Reflections of a Teal Festival

      I expected the conference to run smoothly, because everyone has worked so hard throughout the semester. I would have been surprised if anything went wrong. Everybody had checked and double checked all positions, and everyone knew what needed to be done. And, of course, nothing went wrong (as far as i could tell)! Granted, I didn't get to see every moment of V4, but everything I did see was great.

      I was surprised by the speakers at both conference blocks. I was expecting Brandon to be this presentation god, because of everyone speaking so highly of him, but I was surprised by the other speakers. He did great, I am not saying he didn't, but my expectations were laser light-shows, existential discoveries, and gaining a new perspective on what I think "film" means. Other than that, I feel that every person brought their "A" game, and they were all enjoyable, and professional.

      I wasn't 100% behind the final order of the film blocks, but they surprised me by working together so well. I guess it is one thing to look at a list of titles, and another to watch them together. I enjoyed helping interview the guest filmmakers and scholars, because I realized how similar they all were. I understood how they went about creating, and I really connected to their creativity and love of film.

      I feel that I did my job as well as it could have been done, although I wish I had asked to have more control over the filming of the interviews. I feel that more could have been done, but I didn't want to step on toes or offend people, plus I was just supposed to be assisting, which sometimes means not speaking out of turn. Overall, I am happy with the outcome of the interviews. Our director did a great job at talking to the guests, and I feel that we got some great tidbits to share with future Visionairies, presenters, and filmmakers.

      I was inspired to submit more work to next year's event, because Visions gets better every year. I feel that it can only get bigger and better, and I would love to be apart of it as a guest, because it was incredible to see how our staff welcomed those students (and schools) as one of their own.