Week 1:
This week, we met as a group and assigned job roles based on each of our strengths. This allowed us to share ideas and create a storyboard for the documentary. I am looking forward to this project and have already set a date with the venue for the gig.
Week 2:
I have begun to research event management, and have learned a lot about the best way to promote an event. This led me onto beginning to create a poster and branding theme for the showcase. I think that the poster looks professional but I have had some feedback saying it looks a little bit like a maths revision guide. One problem that arose this week is that the in-house sound engineer at The Mill venue is already booked up on the day of the gig. I will need to now find a new one. On top of this, I have been unable to access funding and although I have found one that applies but the deadline has passed.
The Barn:
Over the week, we managed to record all of the Ep except for the vocals and keyboard. This was because our singer was unable to attend and on the journey, we had less space because of my own car being in the garage and Michael’s car gaining a flat tyre. I did, however, collate plenty of photographic evidence to use in the promotion of “behind-the-scenes” on social media.
Week 3:
The tickets are now live. This means that I am able to direct interested people to buy tickets. I was approached by the venue owner, who suggested that if we changed the postcode on the poster, people are more likely to find the venue with ease. This was a quick fix and the poster was reuploaded straight away. I also managed to find a funding source and applied for that.
Week 4:
I was accepted for the funding bid. This gave me the all-clear to pay the venue and book staff for the night, including the sound engineer. Receiving the funding unfortunately meant that I had to include the Bradford Council, Levelling Up and UK Government logos. But we have sold 7 tickets so far. This was the last week before the Easter half-term holidays and sadly, the film students are all off sick, meaning we can’t record any footage for the documentary vocal recording. This means that I am going to focus my attention on promotion, research and creating a running order that will be able to incorporate the acts I have already confirmed with the addition of the Level 4 students’ band because their pre-planned performance was cancelled when the venue Sally Browns closed.
Week 5 & 6:
Over the holiday, I created a lot of promotional material, ready to roll out when I wanted it to using Meta Suite. This is something that I have never used before and have been learning as I go along. I also gave my editing opinions on the draft of the documentary.
Final Weeks Before Showcase Week:
For the final push before the showcase, I uploaded posts introducing the audience to the people playing at the gig. The money for the gig came into my account, meaning I had to pay the venue so that they would be able to hire the staff. I agreed to the final version of the documentary. I also went onto BCB Radio 106.6FM to spread the word to a wider audience.
Showcase Week:
This week was used to set up the venue, plan projections at the venue and show the film students how to use the equipment. On the day of the show, Katie dropped out, which left me with a large gap in my running order. I had to find a new artist to play with and contacted 9 total local bands and solo acts that I had connections with. We eventually managed to book a solo artist called “Patch” 3 hours before the gig.
Final Thoughts:
I think that the project was a success because there were more people in the audience than we first expected, with 6 people turning up at the door. I believe this was due to both word of mouth and good promotion on social media. Many of the audience members said that they had a good time, laughing at the documentary and relaxing as they listened to the music. I do however believe that this could have been a lot better in terms of audience size and I think this was down to the nature of the event. Based on last year’s turnout, I think the more successful type of concert is a specific genre-based showcase that is marketed specifically for that genre. It was also most likely off-putting that it included a documentary as many people have connotations of these being boring.
I would also call it a successful event due to the way I was able to solve problems and allow the event to go ahead, with no refund requests or issues during the event itself.