Project Development Issues

I haven't really had as much time as I'd like to meet with my group and discuss a lot of this stuff, but here's what I've got from what I have been able to discuss with the group and (mostly) from my own observations.

Time Management Issues
Depending on how things go, this could either be a really small or really large concern for my project. Right now I'm pretty much just shooting, and when I can do so is determined by factors beyond my control, so there's not much time to manage. I just shoot when I can. Later this semester and next, I'll be editing, and since my computer can't handle extensive editing of HD video, I'll have to do this at school. This will force me to block out time to work on it, but will also limit when and how often I can.

Skills Needed
I think I have some extent of all the skills I'll need, I just need/want to hone them. I've done smaller documentaries, so I know I can do everything (shooting, editing, sound mixing, scoring, etc.) that I can see coming. I just want to be better at it.

Resources Needed
Theoretically, I should be able to do this project on my own (other than my mentor). Materials is another issue. I've been using the cameras and other shooting equipment from school, and I'll continue to do so. I'll have to use school computers for a good bit of the technical work, and I hope to be able to use the green screen from the school.

Budget
There are a few things I need now and I'm sure more will come up, so I'll need some sort of budget. I'm guessing at spending about $500 or so over the course of the project. That should cover technology costs for everything the school can't provide and also have some for unforeseen needs.

Team Issues
The team right now is myself, my mentor (Susan Tennant), and the subject of the documentary (Jordan Adair). So far I haven't had any serious issues, and I don't really foresee that changing in any major way.

Other Issues
Right now I'm trying to decide on a few aspects of the scope of the project. For instance, do I want to score it completely myself (I'd like to, but that's a lot of time I could use for other aspects) or have help or use some royalty-free music? Or how ambitious do I want to be with green screen use for interviews? Things like this are what I am dealing with most now, but soon I hope to have all this ironed out and be ready to start really getting it done.

Secondary Mentors

Prior to this class, I honestly hadn't really considered the idea of a secondary mentor. I do, however, see the benefit of it. I see a secondary mentor as someone who adds something that the student needs or could use and that is different from what is brought to the table by the primary mentor. The secondary mentor would not be someone who has similar expertise as the primary mentor, but covers some other areas. This could be someone from the school, potentially in another department other than MAS, or an industry person.

I interviewed two people (again, without mentioning the specifics of my project) to profile them as possible secondary mentors.

1. Mark Pfaff - One thing I want to do with my documentary is make it sound good. I see a lot of documentaries that look great but, because the student making it and his/her mentor both focus mostly on video, it doesn't sound great. I actually mostly work with sound outside of school, but I considered Mark Pfaff in the event that I need help with the audio side of things. He said that he would be willing to work as a secondary mentor on the sound side of a video project, but he also said he had limited availability next semester. If I do get a secondary mentor, it will probably be him.
2. Steve Mannheimer - I also interviewed him as a primary mentor, but I think if I were to work with him at all it would be as a secondary mentor. He said that the biggest area he could be of help would be in the generation of ideas, so if my project were to need more fine-tuning on the idea side of things for any reason, this might be who I would go to.

Mentor Profiles

My capstone idea is to make a documentary about a friend of mine who is a current student about to graduate from Herronw with a degree in painting. Though the documentary will focus on this one person, it will (hopefully) serve as a sort of meta-discussion about Herron, art education, art itself, and so on.

I actually already chose a mentor at the end of last semester, and the things I was looking for in a mentor (ranked roughly in order of importance) were/are:

1. Technical knowledge/experience. I wanted someone who could help me with the nuts and bolts of making a documentary. I have some experience with it, but I've never done it completely by myself, so I wanted a mentor who could answer any questions I have and give me advice on that side of things.
2. Knowledge of the subject. I wanted someone who knew about art or art education. I really don't know much about Herron, or art schools in general, or even traditional art, except what I've learned from my friend who is the subject of the documentary, so I figured someone with some knowledge of this could be very valuable.
3. Availability. Even though it possibly could go without saying, I wanted someone who would have time and be able to meet with me to help with the project. I didn't want someone to just fill the mentor requirement and maybe meet a few times, I wanted someone I could meet with on a regular basis and who would be available as I needed him/her.
4. Willingness to help. Not only did I want someone able to help me, I wanted someone who would really want to. Ideally, this would be someone who would really get behind the project and want to see me complete it.

I had these in mind last semester when I chose a mentor, but I also kept them in mind recently as I selected and interviewed a few faculty members.  I wanted to get their responses without being clouded by the specifics of my idea, so I asked them the questions without telling them what my idea was. Only my actual mentor, who is one of the ones I interviewed, knew the details. Rather than copying and pasting their responses to the questions here, I'll mention each one, why I thought of them, and a brief summary of what their responses tells me about their potential as mentors for my particular project.

• Susan Tennant - Susan is my current mentor. I chose her because she has knowledge of documentaries and, as a former art student herself, knows about that end of things as well. She seemed and still seems to be the best choice given the criteria I had. When interviewed, she did say she preferred documentaries, which is a plus considering that that's what my project is.
• C. Thomas Lewis - I've had a few classes with Lewis already, and I considered him when choosing a mentor. I ultimately decided that he wasn't the best choice, and his interview confirmed this. He mentioned that he wants his capstone students to do very conceptually challenging, innovative pieces. Knowing what I do of his style, I take that to mean he expects experimental, somewhat unconventional projects. While I do want to push some boundaries and be somewhat experimental in my project, in the end it is something relatively conventional. He also said that his availability for mentoring is limited.
• Steve Mannheimer - After the other two, I honestly didn't know who else to look to. I couldn't find and didn't know of anyone else in video, and that's the main thing I wanted out of a mentor. So, failing that, I looked at the faculty list with my second criteria in mind. This led me to Mannheimer, because he has experience with art. However, the interview confirmed that he would not be a good choice for my project. He said that he could mostly help with idea conceptualizing, and my idea is already pretty flushed out so, while it will almost certainly evolve, that isn't the main thing I'm looking for.

P.S. Sorry for the long post. I wanted to answer each question in the assignment moderately thoroughly and didn't want to just copy and paste the answers to the questions but rather actually discuss them.

Capstone Category/Group

My capstone would fall into the general category of video, specifically documentary. Right now the only person I know I would likely be grouped with is William Backhoff. I know several other students are doing documentaries, but I didn't see which ones as they haven't posted their capstone category and group blogs (at least that I saw, but I may have missed some). Also if the groups are more general then there are many other video students I would likely be grouped with.

Class Discussion

This week's class was very informative for me. It really did a lot for giving me an idea what the expectations of a capstone are, and more clearly defining the idea of capstones for me. I haven't been able to attend a capstone event yet since I've been in school (I've tried to go to the last two, but things came up at the last minute that prevented me) so it was good to get more of an idea. Even though I already know what I'm doing for capstone, it still helped to know more about it. I was particularly interested in the discussion of playing is safe vs. taking risks. My project is somewhat safe for me, with several areas in which it does push myself and is more risky. When the topic came up I somewhat expected to hear that students should really push themselves and take risks. I was somewhat surprised to hear that students should stay safer and, though it is a balancing act, safer is good. I feel like my project is a good blend of the two, so I feel better about it now.