Project Development Issues.

I think that so far out of the different discussions that I have had with other students doing capstones the main thing so far have been around management issues. Time is one thing, with many other classes happening at the same time I have had a hard time trying to keep up with the classes and the project at the same time. Since my video will be shot mostly outside I have a limited amount of good weather time to shoot it. Another thing that I discussed with my fellow classmates is the problem with scope project management. It is hard for us to know exactly what is going to be the reach of the project and how much time should be investing in it this far ahead. With video related stuff we know that at the end we are going to need a lot of time for the post-production phase. This forces us to start very early with pre-production and production.

Interestingly enough I have found that just like myself many students do not have all the skills to complete the project. This is a basic challenge preparing us for future situations. We are not going to know everything but we have to act accordingly and learn to learn what we dont know. I have had to learn so much about extreme sports and adventures filming. I have had to learn things like how to create pulley systems to rig up my camera equipment 100 feet high in the air. Recently I have been learning a lot about videography equipment information. I have realized that I want to spend some money to buy the needed equipment. Although it is very expensive I am looking forward to using this opportunity as an investment and actually get some money back by producing better videos.

Since I will be doing my capstone project with Jacob Hyten team communication has been one of the most basic pillars. For this reason we have created a blog where we can write all kinds of things related to our project. It is like our daily journal about our movie. We have also created a website that has our information and portfolio. Jacob and I work very well together, we trust each other completely and get along fine. This has allowed for a non-stop traffic of information between each other. The idea has been developed slowly in conjunction which makes the whole process stronger and better.

Secondary mentor post

Personally I think the idea of a secondary mentor is very self assuring. Although the main mentor will be the person that will actually do most of the supervising the secondary mentor can serve as an bridge between the main mentor and myself. I think even in situations where there might be some friction between my main mentor and myself the secondary mentor could be an outlet to ease things out. Also there will be a lot of things that my main mentor might not know, if this happens then my secondary mentor might be able to help me with those. I think that a good idea would be to find a secondary mentor even outside of school. I have in mind already two people that do some new media prouctions proffesionally that could be of great help as secondary mentors. I think that someone that is not supportive would definetely NOT be a good candidate for this position. Also someone that is not very close to me would not make a good secondary mentor. I am looking for someone that I can trust and he can critique my work. I also need them to be there for me for support and whenever stress takes over. If they are not patient they would not be good candidates for this position. I have two very strong candidates that could be my secondary mentors. Both of them are very close to me.

                                                                     Miguel Casar

Area of expertise: He is a psychologist and a photographer. Knows a lot about action sports media productions.

What he expects from me: As my brother Miguel has probably the highest expectations of myself. He expects me to excel in whatever I set as my goals. He will push me to do so and give me full support.

His general availability for mentoring next semester: He is going to be travelling back and forth between Asia, Mexico and the USA so his availability will vary. I plan to use his mentoring a lot when he is around. Whenever he is travelling I am going to try to contact him through the web.

Projects that Thomas is not very interested in: Miguel is not very interested in projects that have any negative impact of society or on the sport of climbing. This is obviously something i am not interested in either so there will not be any problems in that regard.
His thoughts on a primary advisor: He was excited that I will be having a primary advisor that knows a lot more of the technical issues than he does. He will make sure to engine my thinking process so I can take my thoughts to my primary advisor and get the needed technical support.

                                                                       Tim Yates

Area of expertise: Visual arts and photography. He works for the medical department of IU at IUPUI.

What he expects from me: Tim is one of my close climbing friends. He has been producing New Media projects for IU for 10 years now. His experience with photography is very extensive. Time expects me to do something very cool, he is excited about my project. One thin that he told me that he is looking forward is for me to be brave and do something extremelly creative and new.
His general availability for mentoring next semester: Since he works at IUPUI he will be conveniently located close to me. He said his schedule next semester will be fairly open so I can stop by whenever i want. I climb with him very often too so we could discuss the project at those times too.

Projects that Tim is not very interested in: Tim has no preferences he did say he would not be able to help me a lot if my project had to do with fashion or any of the related fields. Again, not an issue, fashion will have no play in my project.
His thoughts on a primary advisor: He also supports the idea that I will having a primary mentor. He said we can form questions and ideas together that can be taken to my primary advisor. He is excited to learn from him too.

Mentor Profile Assignment

• State your capstone idea in 100 words or less.

