information session in the Goldstein Theatre in the Alan Berry building. I knew that this was the programme a couple of my colleagues had used to go to the Canary Islands on a Sea Life recording project the year before. I also knew about the Erasmus schemes from the experiences from people in Spain where its a lot more popular. Unfortunately, I was a year too late to go on an Erasmus exchange because I am final year student.

The talk was very enlightening and I was very impressed. The opportunity to gain support with finding a work placement in any European country with the Leonardo Da Vinci Scheme is too good to be missed. I began making my plans, discussing them with friends and family and they all agreed it was very good. My tutors offered their support as well.

In order to get onto the programme I had to go through an application progress which I wanted to do as quick as possible in order to find a film production in the summer I could join. My focus for the work placement was to find a large film production company where I might be able to find paid work at the end of the placement, or at least gain valuable skills. For more details on the research I conducted and my intentions please read my Leonardo application. The research of the companies I carried out myself by ringing them and via the internet. There is also a copy of my current CV.

I had help with building my CV from one of the careers officers in the student centre. It was extremely useful to speak to her and we have kept in touch via email.

One result of the research I conducted was that I needn’t rush to get a placement on a summer production as they are organised almost on a last minute basis once their funding has been acquired. So I could take my time to build up my portfolio which is waiting for my final project called Better With Beer and finish my degree.

My application for the Leonardo Scheme was successful after having an interview with one of the coordinators, Jean Bernard Adrey. I had to present him with the research I had conducted and the plans that I had for the future. He was very impressed with my enthusiasm and method of working and congratulated me.

Yesterday, we had another talk in the Goldstein Theatre about how we should progress with the programme. For specific details visit their section in the CU Portal where you can find all the materials and powerpoints from the talks. The conclusion that I came too was that once I have finished my film and included it in my portfolio I will ring the production companies again, conduct some futher investigation and establish the best possible placement.

In fact the ELIA are currently running another competition. This time it’s a chance to showcase our work at the Neu/Now Arts Festival in Vilnius, Lithuania. The online application portal should have opened on the 15th of April as stated in an email they sent me but for some reason it hasn’t gone live yet. This led to me being embarrassed in front of Steve Dawkins after asking for his support with the application (it is a requirement for the applicant to be put forward by the University) and him not being able to do so because we couldn’t access the forms. The deadline is the 10th of June now but Steve warns me that he has little time. We receive a £5000 grant in order to attend the festival from the ELIA so I will make sure that we enter the competition one way or another. The project that I am submitting is the Better With Beer production.

To build upon my skills and CV I have applied to join the Training for Trainers project that the Leonardo Da Vinci programme is offering in order to gain language teaching qualifications and hopefully I will be imparting Spanish language classes in June. I enjoy language teaching and I have always considered it as a career path since I am bilingual.

Melisa

          INT.CAFETERIA, SPAIN

          A quiet young woman named Melisa is working away serving
          tables and making hot drinks.

          Jesus, a male student who is there drinking coffee and studying,
          is object of her fixation.

          She imagines herself chatting to him, falling in love, meeting
          his parents, starting a family…
          This is portrayed in animated images of them on the
          breakfast menu she is reading, as if she could order it from
          the kitchen

          …But before she gets the chance to round up the courage to
          speak to him, he’s gone.

                                                    DIP TO BLACK
          INT.CAFETERIA, SPAIN

          Melisa is feeling brave and chance has given her another opportunity
          to speak to him.

          As she approaches him she notices he writes in Greek and
          stops dead in her tracks.

                              MELISA
                    Hablas Español?

          Jesus shakes his head from side to side smiling apologetically.
          She quickly thinks up a plan and jots down a time and place
          in the order book, rips out a page and leaves it on the
          table.

                              JESUS
                    Gracias?

          She walks away as he reads the note. A name of a park, a time
          and a date. He looks at her getting busy again working and
          they exchange shy smiles.

          INT. BEDROOM MONTAGE SEQUENCE

          Melisa is going to learn his language as quickly as she can.
          By using books, interactive language programs, internet
          websites, listening to audio-tapes and watching subtitled
          films she gets ready for the date. Even on the day she takes a
          translation dictionary with her.

          EXT. PARK

          Anxiously she paces up and down the street waiting for him
          and wondering whether he will turn up.

          She begins to confuse other men in the distance with him and starts
          to become disillusioned.

          He is hiding behind a wall. Nervously reading his dictionary and
          rehearsing Spanish. Just as she starts to walk away he
          finally rounds up the courage and strides towards her.

          As they great each other awkwardly they notice they’re both carrying
          the same dictionary and can’t avoid smiling and laughing. As
          they become quiet again Melisa latches onto his arm and they
          walk together into the park.

