FST Update #15

We have started our festival run finally! Jessica, Conner (co-producer I asked to help with the festival run), and I met to start discussing our festival run, and then we ended up starting submissions. So far we have submitted to NFFTY (National Film Festival for Talented Youth), Tribeca Film Festival, BLOW-UP International Arthouse Film Fest, Savannah Film Festival, DOXA Documentary Film Festival, and deadCenter Film Festival. Other festivals in our run currently are LAFF (Los Angeles Film Festival), DC Shorts Film Festival, and Washington West Film Festival. We will submit to more as they open. Festivals on this list include Camden International Film Festival, Atlanta Film Festival, Heartland Film Festival, Cucalorus Film Festival, Virginia Film Festival, Portland Film Festival, River Run Film Festival, and more! Our goal is to start nationally and then become local. I hope that our strategy bodes us well as we continue to submit our film. After seeing it on a bigger screen at the End-Of-Semester screening, I was really excited to start working on this run. This is my first time being in charge of a festival run, and I think it will be worthwhile. I'm so thankful to have done this project, and hope that other audiences will receive it well!

FST 495 Update #14

My biggest update is that we are going to finalize our festival roll out plan this Tuesday at 8 PM and we are excited to get the ball rolling. We are going to carefully plot and strategize before we start sending it off. I have had plenty of friends poorly plan their rollouts, and as a result give me advice on the types of festivals I should submit to first and foremost. One of the most important submissions I'm keeping in mind in the world premiere, which I want to be at a renowned, international film festival. Others have told us they want us to continue filming in the Spring, but we honestly will not have the time to with all of our schedules. We appreciate the enthusiasm people have shown us with the project, but this is our final product. We feel that it is done and we do not feel that we need to have additional material to make it complete. We are finishing color correction and sound design and will be ready to send it off. We are just waiting to hear about the End-Of-Semester screening and we can't wait to see initial reactions to our project. I'm nervous but excited at the same time!

FST 495 Update #13

We are beginning to tweak our final cut and tonight I will meet with Jessica to discuss our post production plans. We have an extensive list of film festivals at the moment, and we want to narrow it down to fit our budget for festivals. If we end up feeling that we need to submit to more festivals, I suppose we could talk about launching another campaign for festival funds, but I don't think it will be necessary. Last week, we received a lot of great suggestions for our documentary and are so happy to get such positive and constructive feedback. I believe that changing these aspects will help make our film "festival ready" as we begin to face the submission process. As we near the end of the semester, my group and I are going to discuss all of the possibilities for our film. I'm really sad to be towards the end of 495, because it's been a great learning experience and I've had fun working on this project. I'm grateful to my group for their dedication towards this project, and I hope I get the chance to work with more individuals that are serious about their work. I hope that when I graduate, I can find more opportunities to work on documentaries (or even narratives) as I explore the possibilities

FST 495 Update #12

Now that our semester is nearing a close, we are looking at all of the festivals we would like to submit to. We have around $530 in submission funds and can't wait to get started! Jessica and I are going to sit down and finalize a rollout plan and then look into creating a few DVDs of our film. We are also starting to put together our BTS photography and footage for our Indiegogo backers. Looking back on this project, it's been a fun yet challenging experience. As a producer, it has definitely kept me on my toes, but I'm so grateful to have had this opportunity. Some people might view this film as just a senior project, but I view it as so much more than that. I really want it to have a successful festival run, and I truly believe that we have a shot. I don't mean it in a bragging way, but I mean that I can tell this film was a product of our cooperation and hard work. We all treated it as a priority, and I think our fine cut really demonstrates just how much it meant to our group. This weekend, we all took a brief break to visit Cucalorus, and as always the experience was memorable.

