Final Update

Well it's all coming to a close! Tomorrow will be the live performance of Estranged. I am incredibly nervous I have never presented anything like this, let alone in a room full of my peers and people that I know. I think I would rather hide in a corner or leave the room completely while people watch it. haha I am really excited though, I hope that at the very least people are surprised by what this all turned into. It has been a very long semester for me and I can't wait to get some sleep! I am extremely glad I took this class even though at first I wasn't too sure about being a director considering how "shy" I can be, but I think as time went on and the more I had to present to the class the more comfortable I got. Tomorrow night will definitely be the big test though! I have learned a lot about myself this semester, I wasn't to sure I could do it... but I did!

update

This past week we were able to rehearse with our live performer! I am really excited about the tone this aspect of the project brings to it. Our actress is really nice and down to earth so that is really nice. She seems really into the project and is really serious about trying to achieve what I am looking for to the best of her ability, she nails it quite well. I've noticed that a lot of my ideas are quite simple but they have alot of underlying meaning which makes it really exciting for me. I like the fact that there are somethings that are going on in this piece that maybe won't make since to everyone, but to me it does and maybe some other people will get it as well... Gotta love artistic choices!

update

This week we wrapped up all of the filming of the memories with Ally and Emily. It was a lot of fun especially since the scenes are kind of fun and very simple. I am really enjoying watching everything in my head come to life as we slowly put it all together. I wasn't sure that it was going to look like what I imagined but I am pleasantly surprised to find that it really does! It's like it was pulled straight from my brain. We also have a live performer now that we will be rehearsing with soon I think it's going to be really exciting to add that aspect of it and get to see it all really come together.

Visions

Visions was awesome it was cool seeing everyone together and some very interesting pieces that my peers created. I didn't catch my bumper but I saw my name in quite a few places so that was neat! Also when I got my badge I got a t-shirt, I was really unsure as to why but who doesn't want a free t-shirt! You could tell that a lot of thought went into the festival I enjoyed last years as well but I felt as if it definitely grew and had progressed from last year. I wanted to go to the after party but unfortunately I had to work! I heard it was a lot of fun though. I really really liked the video race entries! It really made me sad that I didn't participate it looked like it was loads of fun and I'm sure anyone who didn't participate and saw them like me, will want to do it next year!

Festival reasons

Finding festivals that take installations proved to be somewhat difficult. So we went about it in a way that met different criteria. Such as "Queer" festivals since I the director fit that category although that word sounds awkward to me. Queer? Anyways the App queer festival in WV, I actually went to one of their fundraisers that my "estranged" sister invited me to completely randomly (strange I know) and I talked to the head os the festival. They are a new festival and I told them about my project and how it was difficult to find festivals that take installations and they said they would take it! They said they have experimental and they are sure they could find a way to accommodate. The Mix NYC festival and Sundance were both chosen because they take installations. Indie Grits was chosen for experimental and because they take filmmakers from the south. Most all of the festivals were chosen because either we fit a category personally, or because they took installations or were very experimental and seemed as if they would at least give us a good thought.

Week 11

This has been the most difficult week of the semester for a few reasons. The indiegogo isn't catching on as well as I thought it would which is becoming pretty stressful wondering how we are going to fund the things that we need for this project. Also when I looked at the footage that we took of the woman I was far from satisfied and this overwhelmed me a lot. I went ahead and went with it because I knew that we needed something and her story was really great and I figured the mistakes with the lighting could be fixed. So I cut it up and pieced it into a story as I did with the first interview, then I left it alone for a few days to see if that would help in figuring out what to do. Later I went back and took a look at it and began trying to figure out what I was going to do about the lighting. It was nothing that I had imagined and I'm not sure why we didn't realize at the time of the interview that it was going to look nothing like the first interview. So I ask there for hours upon hours tweaking it and trying to figure out how to fix it. I don't know much of anything about color correction but I figured if I played with it long enough that I could figure it out. this was a complete fail and I ended up not sleeping at all that night and becoming sick with stress. We still have a few more interviews that this learning experience will definitely help with. I won't let my vision escape me from now on and forget simple things that could potentially make or break the interview.

week 10

This week we went to myrtle beach to do an interview with a woman who was put into foster care as a child. Her story was extremely interesting. She had 25 brothers and sisters whom she wasn't in contact with. Each one for one reason or another either was lost or just didn't want to be apart of her life. It was sad listening to her story but it was extremely interesting. She told us about one of her brothers who was murdered by a serial killer and how she wished that they had gotten to grow up together because now he is gone and she didn't even get much time with him. She was a really nice lady it was difficult to understand some of the things that she was saying but I think that the important parts are easy enough to understand.It was fun getting out of wilmington to do an interview. She began to cry towards the end of the interview the more she talked about missing her siblings and not knowing why they left and wont talk to her. In my mind I knew that her story was going to fit so well into this project because she was saying very similar things to how I feel about my situation.

