Tuesday, 18 March 2014

potential artists research

Brighton Festival announces choreographer Hofesh Shechter as Guest Director 2014

26 Sep 2013

Critically-acclaimed choreographer, musician, composer and performer will shape Brighton Festival 2014’s programme of events

Renowned for creating raw, physical live contemporary dance pieces set to his own, highly-charged, atmospheric musical scores, Hofesh Shechter is seen as one of the UK’s most exciting contemporary artists. His eponymous Company are a Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival resident company, and their brand new work Sun – co-commissioned by Brighton Festival – will open the three week arts extravaganza on Sat 3 May when it comes ‘home’ at the conclusion of its first world tour.

Hofesh Shechter said, ’Brighton has a magic to it that no one can explain. Finding a place where one can develop and grow artistically is a delicate thing, an important thing. Brighton Dome and Brighton Festival have been an inspiring, energising and encouraging place for my company and me in the last 5 years. We’ve enjoyed the buzz, the lightness, energy, and the unexplainable essence of Brighton. We have resided in its cultural heart - Brighton Dome, and the pulsating artistic heart of the Dome is the annual Festival. I'm so excited and honoured to have been invited to lead on this inspiring event and I feel a rush of excitement about the ideas I can contribute. To be asked to lead this amazing event in 2014, to be asked to inspire, energise, encourage... well, delighted, is just a boring word.’

Andrew Comben, Chief Executive of Brighton Dome & Festival said, ‘We’re very pleased that Hofesh Shechter is our Guest Director for Brighton Festival 2014. As the artistic director of our resident company Hofesh Shechter Company, it has been exciting for us and our audiences to experience first-hand his ascent to becoming a major force on the international contemporary dance scene. Hofesh’s instinctive understanding of Brighton and our Festival has been a great starting point for our planning, and I feel it’s particularly pertinent that he steps into the role in 2014 following a highly successful five years of working together. Hofesh’s appointment as Guest Director continues a trend set by his predecessors – his work and creative vision contains that rare quality and sense of adventure that sparks the imaginations of a much wider audience beyond his own discipline. With such an eclectic artist at the helm, Brighton Festival 2014 is set to be a very exciting one indeed.’

Hofesh Shechter’s appointment as Guest Director is the culmination of a five year relationship between the choreographer and the organisation. Fresh from being named the first resident company at Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival in 2008, Hofesh Shechter Company’s dramatic Brighton Dome Concert Hall debut In your rooms / Uprising was followed by back-to-back world premières of two specially-commissioned works; The Art of Not Looking Back (Brighton Festival 2009) and Political Mother (Brighton Festival 2010). In 2009, Brighton Festival also commissioned Hofesh’s Bangers and Mash; a youth community project featuring over 100 young dancers and musicians, and in 2013 Brighton Festival commissioned Nomad Land; a collaborative dance and film project that explored the energy and complexity of male relationships. Brighton Dome has also played host to evenings of brand-new work choreographed and presented by Hofesh Shechter Company dancers called In Good Company and, following its international success, the return of Political Mother to the venue in 2012.

Brighton Festival - an annual celebration of music, theatre, dance, circus, art, film, literature, debate, outdoor and family events - will take place in venues across the city and beyond from 3 to 25 May 2014.

Learn more about our new Guest Director Hofesh Shechter. Watch the trailer for Sun, which has been described as 'utterly disarming… delightfully eclectic' DanceTabs. Read the full review here.

i am in the process of looking for the performers as we are not sure if we need to contact people by ourselves. we found out the spirit of the fringe festival was about the encouraging the potential artists.

Thursday, 13 March 2014

information idea

Wednesday, 12 March 2014

reflection

The aim of the pitch is to let the client know our project orientation and evaluate our approach to making a video to attract more people to the Brighton Fringe Festival. We aim to use DSLR camera and it is almost hand held and more able to move along with participants.
During the pre-pitch preparation my initial plan based on my previous research online was to invite one host to interview random participants in the festival events in a cafe, a theatre, or an exhibition to see how they feel about getting involved in the festival. But some of my team members think it will not cover the variety of events going on in May and the host may address only limited number of participants. We finally did not choose the host-interview idea and we decided on addressing participants' involvement directly by following three participating representatives from different age groups. Although I was also passionate about interviewing some events' performers. In order to create the vibrance listed in the brief, we decided to use fast paced editing with each shot lasting for around one second. The visual content is designed to be children, their families, young teenagers joining in many kinds of activities. In the music track will be an energetic song indicating happiness so we are also meant to capture participants' smiling faces.
However in the tutorial when a mock pitch was done, our tutor suggested that we include much more narrative in our stories that made us in dilemma as it is difficult to include stories in a five-minute film consisting of three short films. We have to find out how to establish some small, narrative archive with their time in the festival. This is a bit spontaneous and needs participants to incorporate. Up to the point of doing the pitch, as we were not clear of whether we should access to some participants by ourselves or under the help of Fringe Office, we were not sure how the little narrative stories will be like.
The formal pitch was actually much more relaxing than we thought. we were invited to sit down together. But we were not sure who did what so there was only a rough division of tasks among us.
I was not the best presenter in my team so I contributed to some ideas for the final presentation. I could only be the opener as I am better at talking to one person than speaking confidently in front of a group of clients as Sam Harrison emphasized the importance of distributing appropriate tasks according to personal abilities. But the presentation was less formal than we expected and there was only one client so we found it easy eventually to clarify issues as we asked a few logistic questions.
We hope our client can be more clear of what is needed from the five minute film by asking more questions as it will also be a form of helping us check the necessary considerations in the future.