Cucalorus Response:
On Thursday night, I went to see She's Allergic to Cats, which is about a dog groomer who meets a girl and is smitten immediately. He's awkward and has little experience with love, and buys a cat to take care of his apartment's rat problem...but he doesn't know that she's allergic to cats. This was the most interesting Q &A because the director said that the characters are all close and personal friends of his, and he was actually a dog groomer in real life. The film seemed to be a loose (and very exaggerated) representation of himself and people he knew. The film was also interesting because it was extremely experimental and many parts of the story were implied as a result. For example, when the main character had an allergic reaction, it was portrayed in a series of jarring experimental effects, and was never expressed in conventional storytelling techniques. On Friday, I watched the Sea Monkey Animations block, and there were some very powerful pieces introduced to me. One of them was an animated documentary about a man who immigrated to America due to the hard times faced in his home country. I found this piece to be very relevant due to recent events revolving around immigration policies, and it resonated the most with me. After this block, Jessica and I went to the Leafy Sea Dragon Shorts, which were Virtual Reality Shorts. I really enjoyed this part of the festival because it was my first time trying out VR goggles. My favorite VR film was called Extraction, and it reminded me of a first person video game, similar to Dead Space in a lot of ways. It was a fun experience to actually feel like I was in the films and witnessing the situations firsthand. On Friday night, I watched The Eyes of My Mother, which was essentially like a feature length version of Un Chien Andalou. It was about a girl with a surgeon mother that has an obsession with anatomy. Her mother is brutally murdered and then things take a turn for the worst. What interested me the most about this film was the fact that it was in black and white, like a more classic horror film. It also played very well on the discomfort factor, leaving me thinking "What the hell did I just watch?" and was one of my favorite screenings at Cucalorus. Today, I watched The Love Witch because it ironically revolved around Wicca, so Jessica and I found it to be a fitting Cucalorus choice. Of course, the religion was portrayed as evil but the film also attempted to highlight the good witches as well, which was unlike other films I had seen on the topic. Overall, my Cucalorus experience was enlightening and unforgettable, and I hope we get to come back next year!

FST 495 Update #11

Our film has hit a road bump, but it's nothing we can't handle! We have been trying to schedule a day to shoot B-roll for one of our subjects, Alysha (before the semester ends), but haven't had any luck. We have back up plans of what B-roll to shoot for her, however and think that our film can still come together nicely. Tomorrow, we will grab some B-roll of Danny to work with for next Monday and can't wait to enhance his interview with it. Right now, I'm finishing up the budget and creating the rollout schedule while Jordan finishes the business card designs, but all other components of our presentation are finished. We tried to create a variety in our festival selections, and have also kept our world premiere date in mind as we create the schedule. We've decided that Full Frame Documentary Festival would be a great world premiere because it is well-established, international, and close by as well. Even though our festival only calls for 7 festivals, we obviously plan on submitting to more than that. We've talked about other festivals such as AmDocs Film Festival and DOXA Documentary Film Festival. I'm in disbelief that we only have three classes left to get final feedback on our film. I really hope that our classmates like it and are satisfied with our final, festival-ready product.

FST 495 Update #10

So we've finished our rough cut, and all that's left is to add credits and shoot more B-roll. Tonight, we are having a production meeting to discuss B-roll ideas, talk about Indiegogo, and work on our Marketing and Distribution Presentation. We've already complied a long list of film festivals to submit to, so it's a matter of narrowing it down. Another aspect I will address the crew about is what kinds of marketing materials we will need or want to use to promote our film. We are all very happy to see the whole thing come together and we can't wait for viewers to hear our subjects' stories. It's hard for me to grasp the fact that we are nearing the end of the semester and are so far along on this project. I remember when I had this idea over summer, and I've said it a million times but having this idea come to life has to be one of the best parts of my last year here at UNC Wilmington. I'm normally too scared to share any of my ideas but I took a chance on this one and I'm so glad I did. I'm so amazed to have the opportunity to create this film and to have people support it the way that they do. So many of my friends and family have been asking me about this project and are truly interested to see what this film will look like. I really want to reach people with this film and I want open minded viewers to walk away with a deepened understanding and a newfound tolerance for not only Wicca, but any religion that is different from their own. Tolerance is something so under-practiced in our society and I really want that to be an underlying theme within the film.