I thought it was a semi-interesting concept. Obviously a good plug for Schweppes (the main sponsors I imagine), very light hearted and non critical. Interesting use of music however I much prefer the following video for sound. Noodles has a very rich sound scape and uses music very sparingly and purposefully.

Possible Design for Promotional T-Shirt

I’ve started to produce designs for the promotional materials and props.

Above is the design for a promotional T-Shirt in black, and below is the white version. I haven’t decided which I prefer yet, experience tells me black is usually more popular. I haven’t left any space for sponsors but the idea is to incorporate their logos onto the T-Shirt and depending on it’s design is how it will be worked on to the t-shirt. Now that a rough draft has been made of the Script we will start contacting companies and institutions looking for sponsorship and funding. And for this reason also I have started designing a website for the film, www.betterwithbeer.biz . In order to show the progress of the website I will be taking screen captures of it periodically.

Possible design for promotional T-Shirt

Below is a possible logo for the beer company and label for the bottles. I have used the colours of the Union Jack and a star that imitates the vector directions the flag has a direct critique to the alcoholic society that inhabits Great Britain. Curiously, a new Bill has just been approved in Scotland that changes the laws on alcohol with the intention of cutting down on irresponsible drinking, for more details read here. Personally I thing that the measures taken are only good for making it more expensive for the public to drink and it affecting businesses. The Scottish Executive must have forgotten the main reason why people drink irresponsibly, and thats to forget themselves and the reality they live in. I am increasingly disappointed at politicians who look out for public health and the best they can come up with is raising the price of tobacco and alcohol. There is a popular Spanish saying, “El que tiene un vicio si no sea mea en la casa-puerta se caga en el quicio” which translates roughly to “When one who has a vice doesn’t piss up the frontdoor, they shit on the doorpost”, it’s extremly poetic you see… but true. By taking away an addiction or making it harder you are not solving the problem, people will turn to other vices in order to find release. The problem lies in the reason of why they need release, and that’s because we live in a decadent society. A society of which we have no control of the direction its going or any idea of where that might be. And in this chaos of deceit and illusion some people ask for them to be told the truth,  and others just want to be left alone and to have the means to avoid facing the facts. Neither get what they want. There is this thing going on they’ve called an economical crisis caused by a small elite group of people we can’t hold accountable for.  About five pubs go out of business a day since the smoking ban and the price of alcohol went up. The working class is having to drink at home and is socialising less, making for a more individualistic and fragmented society. Now they even want to get rid of promotional offers on alcohol in supermarkets! What will happen when workers come back from a full day and can’t crack open a can from the fridge? I predict they still will, but they will be poorer for it. So all I ask for now is for politicians to stop worrying about how much we drink and to pay attention to the reasons why we do it, because there are plenty of them. Maybe when they resolve them, we won’t need to drink.

It seems like a very interesting subject matter that I am familiar with and a great opportunity to get funding to make a video. If making films is what I want to go into then now is the time to start! And to win a competition like this would certainly be a boost for my CV and career. I enjoy making videos with Steve also, hehe. I could also use it as a plan B in case my main project fails.

I’ve already had an idea… for the 3 minute video. It’s about a quiet young woman who works in a Cafeteria and likes a male student who frequently goes there to have a coffee and study. Day after day she imagines herself chatting to him, falling in love, meeting his parents, starting a family… but before she gets the chance to round up the courage, he’s gone. One good morning she decides to speak to him but as she approaches him it turns out he is a foreign exchange student and they speak different languages. She notices what language he writes in. Thinking quickly she jots down a time and place in his student diary for the following week. In the meantime she begins to learn his language by using books, interactive language programs, internet websites, listening to audio-tapes, watching subtitled films and then even takes a translation dictionary on the date. Anxiously pacing up and down the street and waiting for him at the meeting point she wonders whether she has made it too difficult for him. She imagines bizzare situations why he mightnot have been able to make it and confuses other men in the distance with him. She starts to get disillusioned but he finally appears right beside her. As they great each other they can’t avoid smiling at the fact they’re both carrying the same dictionary.

Result and Reflection: Working online on the script was not successful. Script writing as a whole tends to be an individual effort and requires a lot of self motivation. I hoped that by working as a group we would motivate each other but this has just not materialised. I believe this has to do with the absence of the sensations of having creative input or forming part of something that come from piers. From now on we will work in person and organise meetings where we will present the work we have done individually so far. Also we are now using a free-ware program called Celtx which works exceptionally well as a script writing tool. I have high hopes for the script and I am currently reading a handbook by John Byrne called Writing Comedy (third edition). The book is proving to be very enlightening and motivational. I also have other resources from the Lanchester library to soak up.