Resolution 1, Learning Agreement for Other Roles

As I am now involved in three other pieces alongside my own individual piece I have created a learning agreement based on my three extra roles. Here's  the first version of it:

Digital Film & Screen Arts Learning Agreement				YEAR:		3
NAME:  Billie Williams			DATE: 25/10/17
Unit Name/No: Resolution 1		Deadline for submission: December
GROUP PRODUCTION:	YES	INDIVIDUAL PRODUCTION:			NO
DESCRIPTION: A synopsis of the work you intend to undertake in fulfilment of the aims, outcomes and assessment criteria of the unit giving fuller detail in response to each of the five sections below.
Working Title: The Gunpowder Mill I am Assistant Director, Co-Choreographer and Assistant Editor for this Piece. It will be a short 3 - 4 minute Dance film, which showcases the use and effects of gunpowder used in the first world war. By using contemporary, but classical elements of dance, it should portray the use of the historical site within its set time period. It should highlight the importance of the listed site, as well as, educating the viewer. Working Title: Payanam (‘Journey’ in the language Tamil) I am Assistant Director and Assistant Editor for this Piece. It will be a short 5 minute experimental documentary piece with poetic visuals exploring the themes of spirituality, karma and healing by focusing and reflecting on Sugini’s father’s account of his experience of his life in Sri Lanka, the effect on him by the civil war and his journey to the UK as a Tamil Refugee. We aim to enhance the piece by infusing good quality audio with elements of sounds, music by traditional Sri Lankan instruments, Hindu religious music and meaningful Tamil melodies/ songs to support the visuals and help create a Tamil cultural atmosphere. Title: Girl Happy I am one of the Editors working on this piece. This will be a 10 – 15 minute coming of age drama, following two friends from school about to graduate and go to university with one goal in common – to understand what it means to be a woman. Both girls on their very different journeys to womanhood, their relationships with each other and themselves becomes fragmented. Cathy puts on a different persona to keep a relationship with a man 20 years older than her as a way to escape herself. Georgie’s broken relationship with her mother since her father left causes her to separate sex and emotional attachment to avoid feeling the rejection she felt when her father disappeared. But with the conflict that comes with Georgie finding out that Cathy’s older boyfriend is Georgie’s distant father, betrayal takes a toll on their friendship.
RESEARCH: (Initial reference material and sources)
The Gunpowder Mill: -       Pina Bausch Choreography and Dance -       Post Traumatic Stress Effects -       Contemporary Dance Inspiration Payanam: -       Sri Lanka Civil War -       Tamil Culture -       Visual Poetics Inspiration Girl Happy: -       Coming of Age Genre Film Editing Techniques -       Coming of Age Film Inspirations -       Avid Editing Techniques
CONTEXTUAL UNDERSTANDING (How the work relates to your future goals, previous work, work by other practitioners and so on) The Gunpowder Mill: I am partaking in roles on this piece which relate to my future career goals especially Directing and Editing. As for the Choreography I really wanted to try and gain even more skills at this since my last Dance Video went so well and I learnt so much. This Dance Video crew is very similar to our Dance Video project last year so I feel as a collective we are refining our skills together in this area and could potentially take this further as a group if we wanted. The piece itself is referring to a very different subject of Gunpowder and War which is challenging however It makes this dance video not only artistic but also informative, explorative and historical which makes it sit firmly in a very serious context. Payanam: Again I am helping on this piece in the areas of Directing and Editing which are both areas I am interested in for my future career. Even though I am assisting this will also be good for me to learn how to properly but helpfully follow someone else’s lead which will be where I will begin in the future while I work my way up. I am also finding that this piece has a lot of similarities to my own in terms of symbolism and personal stories meaning I am able to help effectively and really get involved in the process and the development of this. I also feel like this piece will fit into the artistic and experimental side of the medium rather than commercial which is where I am interested in and am aiming towards for my own piece. Girl Happy: I am one of the Editors on this piece which as I have said is one of my main passions and goals for the future. This piece is a larger project with a big crew aiming towards a very professional outcome that will be roughly 15 minuets long which is a larger scale project for myself compared to the others I am working on. This means it will give me a chance to develop more commercial and professional skills throughout this process and work just as an Editor on something that is aimed towards the world of films in particular Coming of Age Films which have always interested me.