FST Update #9

The documentary is really coming together! We have a total of 8 dailies in our "Works in Progress" folder, and all we essentially have left to film is additional B-roll. We have all three interviews done and they really work well together in terms of defining what Wiccan religion is and how it influenced our subjects. My vision for the film is coming together and I'm so glad to be working with such a talented group of people. With our rough cut due so soon, I'm excited to watch the dailies get corrected and combined to make a film I've wanted to make for a couple of years now. This senior capstone has had its obstacles so far, but we've been able to overcome and work out our issues. In my opinion, a film can't be made without its challenges. Danny, Alysha, and Lady Passion really complement each other in this documentary that I hope will give people a better sense of the Wiccan religion. Once color correction and music are both finalized, the piece will really come together as a whole. I'm sad that we weren't able to get Tony's interview, but I'm still glad that we are able to have three solid interviews that work together to tell an interesting and often untold story.

FST 495 Update #8

I'm super excited to say that we've finally hit our goal for our Indiegogo campaign, and this doesn't include the amount we raised at the Fuzzy Peach fundraiser we had! Unfortunately, we were unable to get to Tony and interview him because of the road closures due to Hurricane Matthew. Luckily, Tony was very understanding of the matter and we will still have enough interviews to make the documentary a fun piece! Looking forward, we still have to interview Alysha tomorrow night and finally Danny on October 21st. Our schedule had to move around more than I've expected, but I'm glad we are still able to overcome these bumps and progress with the documentary. We've of course had a few disagreement when it comes to scheduling, but in the end we always get it sorted out. After skimming through Lady Passion's interview, it's as if she knew exactly what to say to add lots of substance to our piece. I can't believe we are already half way through the semester and on our way! This group has been working very hard and I can't imagine a better team to make this idea I had last summer. I'm really happy to see it coming to life!

FST 495 Update #7

There's good news and bad news (but the good definitely outweighs the bad). Unfortunately, we had to cancel our interview with Alysha on October 5 due to the threat produced by Hurricane Matthew. In good news, we've locked down a new subject, had a successful fundraiser at Fuzzy Peach, and are only $150 away from reaching our goal now! Our new subject is a male Wiccan named Danny, who is 21 years old. Our plan is to follow him for a couple of days and capture his rituals in action. Additionally, we want his story to add to the dynamic because we discovered that he was a Christian before he made the decision to become a Wiccan. We want to know what caused him to turn to this religion while we use Lady Passion and Tony Brown's interviews to add context around the Wiccan religion since they have both been Wiccan for over 20 years. We are excited to take on this new approach and believe that Danny will take certain people by surprise since he is a young, male Wiccan in Wilmington (which he has stated is not very populated with Wicca). As we continue our shoots, we are meeting with Tony Brown on Friday in Fort Mill, SC, and can't wait to see what he has to say!

FST 495 Update #6

This weekend we had our first shoot in Asheville, NC. We drove up on Friday, September 30 and it was interesting having to navigate up a mountain at night (we weren't able to use GPS to find our BnB). On Saturday, we got up in the morning and went to some of the best spots in Asheville for B-roll, such as Riverside Cemetery and The Cathedral of All Souls. We also got to explore this Wiccan shop called Raven & Crone, where we got an improvised interview with a high priestess named Angela. After this, we went to talk to Lady Passion and tour Coven Oldenwilde. It was so exciting to explore her environment and learn more about her story. She has a certain mysticism about her that makes her very charismatic as a person and an interview subject. This Wednesday, we are going to interview Alysha Pytlarz, who is currently studying Wicca and is a beginner. We've also secured an interview with Tony Brown from NCPCOW in another Wiccan shop called Laughingbrook and he will be bringing the high priest, Shawn, as well. We are expecting a huge contrast from Lady Passion's interview whenever we speak with Tony about his established community. Aside from the interviews, we have gotten some beautiful B-roll such as the mountains, the coven, and the skyline view of downtown Asheville. It's very rewarding to see this project make significant progress and I can't wait to see the finished product!

FST 495 Update #5

This weekend, I am so pleased to say that we have already raised $951, which means in the span of a week we are already 63% funded! We also have confirmed all three of our main interviews which will be with Lady Passion (Asheville subject, High Priestess at Coven Oldenwilde), Tony Brown (Shelby subject, Reverend at NCPCOW), and Alysha Pytlarz (Wilmington subject, student who is studying Wicca outside of class). We will have our first official shoot this weekend in Asheville, and we just spent two hours planning out all of the locations we want to film for B-roll while we are there. We also hope to get VOX pop downtown and perhaps additional interviews following our interview with Lady Passion. In other good news, we have added another composer named Dane Schmidt, who is all the way from Kansas. We also are having a fundraiser at Fuzzy Peach on October 4th, and 15% of all purchases from 7 to 9 PM will go towards our film! I was able to swing this because I used to work there and my boss offered to do this for the crew and myself. I can stress enough how happy I am to see this idea come to life and I am amazed at the amount of support from fellow filmmakers, old friends, and family as we pursue this project. I can't wait to see what this weekend holds, because we are in for a memorable filming and bonding experience.

FST 495 Update #4

Progress is being made! Besides working on the pre-production project and budgeting, we have officially launched our Indiegogo campaign! It's only the first night and we've raised 4% of our goal, which I'm still happy about! I've already gotten so many questions revolving around this film, and I hope that once the final product is made, we can really start a conversation among our viewers. Of course, what is a film without a few road bumps? I've talked to Tony Brown, who is our only unconfirmed subject, on the phone over 2 weeks ago and now I'm having issues reaching him. The good news is that if he falls through on returning our offer, I found out that my friend's stepmom is a Wiccan and would be happy to speak with us. Another interesting dynamic is that this subject could make the film a more personal piece since I know this woman pretty well, but had no clue she was a practicing, high priestess Wiccan. In other news, we are preparing for our first interview which will be on Sunday, September 25 with Margot, a fairly new Wiccan. We also are getting ready for our Asheville interview, which will be on Saturday, October 1. I'm so happy to see this project come together and can't wait to see where it takes us next!

FST 495 Update #3

I'm happy to announce that we have decided on a name for our film: Modern Craft. We also filmed our Indiegogo campaign video today and plan to launch in a week. We feel it's important for our film to have a campaign because our documentary could put the money towards travel, hotel, craft services, production design, and festival costs. We've set a budget for $1500 and are so excited to launch! I've already made a Facebook page so that we can begin to network prior to our campaign launch. I also received a call from a potential second subject, Tony Brown, who is located in Shelby, NC. If we are allowed to interview him, we will get to go up to Shelby on October 15 and witness the NCPCOW (North Carolina Piedmont Church of Wicca) Samhain Shindig. I'm currently working on the schedule for the remainder of the semester and setting deadlines for my fellow crew members. I'm so proud of the amount of hard work that everybody is putting into this project and cannot wait to see it come to life. We cannot wait to present our pre-production presentation and hope that our campaign video is done by then because we would love to show it to the class. I'm so grateful to be producing this project and cannot wait to see the final product!

Expert Bios/10 Questions for Each

I have three possible subjects total, but one is undecided. The first two experts, Tony Brown and Melanie Gilbreath are members of the NCPCOW (The North Carolina Piedmont Church of Wicca) and the third expert I came up with is undecided at the moment. I have questions I want to ask an unbiased expert (hopefully a religious professor), but I haven't found who I would want to talk to yet.

Tony Brown 

Bio:

Tony Brown is a founding member of NCPCOW and has been a practicing Wiccan for almost twenty years. At the church, he is the High Priest Emeritus and is devoted to the Greek God of rebirth, Dionysos. He is also the vice-chancellor of the NCPCOW. He is very active in his community and has a established a family friendly environment at the NCPCOW.

10 Questions:

1. How did you go about founding NCPCOW and are there other communities in your area?
2. Outside of NCPCOW, do you have a job? If so, what is your profession?
3. How did you recruit priestesses and priests at NCPCOW?
4. Before you became a Wiccan, were you practicing a different religion?
5. Is anybody in your family Wiccan? If not, do they accept your religion?
6. Why did you decide to become  a Wiccan?
7. Have you ever faced discrimination as a Wiccan? Discuss recent discrimination versus past discrimination.
8. In your opinion, what is one of the most common misconceptions that outsiders have had towards your religion?
9. Can you explain what the holiday Samhain is and why it is sacred to your religion?
10. What is different about the reception of Wiccans by the public now versus when you first became one?

