THE PROJECT - A PROCESS DIARY
The following is a diary/process document that was written between February and May 2000. It was part of an Independent Projects course whilst studying at university. I had decided to re-write the play and develop a workshop so that the audience could then discuss what they had seen. Just a few weeks into the project I suddenly had the idea to turn the entire play into a film (something I’m glad I did!) My diary (which had to be handed in to prove that I had done the preparation work), reads as follows…
Friday 25th February 2000
I’ve left it a few weeks before I wrote in the process document so that I had time to evaluate the potential of what I have in mind for a project. The first thing to consider was that I shouldn’t be creating a Theatre In Education project – the whole thing needs to be community based. This is causing a slight problem for what I have in mind because my ideal location for it would be in schools, simply because the content is directed at 15-18 year olds and because of the indoor space and lighting equipment that they have. However, as the project would go from location to location, it could be developed quite easily to be performed in different places.
The project is the development of something that I started on last year. Since then I have developed my writing skills and having not touched the play for over 8 months, I feel ready to rewrite it. The play, Traveller, looks at a form of depression that a close friend experienced. When I now read through it, I realise that I have only told the events as they happened – not how he actually felt and over came them the emotions. The whole play is interesting, but there is nothing to learn from it. So with that in mind, I’m going to rewrite the dialogue, (which I have to say isn’t that good), and develop the feelings and emotions more, exploring them in more detail.
Traveller is a very personal play for both my friend and I - and reading through it last Tuesday brought a lot of the memories back. But I feel that we’re at the stage were we can now say that we’re ready to open the door once more and look at what happened with a clearer and more mature mind. Why I chose to work on Traveller for this project was because of a strong feeling I had. The day before I started this course I couldn’t stop thinking about the play and it was beginning to get me down. The next morning the feeling had gone and the second I started the project, Traveller sprang to mind and wouldn’t leave. I’m a strong believer in things and I have a drive to bring this project out into the light and show people.
The main aim of the project is to create and manage an arts project in the real world today. Although this is a solo project and won’t actually be performed for now, I will be getting in touch with other people that I would be working with. Research into the project will focus on what type of marketing I will need, how to perform the market research, where I can perform and what I’ll need to take such a project into locations.
The project will require me to work with other people. In this case, I’ll need to contact our stage manager for the university to help out with the set building, lighting and sound. I might also need a director and choreographer.
Researching into depression is difficult. Although I can use my own experiences as a starting point, I’ll need to get some case studies and look at other types of depression.
I’m going to have to manage my time very carefully, especially if I were to put on the play. But because I’m not, time will be put into the research and market research.
By the end of the project I’ll need to work out a realistic budget, but right now I haven’t honestly got a clue as where to start!
Just a few moments ago I sent an email to Jacky Smith, who runs the International Queen Fan Club, about copyright laws on the music that I’m going to use in the piece. I should get a reply by Tuesday.
Tuesday 28th February
(I knew it would be today). I received an email off Jacky Smith who has given me EMI’s web page and phone number. I’ve had a look at the web page and for whatever reason they have ONE (!) of the tracks that I need. So, I’ve emailed them and sent another back to Jacky Smith.
I’ve had a reply back this afternoon from Jacky Smith and she said that if I’m only performing for a couple of days and not charging an entrance fee, I could get away without having to pay for the copyrights on the tracks I’m using.
Tuesday 7th March
Taken out loads of books on depression, but narrowed it down to 8 books that I’m going to use as a source. I’m going to have to be careful as not to tread on clinical depression and stick with mental. And I must stress that I’m the same as everyone else who’s going to be in the theatre with me, and I’m not acting as a therapist.
Tuesday 28th March
Had a brilliant idea. Why not turn the play into a film?! This way it can be taken anywhere, without having to worry about lighting, sound equipment and stage acting space. I’ll simply re-write the script for screen. I think as well, after reading the books, I’ll aim the project at 17-24 year-olds.
Thursday 30th March
Finished drafting letters to be sent out for market research. Good job I didn’t send them sooner while I was still planning the stage version! Each letter will contain a self-stamped address envelope to encourage a reply.
Saturday 1st April
It must be something to do with the date. I have completely forgotten to make a note of where I have sent the letters. I know I sent about 20, so I’ll just have to rely on replies now.
Easter Break
I’ve begun to rewrite the script for the film. I think for Will’s ‘battle for sanity’ that I’ll use video footage from Innuendo itself. I’ll have to wait until I begin editing to see what it looks like.
