Thesis Blog - Week 4
February 19th
14 Days to Demo
90 Days to Showcase
I have been stressing out about this script. Matt and I workshopped it for over an hour. I'm on my 5th draft anddefinitely making significant progress, but it still isn't there yet. I found some great resources for script writing, including one program named "Causality" which allows you to write in sections and organize via timeline. It excels at writing non-linear pieces like mine because you can modularize time in your own way and move story beats dynamically. It also includes character mapping, mind mapping and others. It's free for scripts under ten pages, which is the ideal length for my project. I intend to stick with it for now.
I'm planning on showing the inciting incident scene for the story this is when Billy find out about Y2K and the possibility of his unlikely demise. It sets the story in motion and starts to introduce real stakes. I play to have a working version of Billy, an HDMI screen to show the CRT video, and a projector (small) to show the backgrounds.
I am facing challenges related to timing and synchronized playback of media. I've been learning a lot about TouchDesigner and how it functions as I try to achieve this. I know it's possible to switch softwares to something more for theatre cueing like Qlab, but I really want to do this in TD because it also opens up all the possibilities to expand with other new media like AI or sensors and other advantages. It's also possible, so I need to figure it out.
My project won't be near completion, but I plan to have the main elements functional with a workflow established to where content creation, scenic design, and polishing will be the main focus moving forward after demo day.
I am nervous that my project will not be in the state I would like it to be. Being unprepared will make it hard to communicate to the critics my intent. I have artefacts like scripts, revisions, storyboards, and others, but to see the piece working paritially, will help communicate where it can and will go. If I can clearly articulate my intent, I'm sure it will be well received. Otherwise, it will be difficult to win support.
I believe in this story idea and need to have the pieces come together to work. These daily countdown timers to demo day and showcase aren't helping with the pressure, but it sure makes this story feel real.