I had my research paper returned, and I have a few changes to make to it. Not too many grammatical errors, just some syntax things. I'll make the changes sometime before the paper is due.

I think that the live footage portion of the documentary is close to complete. The show at The Channel had a staircase, which was extremely helpful in getting some really good shots, so that aspect took far shorter than anticipated. I'll start preparing the interview aspect very soon. Expect a trailer sometime this Winter.

I turned in the rough draft of my research paper last week, despite some technological difficulties. While I was writing my research paper, I was learning how valued cinema is in all fields of the art, not just music documentaries. There are so many people who devote their entire lives to just watching films, and some who spend their lives making them. I'd always known that people do such things, but not so many.

The progress on my research paper has been stalled, because my computer has broken. Apple is fixing it right now, but I'll be fine, for I still have lots of ideas prepared and a few pages written already. Filiming wise, I'll start preparing the interview questions and arrangements as soon as this paper is out of the way.

This week was pretty productive. I got some footage of Josh Ridings Band at their show in Christian Supply, read quite a few books for my research paper, and turned in 50 notecards or senior project. I rented "Gimme Shelter" and "Don't Look Back" from the library to watch, in addition to the incredibly long Beatles Anthology on Youtube that I've yet to finish. Perhaps I'll get to watch some while we're on break.

I'm still working on the research paper. I've checked out multiple books from the library, generally looking for quotes and reviews on the films "Beatles Anthology", "Gimme Shelter", "Some Kind of Monster", and "Don't Look Back". After I find some things on these films, I think I'm going to start on Martin Scorsese's music films "Shine a Light" and "The Last Waltz".

This week has been fairly busy for me, but I hope to accomplish some work on my research paper this weekend. On Friday, the seniors are going to the USC Upstate library, so perhaps that will give me some sort of new idea that I could use while finding research.

Since I don't have much to do for filming right now, I'm going to start working on my research. I've already got a book picked out (the name of which escapes me, it will be posted later), and I'm going to start searching through movie reviews to find specific points I can cover in my paper. (Does it accurately capture the music, is the ego overshadowing, etc.)

Nothing much happened this week. I didn't get to see any shows, but I did look through some of the footage that I have taken. Seeing what I have to work with helps me form ideas of what I want the documentary to be in my mind.

This week was very exciting for me because I finally got to capture the Josh Ridings Band experience on film! (I did have some prior footage, but this is the first show I've taped extensively) I have about 4-5 whole songs recorded with some stage banter/antics from Josh, which is exactly what I was hoping for. Also, I finally (not sure why I hadn't) bought the JRB cd. It's pretty rad. You should check it out.

This week I actually had the meeting with Josh. All went well and we are now completely on the same page. I plan to be at the show Thursday at The Channel filming, so if you come out, you could be on the Josh Ridings Band documentary. It'll be awesome, so you should come.

My senior project presentation went quite well. I'm absolutely ecstatic with the response I received from the board, and will probably make some changes that they suggested. I'm planning on setting up the interviews much sooner than April now, and will try to get in contact with all four members as soon as I can.

I spent most of this week on the road to Marlboro County or up at Windy Gap, so I haven't had much time to work on my senior project. I'm still trying to get in touch with Josh, but I'm sure that everything will be worked out before I go to the board.

I've made some kind of progress on my senior project this week. I got some footage from the Josh Ridings Band pre-release party, despite some technical difficulties. I've also been trying to get on the phone and discuss documentary plans with Josh, but due to some difficulties with illness, we haven't had a chance yet. I'll keep calling until we get to talk about the important business of the Josh Ridings Band Documentary.

As of this week, I have my first footage for the documentary. (It's of Josh and company opening the first batch of cd's.) I'm really excited for Saturday, when I'll be filming the album pre-release party. (If you're there, you might be in the movie!)

I'm really interested in this project because I love experiencing the documentation of music. I like reading biographies and watching documentaries on every kind of music and artist. This is related to my research paper because I feel that my documentary is a documentation of rock music, even though it's not on a huge band and it won't be widely distrubuted

This week was particularly productive for me. Not only did I sit down and have a meeting with my mentor, Mrs. Amanda Ledbetter, I got in contact with the man himself, Josh Ridings. Josh and I have arranged to have a phone conversation when we both have some time, which will hopefully be this weekend. Mrs. Ledbetter and I discussed the use of cameras and some of the shots and interviews I hope to film for the documentary.

I've also been thinking about my timeline for my senior project. I've planned to film all, or as many of the Josh Ridings Band gigs as possible. Some of the specific ones I'd like to go to are the ones on September 19th, October 10th, and October 24th. I plan on continuing filming until about March or April, when I can sit down and edit all of the footage I'll (hopefully) have.

I've also found some resources that I'll be using in my research paper. I haven't found a resource specifically on the documentation of rock music, but I'm searching instead for resources that describe a certain scene or movement and how they've been documented (Punk fanzines, 21st century media, etc.) I've decided to start with the Encyclopedia Britannica entry for "rock music". I'm also looking into seeing if I can get a copy of this book, for a general starting point.

I've been starting to make preparations for the actual creation of the documentary. There's at least release party for the CD in September that I'm planning on being at. I've also gotten a pair of DVD's that I've had suggested to me to try and give me some ideas creatively. (This American Life from Mrs. Moore and End of the Century from Mr. Tucker.) I need to start getting in contact with Josh Ridings so we can get on the same page and start discussing our ideas. Until then, and after I've started, I'll keep trying to think of creative ways to film and portray the adventures of the Josh Ridings Band.

Additionally, I've decided to make my paper on the documentation of music over the last 50-odd years, and the ways it has progressed. My essential question is "How has Rock 'n' Roll been documented over the years?" My thesis looks something like this:

"Since the start of the original Rock 'n' Roll era, people of all ages and backgrounds have been fascinated by the sounds and sights associated with it. With changing musical trends, just as many changes in print and visual documentation will continue to form"

There's not a whole lot of filming opportunities before the album's release, so I'm currently preparing my plans for the movie's creation. I've been trying to find some time to watch some "rockumentaries" to get some inspiration. Two that I'm currently looking forward to seeing are "End of The Century: The Story of the Ramones" and "The Fearless Freaks", which revolves around the Flaming Lips. Maybe I'll watch "Some Kind of Monster" for the umpteenth time for good luck. (and "This is Spinal Tap", of course)

So this is a blog post. I'm not exactly sure what I should write about, so I'll ramble about my senior project ideas and hope I get a passing grade on this blog thing.

My primary idea for my senior project is to make a 30-60 minute documentary on the Josh Ridings Band, chronicling the release of their album and their awesome adventures. I'm pretty psyched about it. I've always liked "rockumentaries" and my goal (as long as this idea goes through) is to make a version of Metallica's "Some Kind of Monster" without all the in-band drama, yelling, drugs, and $25,000 therapists. (It's a great film if you've never seen it, even if you have no interest in Metallica). I'm not so much into filmmaking itself, but more of the documentation of music related events and people. (I love band-related oral histories and biographies)

Up top is a visual idea of what I'd like the title scene to have on it. (Note the numbers)

I really hope this blog post is satisfactory for whoever is grading this and entertaining/interesting for those who aren't. If not, do me a favour (I use English spelling variants) and tell me what I should/shouldn't do.