I may be in over my head here...
But soon I shall be able to add 'Director' to my resume. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
So I had a brainstorm about making punchy, entertaining 5 minute training videos showing various teachers doing mildly scripted class activities (30 seconds here, 30 seconds there) - long enough to show at least 5-8 mini clips yet short enough to keep a teacher's attention. Each video focuses on a different part of teaching.
We start by using these in our orientation sessions. Based on teacher feedback, we improve the videos and then use them for Chinese teacher-training courses (the videos will also help us 'sell' our classes as a feature). Possibly in the future we could potentially be selling videos to ESL companies in other countries who have teachers to train. YOU NEVER KNOW.
It took 4 hours of drafting the proposal and a 2 hour meeting to sell it to the upr mngmt team - but I got the green light! More than that - I got lots of enthusiasm and the promise of unlimited help and support which means this project has a chance at succeeding! *dances*
The company is willing to invest a bit in this - we're going to get all the video we need shot by Jan 10th at which time we will likely contact a 3rd party studio and send me and a coordinator to coordinate the editing process. I will be bringing teacher Nov who has a background in cinematography. We had a one hour meeting tonight from 5:20 to 6:20 about tomorrow's first filming attempt in Nanhui. I need her to come out there. NEED, OMG YOU HAVE NO IDEA.
I did not know how complicated this was. She's talking about angles, and recording the track on a tape recorder because we don't have a boom mike and panning shots, and how we'd probably need to do at least 3 to 4 takes for a single 30 second shot and how we could edit the tapes and seriously? I was just blown away. *flails*
So I drafted her. ^^ Thank the gods I got mngmt to agree with me on how much I need Nov to come with me to shoot this first clip in Nanhui tomorrow morning and they found a sub for her classes (Oh thank GOD) so she can come and drill this stuff into my brain for the days she can't come with us (though if I have my way, she will be accompanying me on all the shoots).
She will be with me when we do the editing at the studio too - initially there was talk of having the tech girl upstairs try but I shot it down as hard as I could. Tech gal is also the new illustrator for one of our course books that E and Yo are working on. They say 'we need you to draw this' and the girl comes back with 'well, this is what I did' and the two do not always match. Now, E and Yo have the temperament to work with her and coax her into doing what they need or just accepting the changes she makes arbitrarily. I do not and will not. In fact, as this was discussed, she looked right at me and said we'd better go 3rd party because Mandy will make the design girl quit. She's absolutely right. ^^ And not just 'cause I'm a tyrant who wants her own way. I swear.
Seriously, if this first video works out the way we're planning (LOL, we're talking about having bloopers run through the credits and everything, these kids can be frickin' HILARIOUS), the company may seriously invest in some proper equipment - either purchasing or renting for future videos. They put me in charge of the whole project since it was my idea which is GREAT if it goes well. If I screw up, it's all my fault. >.<;;;;; If it tuns out differently due to a change *I* make, I can live with that. If someone decides to insert their own 'vision' into the project and it bombs, it's my fault anyway and that I will not live with. So yeah - 3rd party.
I am so excited. It means long days, and seriously, I spent 4 hours on the phone today coordinating shoot times with coordinators, classes, teachers, drivers and the camera operators and finally got most of it scheduled and the green light for just about everything. This was in between taking 3 hours to decorate the EL room for the Christmas party on Saturday (thank you, thank you, THANK YOU,,G and Yo for helping string up about three friggin' kilometers of god damned garland and lights ^__^) and 2 hours of admin work. PLUS the meeting with Nov. I am EXHAUSTED.
And somehow, I managed to finish my yuletide fic hours before the final deadline. Thank god for the yuletide hippos - ibear did a quick-n-dirty beta job for me in the final hours to make sure my fic doesn't go to my mystery recipient with glaring errors. :D
I am living on toffee nut latte's from Starbucks. I've been getting home late enough that dinner is toast before bed. I am likely going to run screaming into the night one of these days, completely out of my gourd. But man it is getting exciting around here!
Oh oh OH! I also got tickets to the show 'Walking with Dinosaurs!" I bought tix for Lu and her adorable daughter Hannah to go with me - live-sized animatronic dinosaurs stomping around the arena. Check out the videos on the website - it looks awesome! We're going on January 22 - the only day they have an English showing. ^^
All this and SIX DAYS UTILL TAIWAN!!!!!!!!!!!!
BRB, busy spazzing. @.@
So I had a brainstorm about making punchy, entertaining 5 minute training videos showing various teachers doing mildly scripted class activities (30 seconds here, 30 seconds there) - long enough to show at least 5-8 mini clips yet short enough to keep a teacher's attention. Each video focuses on a different part of teaching.
We start by using these in our orientation sessions. Based on teacher feedback, we improve the videos and then use them for Chinese teacher-training courses (the videos will also help us 'sell' our classes as a feature). Possibly in the future we could potentially be selling videos to ESL companies in other countries who have teachers to train. YOU NEVER KNOW.
It took 4 hours of drafting the proposal and a 2 hour meeting to sell it to the upr mngmt team - but I got the green light! More than that - I got lots of enthusiasm and the promise of unlimited help and support which means this project has a chance at succeeding! *dances*
The company is willing to invest a bit in this - we're going to get all the video we need shot by Jan 10th at which time we will likely contact a 3rd party studio and send me and a coordinator to coordinate the editing process. I will be bringing teacher Nov who has a background in cinematography. We had a one hour meeting tonight from 5:20 to 6:20 about tomorrow's first filming attempt in Nanhui. I need her to come out there. NEED, OMG YOU HAVE NO IDEA.
I did not know how complicated this was. She's talking about angles, and recording the track on a tape recorder because we don't have a boom mike and panning shots, and how we'd probably need to do at least 3 to 4 takes for a single 30 second shot and how we could edit the tapes and seriously? I was just blown away. *flails*
So I drafted her. ^^ Thank the gods I got mngmt to agree with me on how much I need Nov to come with me to shoot this first clip in Nanhui tomorrow morning and they found a sub for her classes (Oh thank GOD) so she can come and drill this stuff into my brain for the days she can't come with us (though if I have my way, she will be accompanying me on all the shoots).
She will be with me when we do the editing at the studio too - initially there was talk of having the tech girl upstairs try but I shot it down as hard as I could. Tech gal is also the new illustrator for one of our course books that E and Yo are working on. They say 'we need you to draw this' and the girl comes back with 'well, this is what I did' and the two do not always match. Now, E and Yo have the temperament to work with her and coax her into doing what they need or just accepting the changes she makes arbitrarily. I do not and will not. In fact, as this was discussed, she looked right at me and said we'd better go 3rd party because Mandy will make the design girl quit. She's absolutely right. ^^ And not just 'cause I'm a tyrant who wants her own way. I swear.
Seriously, if this first video works out the way we're planning (LOL, we're talking about having bloopers run through the credits and everything, these kids can be frickin' HILARIOUS), the company may seriously invest in some proper equipment - either purchasing or renting for future videos. They put me in charge of the whole project since it was my idea which is GREAT if it goes well. If I screw up, it's all my fault. >.<;;;;; If it tuns out differently due to a change *I* make, I can live with that. If someone decides to insert their own 'vision' into the project and it bombs, it's my fault anyway and that I will not live with. So yeah - 3rd party.
I am so excited. It means long days, and seriously, I spent 4 hours on the phone today coordinating shoot times with coordinators, classes, teachers, drivers and the camera operators and finally got most of it scheduled and the green light for just about everything. This was in between taking 3 hours to decorate the EL room for the Christmas party on Saturday (thank you, thank you, THANK YOU,,G and Yo for helping string up about three friggin' kilometers of god damned garland and lights ^__^) and 2 hours of admin work. PLUS the meeting with Nov. I am EXHAUSTED.
And somehow, I managed to finish my yuletide fic hours before the final deadline. Thank god for the yuletide hippos - ibear did a quick-n-dirty beta job for me in the final hours to make sure my fic doesn't go to my mystery recipient with glaring errors. :D
I am living on toffee nut latte's from Starbucks. I've been getting home late enough that dinner is toast before bed. I am likely going to run screaming into the night one of these days, completely out of my gourd. But man it is getting exciting around here!
Oh oh OH! I also got tickets to the show 'Walking with Dinosaurs!" I bought tix for Lu and her adorable daughter Hannah to go with me - live-sized animatronic dinosaurs stomping around the arena. Check out the videos on the website - it looks awesome! We're going on January 22 - the only day they have an English showing. ^^
All this and SIX DAYS UTILL TAIWAN!!!!!!!!!!!!
BRB, busy spazzing. @.@