Saturday 6th May
Had a reply from the letters I sent out! This was from a college, in Warrington. I’m keeping the original copy with me in case I develop the project further.
Sunday 7th May
Anne-Marie (the actress playing Madra), and myself went off to Ruff Wood to begin filming. Lost light too quickly and only managed to film the first scene. Oh yes, we were only allowed ONE camera, so I filmed all of Madra’s lines (with myself holding the camera and Madra positioned as though she was talking to Will – even though of course, I was behind a camera.) Anne-Marie then filmed all of Will’s lines. Hopefully I’ll be able to piece the lot together in the editing suites.
Monday 8th May
Finished filming the scenes between Will and Madra. I am praying that the footage is okay – because we can’t film again!
Wednesday 10th May
What should have been a quiet afternoon in Drama Studio 3, filming, was reduced to 3 hours MAX, with constant interruptions! Victoria (who is playing The Chat Show Host), and I filmed the second scene (again with only one camera), and I finished the remaining scenes off on my own. With the exception of the interruptions, I think it’s gone okay. It did feel a little weird repeating words that I myself said a few years ago. It all came back, but I think that will add to the realism of the final film. Editing tomorrow!
Thursday 11th May
Spent the afternoon in editing suites. Completed scenes 1-2, without music. They don’t look too bad either. To say I’ve only ever worked with two others during the Television Drama Module in the editing suites and on a much easier project, I am impressed with the work I’ve done.
Friday 12th May
Spent all day editing. Finished all but Scene 8 and the video footage for Will’s ‘battle for sanity’. Added the music today – and wow! The music adds another level to the film. When I wrote the play 18 months ago, I wasn’t too sure if it would work or not just using Queen music without the lyrics – but it does work!
Monday 15th May
FINISHED! Traveller looks really good for something thrown together in a week.
While I’m sat here typing this, it is just hitting me that this is what I wanted – to finally tell this story. I’m getting butterflies in my stomach as I think about it. I am beginning to feel ready to go out there and say; “This happened to me. Let me share it with you and let me help you get through your depression.”
Tonight, my housemates are going to watch the film and I’m hoping tomorrow that everyone else in the other group can see what I’ve produced. (For the past 4 months they’ve all been wondering what I was doing). On a serious note, it was difficult to edit out a lot of the things that happened, but I managed to and still keep the flow of the piece. It’s hard watching it, but the more I do, the more things make sense.
Tonight I’m going to check this diary and I’ll design some posters to go up around the university. Very short notice, I know, but the more the better.
Tuesday 16th May
8:00 Assessment day!!! I’ve printed off the posters and I’ll put them up today.
I went through the workshop with my housemates last night and everything seems okay – I’ll just need to check it with the group this morning. The only thing I’m worried about is that I don’t think I read enough for the workshop. At the moment I’m just drawing on my friend’s and my own experiences and I’m getting a little nervous about showing them Traveller. They’ve all known us both for almost 3 years now and it could be a little difficult to suddenly show them something from our different pasts that neither of us ever talked about. Well, here goes…
10:30. Well, I think some of them didn’t know quite what to say. A few said that they could relate to some of the content and others just enjoyed what I had done in such a small space of time and on limited resources. I had a word with my tutor about the workshop and I’m going to have to rethink the content this afternoon. Also, the small leaflet to go with the film needs to be redesigned to fit in more with the workshop.
16:00. I’m frantically printing of all the sheets for the workshop as I type and I’ve changed the leaflet to offer explanations of what happens to Will in the film. I am very nervous about tonight because I’ve never done anything like this before and I don’t know how many people are going to turn up. I’ve invited about 15 friends, but I know some of them probably won’t make it. I also asked everyone this morning to come along too.
I’m aiming to make it last about an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes or so. I’m also going to buy some refreshments and I’ll take with me my CD player for background music. I can honestly say I don’t know who will turn up and what the atmosphere and mood will be like tonight. But here goes anyway….
Wednesday 17th May
Well, it’s all over. I feel kind of sad in a way.
Last night there were only 6 of us in total. We all had a good chat to begin with and another tutor stayed for 15-mintues and asked some good questions about the project, which acted as a good introduction to the film. I bought some food and water, and I had Phil Thornton’s Illusions CD playing in the background quietly.