My capstone is a full length documentary video that explores the meaning and world of a community of climbers in Kentucky. Through powerful visual shots I want to share with the world what the community of climbers is about. In particular a community that is very close and dear to me, the climbing community in the Muir Valley. It is going to be by far the most challenging video project that I have taken so far. My major goal with the capstone is to show my growth and progress as a person and as a videographer. I will be doing this project in conjunction with Jacob Hyten. It will be a great chance to work with someone else and develop communication and team skills. I know most people in the video production are constantly working together in teams.

• Identify and discuss 4 key components you are searching for in a mentor.

I have four very clear components that I would like to find in a mentor. Technical knowledge will be obviously     very important from the filmatographic point of view. The “how to’s” about the actual shooting of the film. Another important component that I am searching for is someone with a very powerful ability of critique. I want to hear insights of my project. Thirdly I would definitely seek for someone that believes and is motivated in what I am doing. If he or she is motivated then that will only get me more excited about the whole thing and my project will be better. Lastly and very importantly I would like to find someone that engines my creative powers. Someone that invites me to think out of the box...

• Identify 3 potential mentors from the MAS faculty you would like to approach to discuss your capstone. Make  sure one of them is someone from whom you have never taken a class.

My three potential candidates are Thomas Lewis, Joseph DeFazio and Edgar Huang.

• Explain what these faculty members coud bring to your capstone and why you are interested in working with them.

Very briefly I am very interested in these three particular professors because each one of them has a very specific area of expertise that will be very helpful for my project. Lewis’s input on everything that has to do with the filmatographic qualities of the project will be very helpful. Defazio will be of critical help in terms of dealing with project management and how to best “sell” my project. I have never had a class with professor Huang but I believe he is an extremely well prepared and smart person. His expertise in around video production and web related things will be greatly helpful.

•  Either via web research, email, phone, or in person interview, discuss the following topics about each faculty member you are interested in working with:

Thomas Lewis:

Area of expertise: Photography and cinematography.

Expectations of capstone students: He expects me to go very thoroughly across the process of film making. Stopping along every step in preproduction, production and post-production and gaining expertise on each every one of them. He expects me to be able to create a powerful piece that conveys a strong and clear message. He also expects me to communicate with him all along the process and keep updated to where I am in the project and my thoughts.

His general availability for mentoring next semester: Thomas said he will be having a lot of students and capstones to mentor next semester. Nonetheless he said we can definitely schedule times for us to meet and discuss the project. He is willing to meet outside of school and on his own free time.

Projects that Thomas is not very interested in: Thomas did mention that he prefers not to work with students creating music videos.

His thoughts on a secondary advisor: He approves of a secondary advisor as long as there is a consistency of communication all across the board. It is important for him that the student, the secondary advisor and him are on the same channel.

Joseph Defazio:

 Area of expertise:  New Media project development and management.

 Expectations of capstone students: Defazio excepts capstone students to be very professional and serious about their capstone projects. For him capstone projects are like any other project that can be assigned to a New Media professional that gets paid to do a project. He expects students to track control of their progress and use appropriate management tools. He also expects students to meet with him throughout the development of the capstone and present him with organized summaries and project updates.

 General availability for mentoring next semester: His schedule for the next semester is still pretty up in the air. He did mention he expects to have a lot of other capstone and graduate students as well.  He said that scheduling appointments should not be a problem as long as they are planned ahead of time.

 Defazio is a very multifaceted New Media professional so he is very interested in all sorts of different projects. He did not mention any particular project that he would not be interested at all to work with.

               

Edgar Huang:

Area of expertise: Video Production and Web Site Design.

Expectations of capstone: Professor Huang expects capstone students to excel in whatever project they decide to do. He expects ultimate dedication and hard working skills for completing the project. He also motivates students to investigate and further their technical and academic knowledge of the tools and themes that their projects brush upon. He expects capstone students to meet with him in a regular basis to discuss ideas and progress.

His general availability for mentoring next semester: He mentioned that he is planning to leave several open spots for capstone students. He will make sure to fit capstone students around his other tasks. Scheduling meetings should not be a problem. He also mentions that a lot of the communication can also be through emails and other online forms.

Projects that Huang is not very interested in: Professor Huang did not mention any projects that he will absolutely not work with. He said that his expertise of game creation and 2D graphics might be limited.

               

Capstone category - Video Documentary.

So I will be doing a documentary about the climbing community. I would love to share experiences with other people working with video, documentaries or other sports related activities. Right now I know Jacob Hyten and Thomas Travis are also working with video documentaries so they would be great sitting together partners.