Week 9

This week we interviewed whitney for the doc. We also shot a promo video with emily and ally, started a facebook page, and launched our indiegogo. When the facebook page was set up I contacted an art friend of mine who is an amazing painter and asked her is she would be interested in creating a piece for the project. I told her that it would most likely be used for posters and marketing material as well as incentives for our indiegogo. She was completely thrilled that I asked and excited to be apart f the project because she had read about it and found it really interesting. So when the indiegogo was set up we used her work as a big part of the incentives. The facebook page took off pretty fast which was really exciting to see. It really took off once the promo video was posted. I had alot of fun editing the video. I wanted to really portray a certain emotion and leave people interested in what the piece was going to look like. I wanted to show one of the sisters disappearing so that was fun trying to figure out how to actually go about that. Once I did I was really proud of the end result of the video.

week 8

This week I edited the interview. I was at the Florida Keys more of the break but I was able to get it done once I got back. This was a lot of fun not only because I enjoy editing but also because the questions I asked fit so well into forming a story. It didn't take me long to cut it all up and piece it together. Once I had done that I contacted Naomi and we got together to do some color correcting to set a mood for the doc. Once this part was done I was like wow this is exactly what I pictured in my head! I think that was the moment where I was really like this is going to really mean something to me. There are parts in the edit where she pauses or says certain things in a way that you can really feel the emotion that the issue causes for her. This is great because that is my goal of the whole piece. I want to show the emotions and feelings a person goes thru in this situation.

week 7

This week I interviewed our first interviewee. I was nervous because I had never done an interview before but I felt as if my questions were pretty good and would help to guide the story with what I needed. I did it by myself because it was in my home town so it was kind overwhelming making sure all the pieces were put together correctly. It was kind of neat though because she was my friend so it made the interview more comfortable then if it was a stranger. I accidentally forgot to record sound but luckily I realized before the interview was even over and she was cool about starting over. As I interviewed her I became more and more excited about the project and the editor in me could hear the parts that I knew where going to be perfect for the project and I could feel myself already piecing it together. I think that interviewing her first was a great idea because like I said I had never done it before and she was my friend, so now I feel like I have so experience without having to just completely throw myself into unknown territory. Once we were finished she seemed really excited to see the end result and how her story was going to work into the project.

Week 6

This week we began searching for people to interview for the documentary side of the project. I have a friend that I've talked to numerous times about her brother she had found who no longer talks to her. So right away I knew I should ask her. So I asked her if she would be willing to do an interview for my project without hesitation she said yes and was really excited about sharing her story. Like me she doesn't really know much of anyone that she can talk to about it besides each other, but we aren't really that close so its just like a random out of the blue thing when we do talk about it. So there we had 1 interviewee. We started putting out ads on craigslist and facebook to see if we could find even more people to interview. We also have a website that explained the project so we linked that to the craigslist ad. The amount of people that contacted us was pretty amazing and all of them were more than willing to share their stories right off the back. Infact before they even knew who they were and were just responding to the ad they told us our story. This was really motivating and comforting knowing that there were so many people out their willing to talk on the subject.

Week 5

For this week we began the process of finding our actresses for the memory sequence. This wasn't very difficult at all once I began thinking about what kind of people I would want for the part. I knew that I wanted people that looked alike since they would be portraying sisters. Then I thought wow that would be perfect if I could find actual sisters to do the part. Then I suddenly thought Ally and Emily! I had seen them interacting last semester at the installation showing and I thought they were really funny and reminded me a lot of how me sister and I are. So I emailed Ally because I knew her where as I didn't know Emily and asked if she thought that they would be interested in the part. She emailed me back and said she would ask Emily but she was pretty sure that they would do it. Once we got a solid yes we did an audition at the library and I was even more sure after the audition that they were perfect for the part especially since there wasn't really any acting involved considering their personalities were already perfect.

logistics

Audience Experience: An installation best suits this concept because there are multiple parts that are separate but after the same goal. Also I think it is amazing how the audience will have a better feel for the emotion with a live actor who is standing there with them. The audience will be introduced to an emotional documentary and a series of memories and just as they begin to feel the emotion of the piece there will be a burst of even stronger emotion right in their face by the live actor.

Logistic Questions:

Installation description: a 10 min 1 channel, color video installation with stereo sound.
Installation ingredients: Projector  Receiver laptop/dvd player and stereo sound
Equipment: Projector, Receiver with 2 speakers
Other materials: Speaker wire, wall,
 light, chains/rope
Tech: Yes the person setting up will need tech knowledge it will take 2-3 people to set up and 10-15 mins
Power: it will require 3 sockets
Additional Notes: What can go wrong? Actor not show up, sound or video not working, location fall thru

How it's all connected...

