Day 3

Today I met Catherine at her house in Sheffield so that she could talk me through some of her tasks as company manager, and so that I could continue helping the company with moving their project to Coventry. We discussed the practicalities of moving and accommodating all cast and band members, and I was also able to view the company budget to find who would be getting paid for each job and when. I found this extremely helpful as it highlighted just how organised I would need to be should I chose this line of work after  my degree, and it brought to light how most decisions have to be made quickly so that the most important work can be completed on time.
Since last week I have been trying to find the company some accommodation in the centre of Coventry and have managed to find a few self-catering apartments which might be suitable for them.I have also needed to find B&Bs near Warwick University for when the company are performing at their arts centre for which I have needed to ring and email on behalf of Invisible Flock.
Catherine has talked me through how to apply for arts council funding and has kindly sent me a copy of one of the companies working request forms to read in my own time. She has also shown me how the company budgets for each project and she has talked me through which payments the company are responsible for and also in which areas they should not need to spend. I definitely feel more confident with these subjects now and feel that I would be able to organize my own company should this become a reality in the future.
I am not in placement again until next Monday where I will be joining they company in their Leeds studio again. In the meantime I will be emailing Catherine as I have agreed to help with some spreadsheets for their Coventry accommodation - I am happy to say that excel is becoming a lot less scary!

Day 2

This morning was pretty exhausting! I was set the challenge of finding some props for the company's arts council performance on Thursday. Bearing in mind I have no knowledge of Leeds city centre, I had to find: 40 white balloons, 2 large white sheets and 40 black eye masks - it was an interesting morning! I managed to find all they needed and was happy that it was all fairly cheap, as I was trusted with the company credit card I didn't want to spend too much! After lunch I sat with them in the studio as they discussed some new interactive game ideas, which they want to incorporate the city centre into. The afternoon consisted of downloading some new music and listening to bi neural sounds through headphones to find which would work best with their new show. Their second task of the afternoon consisted of walking around the city centre, listening to the music through headphones to get a feel for the performance idea. They felt it wasn't going to be an awfully interesting afternoon for me as they would have headphones on the entire time and not be able to really share anything/speak to me! I suggested that it may be more helpful for them, and for myself, if I was to come back and work a different afternoon, which they agreed would probably be best. I am happy that we all felt comfortable enough to be honest each other, and I am emailing Catherine to see if there is a better time for me to put in some extra hours. It was still an interesting afternoon, I learnt how they are inspired by different game concepts and the different process's needed to bring a game to life, and it has inspired me to think of different ways to get audiences involved and interacting with future performances.

Day 1

Although I had already met the company, and had planned buses/trains/walking routes, I was extremely nervous about starting this morning! I arrived at the studios just before 10.30 and met Rich and Ben, who were discussing ideas for a small project they are working on this week for the Arts Council at the Crucible in Sheffield. I sat in on their discussion until Catherine and Vic arrived and prepared to sit in on their meeting at 11 with new Production Manager, Dave, who will be working with them for their "Bring the Happy" project which is being taken down to Coventry in April.
The meeting itself was mainly discussing practicalities of touring the project; moving the set, viewing the venues, finding accommodation, possible partnerships, risk assessments, storage and sourcing new props. I enjoyed being present at this meeting as it gave me a great insight into the organisation needed for touring projects. I have been asked to source some props tomorrow and have been given the (ongoing) task of helping to find some possible temporary accommodation for the company in Coventry.
After lunch I sat with Catherine and Vic as they talked through the weekly agenda, which was also interesting as I was able to see the types of everyday tasks an independent company may have. I then met Alex, their artistic assistant, who will be helping with their project while it's on Coventry. I spent a lot of time today absorbing information, this was an extremely busy day for them in terms of meetings and organisation, so I did feel thrown in the deep end at times! I ended the day with a chat with Catherine about some of the tasks she has planned, and some of the things she can talk me through net week (budgeting, business planning, their arts council funding and how to start a project). Tomorrow I will be with Rich, Ben and Vic working on some creative development and sourcing props.

Meeting Invisible Flock

I first contacted Invisible Flock via their email address which I found on their website and discussed the possibility of a placement via email before meeting them on the 23rd January. It was good to meet them all in person after a few weeks of emailing and I felt welcome in their studio and comfortable discussing what I would like to gain from work placement, and what help I could possibly offer them in return. I continued emailing Catherine Baxendale after the meeting and agreed upon a schedule for my placement.


Monday 18th February – from 10.30am in the studio

• Bring The Happy Production Meeting
• Arts Council event preparation

Tuesday 19th February – from 10.30am in the studio

• Observing Creative Development day

Tuesday 26th February – from 10am with Catherine in Sheffield

• Organisational

Monday 4th, 5th and 6th March – from 10.30am in the studio

• Observing Crucible R and D

Wednesday 13th March – from 10.30am in the studio

• Final evaluation

I will be working with Invisible Flock 7hours each day, which brings my placement to a total of 42 hours.