Day 6

Last full day at the studio with the company today... This week has gone really quick!
I spent the morning in a meeting with Catherine and Victoria, who were discussing more organisational development and finances. They are currently contacting more people for creative development and are hoping to take another project to Lancaster, and their 'Bring the Happy project to a festival in London.
After lunch I helped Catherine with making some bookings for their move to Coventry next month and have agreed to help finalise the bookings with all their accommodation next week.
Late afternoon the company had 2 women come to the studio for an informal audition for the part of a Nymph in their project 'The Book of Beasts'. I sat with them as they talked through the show and outlined the character before reading through the script. They chose the second woman as they had met before and she knew the show, though they are keen to keep in contact with the first as they may want to work with her for future projects.
I spent the last part of the day talking to Victoria about how they started their company - which was really interesting. She has given me lots of tips and advise (with regards to business plans and arts councils) and has very kindly said that I can contact her in the future should I need further help/advise with starting off any projects.
I will be keeping in contact with Catherine via email and during this next week I have agreed to continue with the tasks I've been helping out on  - as the rest of the company are in Paris and she is very busy!

Day 5

When I arrived this morning I was told that I would be shadowing Rich as he prepared a trial run for one of their new game ideas based in the city centre. The game itself runs off an app you can have on your phone, and it sends you messages with storyline, choices and directions which lead you around the city. The idea is still not fully-formed, but the aim is to give each person an individual experience by giving them their own choice in the narrative, and to incorporate as much live cinematic qualities into the game as possible.
I walked with Rich as he planted 'clues' around the city for Ben and Victoria to find in the trial run. This included taking pictures of each 'turning point' (where the app would give the participant a choice of where to go/what to do next) and these pictures, along with different messages, were text to Ben and Victoria as we waited in a cafe hoping that they would find their way to us!
It was a fun morning, and it has definitely got me more interested in creating my own interactive experiences in the future. We looked at various other public locations that could be Incorporated into the game, including the public library, town hall and art museum. While in the art museum I noticed a painting by Jacob Kramer named 'Hear Our Voice, O Lord Our God', which I found really powerful.

 

 

This painting shows so much strong emotion, it seems like the woman is in painful desperation. I would like to consider using this image as character building research for my solo piece. I also like her hands, they look whithered and unusually large...

 

Tomorrow I will be in the studio again and I am going to be helping plan a map of possible set locations in Paris for when the company travel there on Monday for some filming. I feel like I have been getting a lot more out of work placement this week now that we have all had time to work and talk together properly. Feels like it has gone quite quickly - I only have 2 days left!

 

 



Day 4

Back in Leeds today and I was feeling a little apprehensive this morning after not seeing the company for nearly 2 weeks. Was fine when I got there, as it was just Ben and Victoria in, sorting out their websites and some advertisement, and the atmosphere was really relaxed.
The first task I was set on today was to find some mailing list software so that people can subscribe to the Invisible Flock mailing list on their website. I had found a couple of sites which looked promising, though some were charging monthly fees, in the end I found http://www.phplist.com/ which Ben decided looked best (and free!) and downloaded to add to the website.
I was then given both Ben and Victoria's email log ins so that I could export all their contacts onto spreadsheets. I then compared contacts and created one list of contact details (names and emails) so that they could be contacted for project information and advertising and then added to the mailing list once it has been made.
My third task was to create an email invitation for their 'Bring the Happy' project, which had to include the project logo and details. The email will be sent to all contacts on their mailing list once complete.

 

I spent the last part of the day talking to Victoria about some of the contributions they have had to their project. She read me some of the happy memories people have entered and I can now see why their project has been so rewarding for them, it was really heartwarming to hear some of the happy times people have had and wanted to share.

 

I have been promised a more 'fun' day tomorrow (after a day of spreadsheets) and I'm looking forward to going back.