This week already marks Session #7 of MMTM. Time flies when you’re having fun!
For this session, our goal was to get everyone prepped to start filming. To help us all get ready for the day’s hard work, we started things off with an energizing activity. We circled up like we usually do, except this time we all made up dance moves instead of doing a verbal check-in. Each of us got a turn to make up one dance move, then we went around the circle and added on everyone else’s until we had one big choreographed routine. It was hilarious! We were moving all over the place and I think most of us broke quite a sweat. After that, we took a short break to catch out breath, then talked about the agenda for the day.
We wanted to hear about each group’s process and progress, so we had them split into their three production teams and write up a brief synopsis & updated pitch. We also asked that they try their best to come up with a team name and film name. We gave them a printed sheet to fill in all this information and two staff sat with each group as support if they needed. Then after about 10-15 minutes, each team shared out. Each production team has a very clear idea of their main message and their story arc and it was fun to hear the tentative film names as well.
After our opening portion was pau, we took a short break for everyone to regroup. After that, we divided back into production team and got ready for “crew work time.” Our goals for this time were to finish up as much of they could with: storyboard, shot list, casting and prop list. Kristle and I were with the anxiety team, Val was with the music video team, and Ginger & Marie were with the vlogger team. Vera & Katie were “floaters,” ready to step in wherever they were needed. As a staff, we had decided to split apart this way so that each team had dedicated help while finishing up their shot lists, storyboards, etc. We were missing a few girls, but I think each group did a great job of pushing forward. The anxiety crew worked mostly on their storyboard and location scouting.
They decided to film at Impact Hub so we walked around and discussed the staging, props and extras needed for different areas & scenes. We also discovered that storyboarding takes a long time! We ran through all sorts of ideas for the different takes in each scene and laughed together as we went through what seemed like infinite versions & scribbled drafts. The other two groups made a lot of progress as well, finishing up shot lists and creating action plans for their next steps. It felt like each group was ready to get on the camera!
Around 6:30 PM, we gathered everyone up again to start our closing portion. We sat in a circle and asked each crew to share where they were in their film process & what their next steps were. Each team took a few minutes to highlight their progress and describe their next move: start filming, finish up the script, etc. Then we did another share-out on what worked well in their teams. We had talked as a staff about how to help the girls build trust and work together, so we thought that what’s already working would be a good place to start. They shared that they had good communication, that everyone’s ideas were heard, that each member participated, and they were now “on the same page” (a popular response from most of the girls). It seemed that this dedicated work session really helped everyone get on track and on the same page together. Next up: filming!
Last but not least, we asked the girls to do a brief survey about how we’ve been doing. We asked them to share how safe they feel in the space, what their favorite part of the day was and if there’s anything else they’d like us to cover in these last few weeks. And everything was anonymous of course! We hope that this will help us create the last few sessions to best meet their expectations and needs. We concluded by thanking them and letting them out a few minutes early for all their hard work.
Aloha until next week!