Melanie Gilbreath

Bio:

Melanie Gilbreath is a high priestess and member of NCPCOW and has been a practicing Wiccan for eleven years. She is devoted to the Minerva, Roman goddess of Goddess of learning and the arts and the god Mercury, who revolves around traveling, trade and commerce. She studies African, Native American, and European folk magic and loves to travel as well as engage in textile crafts.

10 Questions:

1. How did you find out about and decide to join NCPCOW?
2. Outside of NCPCOW, do you have a job? If so, what is your profession?
3. How did you become a high priestess at NCPCOW?
4. Before you became a Wiccan, were you practicing a different religion?
5. Is anybody in your family Wiccan? If not, do they accept your religion?
6. Why did you decide to become  a Wiccan?
7. Have you ever faced discrimination as a Wiccan? Discuss recent discrimination versus past discrimination.
8. In your opinion, what is one of the most common misconceptions that outsiders have had towards your religion?
9. Can you explain what the holiday Samhain is and why it is sacred to your religion?
10. What is different about the reception of Wiccans by the public now versus when you first became one?

Undecided Expert:

Bio:

N/A

10 Questions:

1. Why did you decide to study Wiccan religion?
2. Can you explain what the other subsets of Pagan are besides Wiccan?
3. Have you ever seen a Wiccan gathering? What was that experience like?
4. Are you friends with anybody/teach anybody who is Wiccan?
5. Do other religions you study relate to Wiccan religion?
6. What are the positions that need to be filled within a Wiccan church?
7. Could you tell us about the Salem witch trials?
8. In your opinion, what is one of the most common misconceptions that outsiders have had towards Wiccan religion?
9. Can you explain what the holiday Samhain is and why it is sacred to their religion?
10. What is different about the reception of Wiccans by the public now versus twenty years ago?

FST 495 Update #2

I'm so excited to report that we are booked for our trip to Asheville and have locked down our first official subject there: Lady Passion! I called her and she scheduled an interview with us on Saturday, October 1 at 7 PM. We are staying at an Air BnB, which was only $56 a person for two nights when we divided the costs. We also are in the midst of our campaign as we plan for our video which we will shoot next weekend. We were going to shoot this weekend, but due to the threat produced by Hurricane Hermine, it would have been unsafe to check out equipment this past Friday. As a result, we had to reschedule (which luckily we had planned on just in case). The silver lining behind this happening is that we have more time to plan for the video and the campaign itself, which we're hoping to launch the following week. I'm almost done finalizing our shooting schedule, but I'm also working on a budget breakdown. I'm also hoping to send out the first few equipment requests today so we are planning ahead for shoots we can confirm. The next step will be to lock down more subjects and to make sure we approach each shoot with a strategy in mind.

FST 495 Update #1

For our 495 project, we have decided to pursue the idea revolving around Wiccan religion. We believe we have narrowed a focus where we will talk about how one becomes Wiccan and how it is received (past versus present). We have found several contacts that we are interested in interviewing already, such as Coven Oldenwilde in Asheville, NC and NCPCOW (North Carolina Piedmont Church of Wicca) in Shelby, NC. As producer, I have already created an elaborate shooting/editing schedule which can be found in the Google Drive for our 495. We've already locked down a weekend to travel to Asheville and are currently thinking about our budget breakdown. Additional crew members we have already added are as follows: Damien Capps (1st AC/Gaffer), Walter Lynch (Camera Op), and Conner Keesling (BTS Photographer/Co-Producer). Currently, we are disputing our campaign options and thinking about the best way to get people to donate to our project. I am excited for this experience and cannot wait to see this idea grow with our hard work and dedication. This is a great group of determined individuals and I feel confident that we can produce a film that we can be proud of. The preproduction process is going smoothly so far, but I definitely expect that it will have its challenges, which is why I'm glad we are thinking about all of the risks so early. I can't wait to delve deeper into this project!