2015/04/21 Optik Allusions Meeting

Tuesday April 21st 2015

Attendees

• Icebreaker: What's the coolest thing you'd like OptikAllusions to do or make?
  • Liz: Weekly film nights
  • Anka: Coffee and wine
  • Sarah: Film party where we got drunk. Let's do that again!
  • Nicolas: Film us filming.
  • Jabari: We're already doing an incredible job. Keep up the good work.
  • Sean: We're already doing it. The gentrification movie. I want us to film. We did one on the Omni. Keep getting footage of it changing. As new people come in.
  • Noemie: Documenting the activism that is going on here. And be opento other forms to!
  • Dragon: Activism & music videos.
  • Jabari is supposed to be doing a music video for Jabari Shawn in the future. Let's do this!

Announcements

• Cere's friend is donating a really nice but totally broken camera. Maybe we can repair it, or maaaaybe we can do an autopsy and look at its insides! Gross!! Could be a good classroom experiment to understand the inner workings of a digital camera. It could also make an informative youtube video. I have an idea!
• Pedie: We have a fork! Apparently the titles need a bit more work.
• Yuvette Henderson's protest was powerful.
• We got the ballroom for May 29th!
• Marc is supposed to come and screen his 20 minute film

Short Film Festival

• Date: May 29
• Outreach is urgent! Options?
  • Maybe we could blast it out as a call for entry. Go to filmmalking forums. Craigslist. Put flyers around film schools. Alternative films too.
  • Alternative social justice film groups on facebook.
  • Action Items: Noemie Dragon and Sarah will be researching and everyone else could be putting stuff on facebook.

Room use

• Rent:
  • Collect money for April: Nicolas: 10 Dragon 20 Liz 10 Jabari 15, Sean 20, Anka 15, Sarah 20, Noemie 20. Total: 130$
  • Jabari offers to use Google or Paypal.
  • Noemie says Google is evil. Gratipay!
  • Bank account: Create a credit union bank account.
• Insurance : Noemie Liz and Sean will have the equipment appraised next week on tuesday 4 pm.
• Liz and Jabari will open the bank account.
• Our treasurers: Sean F, Liz and Jabari
• Video game making in the room: RJ is 15 years old and wants to make video games, he's sefl taught. Let's make sure one of the stations work for video game making!

Moved to next week:

• Our legal status (UA)
• Scheduling the room
  • Purpose of the room
  • Equipment
  • Todo's to improve the space

Rental

• Liz has a question: integrating our rental system with Omni ballroom events that need gear.
  • Liz: While working the TGIJPP fundraiser last weekend, they needed some lights, so I pulled out JC's kit. One of the bulbs was broken and there was a Britek light mistakenly packed in there. I opened the Britek kit and there were two DMX lights that don't even belong to OpAl. Rob said he thinks our kits got used for the cajun band but we have no idea who took them out. This is just a little concerning for me. I know sometimes sh!t happens and people need some lights (for example, the chandelier lights were out for the TGIJPP event), but one of the bulbs got broken and no one even left a note about it, and who knows if any small items got lost and I just didn't notice. There currently is no system for checking out ANY stage equipment (which may explain the loss of so many microphones), and any checkout system would necessarily have to include OpAl gear, unless we explicitly mark our gear off-limits. OpAl would be the best group to work with the Commons WG on a checkout system for stage and film gear, if we want to make OpAl gear available for ballroom events. I just want us to discuss this a bit so that we can be clear about in-house use of our equipment.
• Should omni use our equipment without being accountable for the equipment? We should have log in log out system
• Make sure we have people be accountable for the equipment if they damage it.
• Sarah: people should come to two meetings and be given a training and pay a deposit.
• Jabari: two meetings are two many.
• Sarah: ok so one meeting.
• Jabari: one member is there to make sure the equiment is used properly.
• Only the people who want to take our equipment off site should come to the meeting. For Omni use, talk to the commons wg and ask them to check in with us.
• Liz: We could get lock with the key so the kits are not available to random people. I'm also worried about people tripping and knocking the lights...
• We need to make copies of the cabinet keys.
• We need to train people to use the equipment.

• Action items: Noemie will talk to commons wg.
• Liz will find a way to lock ou requipment
• Anka will copy some cabinet keys and omni keys.
• Start implementing a rental policy.

Projects report back

• OGC: We worked all day yesterday. Need to find the autosave. Good news: Marcus feels comfortable with editing, he'll be editing on Sunday.
  • Every Monday we meet up and edit.
  • The city council in Richmond is happening again

• Gentrification:
  • meet next wednesday at 5pm for Deutsche bank interview.

• Quilombo/Afrikatown:
  • Hannibal interview. Just send an email when we edit.

• Nicolas is making how to videos. He shadows the hands. People making clothes. It's part of village craft.

Next meeting

• Facilitator = Jabari
• Topics: membership process, room use, name change.