pitch feedback

I don't have names for this group but there was a very lively boy in it! They came across very well and had put a lot of work in to coming up with some modern, fresh ideas for the videos that they want to produce. I like that they had thought about how to include our own illustrations in the video and their ideas fitted with the pitch very well. Their presentation was excellent, however I think it would have been beneficial have something printed out to accompany this (as I now can't remember their names!)

Sunday, 9 March 2014

artists research

http://www.brightonfringe.org/participants/participants-advertise

we could always ask participants about their opinions about some artists' craziness about their exhibition.

Beowulf - a contemporary version of the famous epic, combining table-top puppetry with live music and poetry.

Kicking It Forward

We are pledging to return profit generated from Beowulf at Brighton Fringe 2014 to Kickstarter projects.

What is the project?

Beowulf is a theatre performance taking place at the Brighton Fringe Festival in May

A Saxon poet performs his tale entirely in verse, bringing the story to life with a memorable cast of puppet characters, each with their own unique voice and style. They debate, dance, and battle their way through a story about bravery, fame and humanity.

Barely Human Puppets performing Beowulf October 2013

Beowulf is a popular event, attracting sold-out audiences to four performances in Autumn 2013. Barely Human Puppets are a vibrant ensemble, bringing the legend to life with energy and humour.

We are working very hard to raise money from various sources in addition to this Kickstarter campaign. Daisy is running a six week puppet making workshop in partnership with Draw Brighton at New England House, Brighton. We are also delivering a series of school workshops, making puppets and telling stories with the children.

But all of this isn't even enough to pay the performers - we have applied to the Arts Council Grants for the Arts Scheme to hopefully find the £5,000 needed to cover their fees.

The Project So Far...

Barely Human Puppets began rehearsing in July 2013 - click the image below to see our documentation of rehearsals on Instagram,

Beowulf was first performed at the Theatre Royal Brighton as part of its successful Out of Hours season last October.

Barely Human Puppets Theatre Royal Brighton

Read our review from the Theatre Royal Brighton here.

I can't afford to pledge...can I still help?

YES!

If you would like to help - just spread the word - word-of-mouth is make or break for most Kickstarter campaigns.

Here are some links you can share

barelyhumanpuppets.tumblr.com

@BHPuppets - hashtag #Beowulf2014

Facebook

Kickstarter Video

The Puppets

The real stars of the show are the puppets, and we would like to share a little bit about how they were made. Daisy carves into Celotex insulation to create the faces, hands and feet. The Celotex is covered with a layer of paper mache before painting. The bodies of the puppets are made from wood and connected with wire.

All costumes were provided by Kerrie Curzon.

For more photos of the puppet making process click the heads below for Daisy's Instagram.

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Brighton Fringe

The Dukebox Theatre is hosting our performances of Beowulf at Brighton Fringe 2014. The Dukebox is a superb venue close to the sea - and Latest 7 named them as Best Venue of the Fringe last year.

Beowulf performance dates -

Saturday 3rd May 3.30pm

Saturday 10th May 3.30pm

Sunday 11th May 3.30pm

Tuesday 20th May 8pm

We've already got some great support for the project - we've been awarded the Ideas Tap Brighton Fringe Award which offers support and mentoring for the event, as well as £1,000 towards our budget. Only four events have been chosen so we're extremely excited to have this additional support.

Click the image above to see tons of photos and documents about Beowulf on Jessica's Ideas Tap portfolio.

Rural Touring

We want to perform Beowulf at Brighton Fringe to give us the best possible platform for inviting programmers from rural touring schemes and small-scale venues across Kent and Sussex.

So, if you help to fund Beowulf now and we get to Brighton Fringe, you don't just get this show on the road for the 160 people that can fit into the Dukebox - you also help to bring this show to smaller, rural communities, who don't have easy access to theatre and the arts.

Why have we decided to use Kickstarter?

Barely Human Puppets have decided to use Kickstarter because we love the direct contact with backers. We want every one of you to be as passionate about this production as we are, and to invite you into the creative process. Kickstarter makes this possible by allowing us to message backers directly and thank them for pledges. It's not just about receiving money and spending it. It's a creative exchange.

Remember, any amount offered is subject to us reaching our target, if we fall short, then no money will leave your account.

We are an emerging company, so it's just as important for us to build support as it is to raise money. Kickstarter has helped many companies build their online profile and collaborate with other artists - we hope to expand our support.

Of course, we do desperately need the funds we hope will be raised by this campaign. Theatre is an expensive business and the income from ticket sales alone often can't guarantee any sustainability.

With this Kickstarter money we will buy puppet and set making materials for the changes we will make in rehearsals leading up to the Fringe, boring but necessary things like insurance, postage and printing costs, and the money will help to pay our Project Manager - who is making all of this possible.

£400 - rehearsal space hire
£100 - insurance
£50 - admin costs, printing, postage
£200 - puppet and set making costs
£1000 - Project Manager fees
£250 - Registration and advertising fees for Brighton Fringe
£200 - Kickstarter fees and transaction charges

How can I get involved?

Everyone who gives, no matter how small, will receive a Barely Human Puppets badge (we're all wearing them in the video if you want to see what they look like!)

£5+ also earns you a special thanks.

£10+ is worth a personal postcard with an update on the progress of the show.

£15+ gets you a whole set of badges! You can wear Grendel's face with pride.

£25+ is an invite to the dress rehearsal of Beowulf. This exclusive peek behind the scenes will definitely include a post-show drink with the cast!

£50+ will award you with a signed copy of the script, specially bound and delivered with a personal postcard.

£100+ is such a bumper amount that Laura and Daisy will make you your very own shadow puppet. Whatever creature you want.

£200+ would blow us away so much that you can join Daisy on her course of puppet making workshops at New England House, Brighton

£1000+ is so stupendous that we will stage a private performance of Beowulf for you and your family - an ideal reward for someone living outside Brighton who can't see the show for the Fringe - maybe you and your friends can club together?!

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Risks and challengesLearn about accountability on Kickstarter

There will be many challenges facing Barely Human Puppets as we get this show on the road again!

Promoting the event to audiences at the Brighton Fringe will be a big task, however with the combined experience of our Project Manager and the rest of the company we are confident that we have a really good shot at being able to put together a successful marketing campaign.

We also want to take some more artistic risks with the piece which is why we are employing outside practitioners to raise the quality and scope of the performance.

Wednesday, 5 March 2014

The email exchange with Brighton Fringe Festival Office

Subject	RE: performers'list for brighton fringe festival
Sender	Rosie Blackwell-Sutton
Recipient	Yi Wang
Date	2014-03-05 15:23:50

Hi Yi,

Sorry to not get back to you sooner. 

Here's the list of performers and contact details for them too: http://registration.brightonfringe.org/media.aspx 

When contacting these people, I would just let them know what you're doing - so say you're working on a university project and producing videos for Brighton Fringe as part of this etc. 

It would be preferable for you to arrange filming with them directly, however feel free to cc me in to any emails so that I can make sure everything runs smoothly. 

All the best,
Rosie

-----Original Message-----
From: Yi Wang [mailto:yw90@sussex.ac.uk] 
Sent: 27 February 2014 14:44
To: Rosie Blackwell-Sutton
Subject: performers'list for brighton fringe festival

hello rosie,
we are a production team from second year university of sussex media practice courses and we already met last week for the industry project pitch in the fringe office. nice seeing you last time in the pitch.
we would only like to know when will you be able to provide us with the performers' list you have for 2014 festival and we can develop ideas for films about them?  will you be able to provide the availability infor as well or do you expect us to contact them ourselves for the exact filming dates? and also will you inform us any infor about the shooting for the launch party on 4th March you mentioned during the picth?
thank you
yi wang (ivy)

Thursday, 20 February 2014

last meeting before the pitch - meeting minutes

we decided on doing three short videos with three subjects as a trilogy.
we decided to have one teenager, one mid-aged woman and a child as our three subjects.

we raised questions:
who are going to provide us with the performers' list ?
can we use archive footage?
will Brighton Fringe Office help us with getting location permissions?

4th March
launch party

end of the april should be the first delivery date:

Sunday, 16 February 2014

research on fast paced motion picture

⇨ Short, doodle-y type animations that play with the live-action footage throughout the videos
⇨ Using the style represented on the Fringe website and logo
⇨ Goal: to tailor the video more towards the Fringe brand and give it a unique, quirky feel

Fast-paced video provides a fun view of Portland, surrounding area

By The Oregonian
Follow on Twitter
on November 04, 2010 at 7:07 AM, updated November 04, 2010 at 12:09 PM

This is fun.
Take a look if you have time.
It's a fast-paced, nicely done video of Portland and the surrounding area from Travel Portland.
If you've lived here for long, you probably won't see too much that you haven't seen before, but it's always nice to see things through new eyes, or in this case, through a new lens.
Hope you enjoy. And by the way, in this Portland, it never rains.
-- The Oregonian

the fast-paced video we were thinking about doing was functioning well with the funny effects.