I skipped the trust game as a warm-up exercise and we went straight into the first set of questions. (Everyone had had something to eat by this point, and we had all ready being talking for a while). Everything that was discussed was within the group. We didn’t at any point split off into pairs as originally planned. These questions were designed to last for about 5 minutes and to get you thinking before the film. We actually talked about them for half an hour!
We watched the film and then went through the second set of questions. We held a good discussion and I’m glad we didn’t focus too much on the film. I was worried about that but it was good that the conversations branched off from different points of the film. One member of the group was saying that it was good that he could relate to both Will and Madra, and after some of the comments I had this morning from the group, the film does reach out further than I expected it to – which I’m glad about.
We then went through the Positive/Negative sheets and quickly covered what everyone had written. If there were more of us, I would have split them into pairs and each person would have helped another.
We finished on the “By This Weekend I Will Change Myself Positively By,” sheet, to raise the atmosphere.
What was designed to last about an hour lasted just over 2 hours!
At the end of the day I think it went well. Although it moved away from what I had in mind, the project took on a new life and some very good points were discussed last night. I’ve learnt from it and I think we all thought of things that we might not have about ourselves. I don’t think the real impact of the project will work until they go away and think about things. I did after last night and it has helped. All in all, I believe it was a success.
Friday 25th February 2000
I’ve left it a few weeks before I wrote in the process document so that I had time to evaluate the potential of what I have in mind for a project. The first thing to consider was that I shouldn’t be creating a Theatre In Education project – the whole thing needs to be community based. This is causing a slight problem for what I have in mind because my ideal location for it would be in schools, simply because the content is directed at 15-
The project is the development of something that I started on last year. Since then I have developed my writing skills and having not touched the play for over 8 months, I feel ready to rewrite it. The play, Traveller, looks at a form of depression that a close friend experienced. When I now read through it, I realise that I have only told the events as they happened – not how he actually felt and over came them the emotions. The whole play is interesting, but there is nothing to learn from it. So with that in mind, I’m going to rewrite the dialogue, (which I have to say isn’t that good), and develop the feelings and emotions more, exploring them in more detail.
Traveller is a very personal play for both my friend and I -
The main aim of the project is to create and manage an arts project in the real world today. Although this is a solo project and won’t actually be performed for now, I will be getting in touch with other people that I would be working with. Research into the project will focus on what type of marketing I will need, how to perform the market research, where I can perform and what I’ll need to take such a project into locations.
The project will require me to work with other people. In this case, I’ll need to contact our stage manager for the university to help out with the set building, lighting and sound. I might also need a director and choreographer.
Researching into depression is difficult. Although I can use my own experiences as a starting point, I’ll need to get some case studies and look at other types of depression.
I’m going to have to manage my time very carefully, especially if I were to put on the play. But because I’m not, time will be put into the research and market research.
By the end of the project I’ll need to work out a realistic budget, but right now I haven’t honestly got a clue as where to start!
Just a few moments ago I sent an email to Jacky Smith, who runs the International Queen Fan Club, about copyright laws on the music that I’m going to use in the piece. I should get a reply by Tuesday.
Tuesday 28th February
(I knew it would be today). I received an email off Jacky Smith who has given me EMI’s web page and phone number. I’ve had a look at the web page and for whatever reason they have ONE (!) of the tracks that I need. So, I’ve emailed them and sent another back to Jacky Smith.
I’ve had a reply back this afternoon from Jacky Smith and she said that if I’m only performing for a couple of days and not charging an entrance fee, I could get away without having to pay for the copyrights on the tracks I’m using.
Tuesday 7th March
Taken out loads of books on depression, but narrowed it down to 8 books that I’m going to use as a source. I’m going to have to be careful as not to tread on clinical depression and stick with mental. And I must stress that I’m the same as everyone else who’s going to be in the theatre with me, and I’m not acting as a therapist.
Tuesday 28th March
Had a brilliant idea. Why not turn the play into a film?! This way it can be taken anywhere, without having to worry about lighting, sound equipment and stage acting space. I’ll simply re-
Thursday 30th March
Finished drafting letters to be sent out for market research. Good job I didn’t send them sooner while I was still planning the stage version! Each letter will contain a self-
Saturday 1st April
It must be something to do with the date. I have completely forgotten to make a note of where I have sent the letters. I know I sent about 20, so I’ll just have to rely on replies now.
Easter Break
I’ve begun to rewrite the script for the film. I think for Will’s ‘battle for sanity’ that I’ll use video footage from Innuendo itself. I’ll have to wait until I begin editing to see what it looks like.
Saturday 6th May
Had a reply from the letters I sent out! This was from a college, in Warrington. I’m keeping the original copy with me in case I develop the project further.
Sunday 7th May
Anne-
Monday 8th May
Finished filming the scenes between Will and Madra. I am praying that the footage is okay – because we can’t film again!
Wednesday 10th May
What should have been a quiet afternoon in Drama Studio 3, filming, was reduced to 3 hours MAX, with constant interruptions! Victoria (who is playing The Chat Show Host), and I filmed the second scene (again with only one camera), and I finished the remaining scenes off on my own. With the exception of the interruptions, I think it’s gone okay. It did feel a little weird repeating words that I myself said a few years ago. It all came back, but I think that will add to the realism of the final film. Editing tomorrow!
Thursday 11th May
Spent the afternoon in editing suites. Completed scenes 1-
Friday 12th May
Spent all day editing. Finished all but Scene 8 and the video footage for Will’s ‘battle for sanity’. Added the music today – and wow! The music adds another level to the film. When I wrote the play 18 months ago, I wasn’t too sure if it would work or not just using Queen music without the lyrics – but it does work!
Monday 15th May
FINISHED! Traveller looks really good for something thrown together in a week.
While I’m sat here typing this, it is just hitting me that this is what I wanted – to finally tell this story. I’m getting butterflies in my stomach as I think about it. I am beginning to feel ready to go out there and say; “This happened to me. Let me share it with you and let me help you get through your depression.”
Tonight, my housemates are going to watch the film and I’m hoping tomorrow that everyone else in the other group can see what I’ve produced. (For the past 4 months they’ve all been wondering what I was doing). On a serious note, it was difficult to edit out a lot of the things that happened, but I managed to and still keep the flow of the piece. It’s hard watching it, but the more I do, the more things make sense.
Tonight I’m going to check this diary and I’ll design some posters to go up around the university. Very short notice, I know, but the more the better.
Tuesday 16th May
8:00 Assessment day!!! I’ve printed off the posters and I’ll put them up today.
I went through the workshop with my housemates last night and everything seems okay – I’ll just need to check it with the group this morning. The only thing I’m worried about is that I don’t think I read enough for the workshop. At the moment I’m just drawing on my friend’s and my own experiences and I’m getting a little nervous about showing them Traveller. They’ve all known us both for almost 3 years now and it could be a little difficult to suddenly show them something from our different pasts that neither of us ever talked about. Well, here goes…
10:30. Well, I think some of them didn’t know quite what to say. A few said that they could relate to some of the content and others just enjoyed what I had done in such a small space of time and on limited resources. I had a word with my tutor about the workshop and I’m going to have to rethink the content this afternoon. Also, the small leaflet to go with the film needs to be redesigned to fit in more with the workshop.
16:00. I’m frantically printing of all the sheets for the workshop as I type and I’ve changed the leaflet to offer explanations of what happens to Will in the film. I am very nervous about tonight because I’ve never done anything like this before and I don’t know how many people are going to turn up. I’ve invited about 15 friends, but I know some of them probably won’t make it. I also asked everyone this morning to come along too.
I’m aiming to make it last about an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes or so. I’m also going to buy some refreshments and I’ll take with me my CD player for background music. I can honestly say I don’t know who will turn up and what the atmosphere and mood will be like tonight. But here goes anyway….
Wednesday 17th May
Well, it’s all over. I feel kind of sad in a way.
Last night there were only 6 of us in total. We all had a good chat to begin with and another tutor stayed for 15-
I skipped the trust game as a warm-
We watched the film and then went through the second set of questions. We held a good discussion and I’m glad we didn’t focus too much on the film. I was worried about that but it was good that the conversations branched off from different points of the film. One member of the group was saying that it was good that he could relate to both Will and Madra, and after some of the comments I had this morning from the group, the film does reach out further than I expected it to – which I’m glad about.
We then went through the Positive/Negative sheets and quickly covered what everyone had written. If there were more of us, I would have split them into pairs and each person would have helped another.
We finished on the “By This Weekend I Will Change Myself Positively By,” sheet, to raise the atmosphere.
What was designed to last about an hour lasted just over 2 hours!
At the end of the day I think it went well. Although it moved away from what I had in mind, the project took on a new life and some very good points were discussed last night. I’ve learnt from it and I think we all thought of things that we might not have about ourselves. I don’t think the real impact of the project will work until they go away and think about things. I did after last night and it has helped. All in all, I believe it was a success.