TECHNICAL AND CREATIVE SKILLS (Propose specialisms, resources required, relate to the above) The Gunpowder Mill: As an Assistant Director on this piece I will be working very closely with the Director to help them achieve their vision. This means leading up to filming I will help with the development of the piece but also as Co-Choreography a lot of my focus will be on the Dancers and making sure I rehearse with them enough to create a dance with them which will properly explore the themes of the piece in interesting and exciting ways using techniques learnt in on my Dance Video last year. On set I will be attending to the Dancers and looking after them but I will also be keeping everyone on schedule by following and communicating the timings planned out by the Producer and Director. I will then be involved in the post-production stages as an Assistant Editor to try and help the main Editor whose piece it is pull it off in the most successful way with my knowledge of how to achieve certain effects and styles that she likes. Payanam: As Assistant Director I will be focusing on the helping with the development of the idea along with the Director leading up to the shoot and assisting with the planning. As this crew is very small I will be helping on the shoot days not only through time keeping and communicating on behalf of the Director but also partly as a runner and as an artistic opinion because this piece is very similar to the style I like. In post-production I am then involved as an assistant Editor to help give the main Editor who’s piece it is support and confidence with my Editing experience an knowledge. I feel like I will be very involved in this piece and the style of it because It is definitely what I am interested in myself. Girl Happy: As one of two Editors involved in this larger more challenging piece I will be not only involved in post but I will also be on set during filming working partly as a runner but also keeping an eye on continuity and planning out with the other editor the best ways we can edit with what is being filmed. This will allow us to have a full knowledge of the piece before we begin to edit and will hopefully allow us to achieve a better thought out edit. The Director will be with us while we edit on Avid to check that her vision is being followed but it will give me a chance to apply my technical skills and focus on these while following instruction but adding some of my own creative flare.
COMMUNICATION (How you will communicate with the staff team and collaborators/How the work communicates with an audience, crowd funding, dissemination etc) The Gunpowder Mill: Firstly I will be spending a lot of time communicating with the Director, Producer & Editor who’s piece this is to make sure I am following her vision but also helping develop it as best as I can. I will then need to make sure I stay aware of the Dancers through this process and communicate with them successfully in language they will understand and interpret well. I may seek advice from the Dance Tutor Rachel whom we worked with last year if I struggle to finalise the Dance as her opinion is valuable and very helpful. This will help it progress and make sure the choreography communicates the historical messages the Director wishes to convey. This piece will be installed in the Grad show but will also be put on YouTube which will hopefully reach an audience who has an interest in Dance but also history. It will also reach the Dancers fans which will help us reach wider audiences. We may also branch out and try and find somewhere to display this within the local community surrounding this Gunpowder Mill as it will have a lot of context to people in this area. Payanam: I will be spending my time communicating with the Director, Producer, Editor and DOP who’s piece this is and making sure I assist her in any way necessary during all stages of this production especially in development side. I will also be communicating with the other members of crew as I will be working with them closely on shoot days. I may seek advice from a phycology student I know who has a lot of knowledge on the subject matters this piece covers if we need some more theory advice from someone in this field. I may also need to communicate with Sugini’s Father who is the participant behind the story fo the piece as I may be partly filming him with the crew so this will require professionalism but also friendliness to help make him feel comfortable. This piece will be installed at the Grad show in a large and unique perspective way to communicate the message to the audience on a large scale. It will also be uploaded onto YouTube and other platforms to disseminate into audiences seeking the subject matters she covers. I feel that the visuals will be very strong and will resonate well with people on this intimate viewing level too. Girl Happy: I will need to make sure I successfully communicate with the Director and Producer who’s piece this is to make sure the edit follows her vision but also works technically well. I will also need to work and communicate very closely with the second editor to make sure we our both aiming towards the same finish so that it is as strong as we can make it collaboratively with all our technical skills. I will also need to communicate with everyone on set to make sure my time is utilised wisely and that I am being as helpful as I possibly can be. I may need to seek advice from Avid tutor Victoria whom taught us last year if there is any extra technical Avid skills I may need for this edit and any advice on the edit itself if we loose momentum. This piece will be at the Grad show but will also be disseminated online as a short which comes from a much longer screen play so this could potentially be picked up by people and demand could propel it into being made feature length in the future.
SELF MANAGEMENT (Work plan, schedule cross referenced with timetable, assessment deadlines etc) The Gunpowder Mill: I will be involved in Pre-Production of this piece, casting of Dancers and some rehearsals up till December. Temporary shoot dates for filming are the last two weeks of January 2018 (22/01/18 – 04/01/18). Post Production will then take place after the shoot dates and will be complete by… Payanam: I will be involved in the Pre-Production of this piece including the planning, paperwork and location scouting up till December. The shoots will take place gradually over 6 weeks during February & March but dates aren’t finalised yet. Post Production will then take place after the shoot dates which I will assist with when needed in March and April. Girl Happy: I will be involved on set for the temporary shoot dates of 12th February 2017 – 15th February 2018. I will then be heavily involved in Post-Production from the shoot dates onwards and it will be complete by the end of March.
STUDENT SIGN:		DATE:
TUTOR APPROVAL:
TUTOR SIGNED:		DATE: