Progress

So once again it has been a long time between updates, I had originally planned to update a lot more than this, but I guess 1 substantial update every so often is at least as good as a lot of smaller, more frequent updates... Right? I have not done a very good job of keeping in touch with my project supervisor, and for that I feel extremely bad, but I think with all of the things that have happened to me this semester that I deserve to be cut a little slack. I have tried as best I could to not use my sister's death as an excuse for anything this semester, and to rather turn it in to further motivation to make this project kick as much ass as possible. And it is going to kick ass. I have tons of good ideas. I have just done a bad job of letting the people who need to know this, know it. There is a possibility that I may need to extend the project into the summer, apparently this is called getting a 'Q' grade for this semester. I guess it is kind of the way they give extensions for family emergencies and things like that. But I obviously really, really do not want to do that. I don't think it will even be necessary, and it is up to me to prove to my higher-ups that I am capable of doing this the "right way." They don't want me to just come in and smack a DVD on their desk and say here's the final product. Which I can totally understand. They want to see the process behind it and all of the things that are going through my head put on paper. I have always had a problem with doing things the "right way." When I'm interested in a project as much as I am interested in this, it is so hard for me to just not go ahead and do things my own way.

I've got to be able to do a better job in giving them what they want, the way they want it done. I am just of the opinion that the ends should justify the means a little more than it seems like they do. If I do a good film, which I am going to, I want it to be viewed from the context of the film and not how good of a student I have been over the past 5 years, or the past 2 years of grad school especially. I trust my supervisor to do this, but when other people get involved in the process I start to worry. The truth is I haven't been the best student over the past 2 years, but how could I not be a little burned out after 18 years of school? I am going to have to force myself do things the way they tell me to do them. I took on this responsibility when I chose to do this kind of project. I chose to do art, and something of emotional significance. I could have winged a lame-ass documentary about how awesome some department on campus is, or something. But it was my choice to not, and I accepted the increased responsibility of that from the get go and it's now my job to man up to that responsibility. I've made it this far and I am not going to give up now.

So getting more specific to the project, I have now worked up a two page Treatment, which is pretty much a revamped and much more specific of a handwritten document I had done previously. As far as I can tell this treatment is in the correct format, and maps out my exact plan for the film, a plan I have had in my head pretty much the entire time. This, along with some examples of documentaries that have influenced me (since these are what I will most likely be mimicking in my own film) combined with what I have already edited, should hopefully be enough to prove that I am still on track. I've been trying my best to do things for the project despite all of the things that have taken place, and that is something I can take solace in, but I have not been keeping informed those that need to be informed of these things. There are now essentially 7 weeks left of the semester, and I need to prove to everybody that this project will be done. It is no small task, but I'm going to do my damndest. Until next time.