Explanation:

This piece is about a girl who went out to search for her siblings that she had never met from her fathers side whom she had also never met. Upon finding them she actually met up with one which was her sister (the other 2 brothers wanted nothing to do with her). They instantly clicked as if they knew each other their whole lives and no time was ever lost. They drank, partied, told each other things they had never told anyone else, they were best friends and the girl felt as if a huge hole had been filled in her life. Then after some time the girl stopped getting responses from her sister, and eventually came to realize something was wrong, for whatever reason her sister just cut her out almost completely with no reason why, she just vanished. This really took a toll on the girl and caused her to feel lost and confused how could she have finally found her sister and clicked so well just for her to be gone again. This went on for a long time, her reaching out to her and her sister never responding, except on completely random occasions she would remind her that she loved and missed her. This made coping with it even harder for the girl and made her feel completely insane about the situation. She began thinking maybe she pushed to hard, but she didn't it was her sister who came up with all of these grand plans that they could do together, travel, work together, live together etc... make up for lost time. This fact left her even more lost. 

How it all connects:
 The piece as a whole is about the emotions felt by the girl about the time that is ticking away as she hopes and waits for her sister to return into her life. I am the girl. The memories are memories I have with my best friend (my sister). The doc side will focus on the emotions that people feel when being rejected by their siblings. One person that will be interviewed actually has a very similar story to mine and her interview will play a major role in tying it all together. The doc side will help to express the longing that the girl is feeling for her sister (in the memories) by sharing other peoples similar stories and emotions; and the live action of the girl (representing me) will literally show the longing, the agony, the pain, and the feeling of being trapped in the situation and not being able to let it go no matter how hard she tries, and how it is literally driving her insane. 

The editing of the Doc material will be crucial to making it all link together. Basically my story will be told thru the stories of others. 

Treatment and Character Bios

Treatment:
This installation is about estranged siblings from a negative point of view. It will not only show real life people and stories from their personal experience on the topic thru the doc side, but it will also pin point events that occurred in a specific situation thru the memories sequence and the live installation.

It will start out with darkness, in which two screens will turn on and play their parts.

Left Screen: This screen will play the 5 or more people's stories and experiences of finding their estranged siblings. There will be a real focus on the emotions they felt of not having them around and/or the emotions of their estranged siblings not wanting to meet them or suddenly cutting them off verses the actual journey of finding them. It will not follow any particular pattern and will most likely be cut up a lot and made really depressing (haha) This will provide the sound.

Right Screen: This screen will play the memories sequence. Two actresses will play sisters and they will act out different things such as drinking at a bar, singing in the car, karaoke, Dancing crazy, etc... This will be silent

Without warning a bright light will turn on and the Doc screen will turn to snow. There will be sister #2 standing with her back to the audience and she will be reaching towards the memories sequence. It will then go back to darkness and the doc screen will come back on and continue playing. After a period of time the light will come on again but this time both screens will go to snow and the sister#2 will be facing the audience acting out her pain, by looking worn and upset and maybe even crazed. It will continue alternating from on and off until the end of the doc and memories, each time when the light is on the duration will change and so will sister #2, after her 2nd appearance she will be trapped with either rope or chains. Every time the light comes on their will be an ear piercing screeching sound to provide the audience with a way to experience her agony.

The purpose of this piece is to expose the negative side of having siblings out there you don't know, because it isn't always a happy meeting. Also, because this is from a personal experience of mine that I felt and feel alone in, I also would like to use it as a tool for others and myself to show that I/they are not alone. Also if my estranged siblings hear about it or somehow see it that's always a plus.


Character Bios:
Beyond the Doc side which I plan to have at least 5 people there will be two actors that will play sisters for the memories sequence
Sister 1: She is the estranged sibling that was found by sister #2. They partake in a lot of fun times and click very quickly.
Sister 2: She is the one that went looking for sister #1. After some time sister #1 stopped almost all contact with sister #2 with no explanation, and sister #2 is dealing with the emotions of her random "disappearance". Sister #2 plays an important role in showing the agony and pain that was caused, by the sudden loss of contact after finally finding her sister.  Sister #2 will also be live in the installation acting out her "pain"

Project Description

For my project Naomi and I will be doing a Documentary/experimental Hybrid Installation. The installation will consist of 2 TV screens that will be put onto a wall or to been seen thru large square "holes" behind a wall like structure. On the two TVs two different things will be playing and they will not go with each other as far as "storyline". On the first TV there will be a documentary about the negative side of finding estranged siblings, which will show people expressing their pain and sharing their experiences. On the other screen there will be a series of acted out memories being played of two sisters who were estranged but then found one another. The area will be completely dark except for these two playing screens. The people from the documentary will be the only sound. Then randomly in the most unexpected places all at once the TVs will turn to "snow" and there will be a bright light that turns on to expose one of the girls from the memories standing in between the two TVs, and a fast moving clock on the "wall". For the sound there will be a loud agonizing screeching sound to supply the audience with the feeling of agony that the girl is feeling. Then without warning it will all go back to dark and the TVs will continue where they left off. This will continue in this way for the rest of the installation except the parts with the live girl, which will
change in duration and she will change every time she is exposed, displaying how she is becoming more warn and crazed by the time that is fading away.

Something similar to this setup: