Toronto What will it take? Everyone read and respond please!

So... the forums are quiet... the events are fun, but low turnouts... what do you all think it will take to start getting things going?

Would it help if there was a regular monthly meeting somewhere?
- with regular planned activities, we have something to look forward too
- it's a day we can set aside knowing something is planned.
- new and prospective members would have somewhere to meet everyone.

Like other groups in FF, should we start going the costuming route?
- watching FF London bloom again has been great, and thet're doing it without a movie release. FF Buffalo has been only getting more active since the last movie!
- By having costumes, events can be done, not to forget that it opens the chance to be part of other SW groups at the same time! Crossovers just mean there is more to do! (There is onlu one member of London that is even in another group)
- Everyone could help out making costumes! already Alex, Troy and myself are doing this with an X-Wing costume.
- There could be build sessions... this always hinges on interest...

Is there interest in learning Lightsaber techniques?
- Another reason to gather together!
- I am sure we could even find proper martial arts people to make sure we do it right
- Nothing better then a coriographed fight for the con seasons!
- We could host / Challange other FF groups in competitions. (London, Hamilton, and Buffalo all do sabre fight practice already as far as I know)

Fan Films!!
- I know there is interest for this... but will we do it?
- people in the group can film and edit... that's a known...
- Can someone prepare a one day filming script? will someone plan the day? most importantly, will people commit to do it!
- (again, costumes in the group would be a plus)

is there more?... so far the only events people come to at all have been movie nights... but can we grow and be more then just a movie night group? with only 4-5 people coming out at any one time?

 

I had pondered this endlessly myself. I personally would be more involved if I had the money but since thats tight right now I can't afford much of anything. I am certainly interested in spearheading a revival of the organisation so I will try to keep an eye on things and try to brain storm ideas.

Personally I think its a matter of just keeping events going. Granted thats difficult when there is little interest and there seems to be no effort made elsewhere but I try to think of it this way: If there are events on a regular basis people are presented with more oppurtunity to join in, be it old or new people, and might get swept up in the group's activities becoming more active. Without events its really hard to drum up any interest.

So things as simple movie nights, or if there is some cultural event in the city or elsewhere that we can rally support as a group...both I think would really help. I mean how many conventions are there a year that some if not many people here go to and we just sort of bump into each other. And how many are there that no one hears about at all. If events like conventions were made a regular group thing where for at least a part of a single day we meet up as FanForce or the Toronto Long Line and like the 501st and other fanclubs, make our presence known, it will drum up support from both inside and outside the group.

And there are all kinds of other geek events that no one hears about but if it was made a regular thing here it may breath new life into things.

Essentially what I am getting at is I think if you build it...they will come.

As for the costuming portion, that would be incredibly fun and I know that personally there are a variety of things I would be interested in working on, but I have two concerns here. Costuming angles and events sometimes leave someone taken advantage of. Someone like Alex who undoubtedly is talented at building things, might offer his support and get a whole bunch of people who think of him as some kind of personal handy man and just dump a project on his lap and not really put any effort forth themselves. Second as always I have financial concerns about it. If the club went the costuming path I wouldn't want someone to feel they are obligated to have a really good costume to participate and put forth money they can't afford into a costume they really don't need just to belong. Costuming could certainly be apart of what we do, I am just weary of it being a major goal of the group. Personally I think the social aspect should remain the biggest aspect of the group.

I would also be keen on doing things of a none Star Wars nature as well. For instance the zombie walks are all kinds of fun. I am sure there are a variety of other events that people can think of that would be a great group activities that have nothing to do with SW.

As for the Fanfilm front, I am always keen on helping with filming anything. I can do camera work, rotoing, editing etc and know of a bunch of people I can ask about doing other things as well. And there are always all kinds of competitions and events that we could become involved in. There is an annual lightsaber choreography contest on the TFN fanfilm boards that I would love to enter one of these years. I think that would be a great place to start is something small like a simple lightsaber duel. I am definately interested in a fanfilm section of the club, and honestly I see no reason why there can't be more than just fanfilms made.

Either way I am wanting to help get things going around here again so I will try to keep an eye on this thread and try to stay part of the discussions as much as possible.

EDIT: Thinking about it I am really jazzed about the fanfilm idea and if there are people who are willing to lend a hand I am willing to spear head this direction (unless there is someone else wanting to do that). I will try to come up with a story idea that can be shot in a day or two (sadly the script I do have will involve a lot more work than just a day). I am also willing to lend a

 

I am willing to help out any way I can wrt to the fanfilms. I have helped out with other peoples short films and have a great time. My problem is I don't have time to write anything.

Project wise/costume wise I am willing to teach people what I know. I am a big believer in helping people learn new skills and make their own stuff.

There is no fear of people dumping projects on me. I will do whatever I can to help those who are willing to learn. I have no time for people who are not willing to try things for themselves.

I am also not worried about the quality of the results. With practice people will get better and I think they will even surprise themselves at what they can do.

 

Here's what we did in London.

To start we made a board of directors; elect 3 members 1 is the CEO. These people need to be thinkers and doers, they are the leaders of the group. Note the board of directors has nothing to do with boards themselve or the FF city rep. You can make an annual election to give new member a goal and past member of the board can take time off and let someone else run it so that they don't get stressed out.

These titles make you look more profetional and you will get a better reponce from people.

Make business cards with the boards address, web page, e-mail or any other way that they can contact you.

Find a place to meet. In London most comic book or gaming shops have a meeting room that don't cost anything. It may be good promotion for them on comic book day if your there in costume. You could try the library even. We lucked out with finding a big place that we pay $25 a month. We meet every Sunday and I have access 6 days a week for anything we want. This way we were able to decorate it with Star Wars stuff. People can leave costumes under constrution at the club house. You can do game nights and other fun things, even roll playing is great.

Then you can plan events. Our spring celebration is held in the park. We found that they only charge from Victoria day to Labour day. So we have it one week before and don't have to pay for the park.

For charities I contacted everyone that I could find. Most said no because they thought we would scare the children. We started with going to the Women's Comunity House visting the children, it was great for Xmas because they had to cancil Santa because other religons. We saved the day doing a show and giving presents to the kids. We also did photo's and printed them off for the kids there.

Once you have done something the word will spread and you'll get requests.
We have been invited to:
-Santa Claus Parade, they wanted something new and we were a big hit.
-We're All Stars, a celeberty lunchen for children with disability another big hit.
-March break we are going to a community house for under privleged children.

Then there are the private birthday parties that's where we get money to pay for giving gifts to children at charity events that we attend. You only need 2-6 people to go to these. When they find that the money you collect goes childern of charites the wallets open right up. This way your charity events only cost you time. However, keep good records.

With members doing things, those without costumes can borrow costumes too. I have 3 a Jedi,a Sith and Stormtrooper and have loaned out all 3 at one point or a nother. Although, I would not recomend asking a trooper for their costume but sometimes if your reliable they may ask you to take there place at an event with their costume.

The biggest thing is that once you are doing things people will want to join your group.

 

Yeah throughout my teen years I hosted a whole number of different groups- drama clubs, games nights, parties, and the thing that is true of any group anywhere is if you push people, you'll have a few show up to the first event. But the key is to stick with it. And not get dismayed if one or two of your events its just you and like one other person. It's embarrassing, yes. And you think man, this person will NEVER come back. But a lot of times they do, and even if they don't, others will gravitate towards the group once they know it's a regular event.

When I'm in Toronto you can count me in for whatever, I'd love to be more involved in FF.

 

As one of the heads of what we like to think is one of Toronto's best fantasy and sci fi groups "The Intergalactic Consortium" here are my thoughts. This month we are celebrating our 4th year of existence and there are some parts of the group that we are improving cause before I address your points you should always try to keep things fresh or there is nothing exciting to get new members to your group or club and by that token nothing to keep them in it. Also I should mention part of the reason the I.C. was created was myself and another head were part of another group in the 90's and found outside of the meetings the only other way for people into fantasy and or sci fi was cons but having a group it would allow people who hopefully have same or similar tastes get together in those in between times plus share storeis and or experiences.

1) We get together at least once a month in downtown Toronto on a Saturday afternoon. We do it close to the subway that way anyone who has to rely on public transit can get there relatively easy plus it helps so a person does not need a complex set of directions to get their let it mean the are doing public transit or coming some other way. By having on a Sat afternoon chances are people are not busy with work or school plus if they happen to have plans Sat nite they can still attend. Also some people like to veg on Sundays so this allows them to do that. We have it in a place that does not cost anything cause some people do not have jobs so it might be hard for them to chip in money for a room rental or to get something at a bar or eatery. Also it makes things a little less stressful. Plus every few months we forgo a meeting for a special thing instead like a party, movie nite, gaming nite or something else. That being said we try to do something fun at the end of the meeting for anyone who does not have to rush off.

2) We do not costuming persay but every October we do have a Halloween event/party where members are encouraged to dress up and sometimes if we know enough people will we have a costume contests where we might award prizes.

3) Since we are not limited to just one aspect or universe we try to mix up what we do. What I mean is each month we try to at least a week before post an agenda for the upcoming meeting where we post to topics somehow associated to the genres of fantasy and or sci fi. We discuss them for betwen a hour and 2 then do the fun event. Now we ask members for ideas cause sometimes the heads have trouble. This makes the group a tad more interactive.

4) This next year we are planning on some major changes with the group. Prior to this year most of the way outside of meetings and phone calls if we had the members number to communicate was a yahoo group but we have done with that cause some people who did not have yahoo either might not of gotten info or could contribute so we just recently launched a message board. Currently we are working on a website which we hope to have ready for the convention season and once that is done if we can get enough members we might either start on a fan film or a newsletter.

Other things I cannot stress is state to members the following a) they do not have to attend everything to be a member. We have members from outside the GTA and thats part of the reason we got the message board so anyone who cannot attend can still contribute. After all we have some GTA's who do not always attend. Plus we state you can arrive late or leave early if thats a issue, b) we do not ask for dues but we do have a money can which we ask members if they can plop some change or a loonie/toonie in so anytime we need something for the group we can dip into it but in the mean time it is in a group account. When we do start dues like the money can it will mostly go back into improving the group, c) ask for input and suggestions by members. If they do not have any or want to give fine, d) promoting the group besides putting out flyers at events where possible members might be I have the message board url as part of my sig line

 

Well... some great feedback on doing Fan Films... which is cool... cause they are fun to do! and I think it's something where someone just needs to step up and take lead of... I'd do it, but it should be done by someone that plans to "do" the film, as well as knows more about it... I know nothing!! (in my best Schultz)...

Meetings... as much fun as a weekly meeting yould be, at this time I know I couldn't do that... I myself would prefer a monthly get together... until there is a set location, we could perhaps just pick a location for the following meeting at the end of a meeting... and I do think events and meetings should be seperate... I see about chatting to Alex and making it happen... and then at that first meeting, a set day could be chosen...

on a side note... I have a Lightsabre now! and soon to have another... LoL... but I still will not dress as a Jedi or Sith...

 

I don't think I could manage a weekly meeting, but I could probably make it to something that's monthly or bi-monthly. I do like costuming as I've made a couple non-star wars costumes and I'd be willing to help with my rather limited knowledge of sewing.

 

Yeah, my vote would be shoot for twice a month meetings. It's not *too* much for people to handle, but it's not so rare that people forget its happening or that it's a lot of fun!

It would be nice if a couple people would be willing to organize the meetings, so that one person doesn't have to plan and arrange everything. When I am back in Toronto (late April or early May, until August, then God-willing, moving there permanently not too long after that), I would be happy to organize an event once a month. I don't have a location I could hold something at, but if we are just meeting at different public locations, like coffee shops, parks, comic book shops, whatever, I don't mind doing the legwork to find such places and plan it some of the time.

I think James is wanting to spearhead doing fan films, which is also something I would LOVE to be involved in as much as possible.

 

Well spearheading projects has never been my strong suit. Creatively I would love to be involved in any film at any level. However organization is definitely not something I am great at, thus I would need a producer of some kind . However I am willing to give it shot, so long as other people are willing to to do their part as well: film is a collaborative medium, and I know from experience its not something I can do alone.

 

Producing seems to be what I do best on films. I don't mind being producer for a fan film at all. But since my time in Toronto this summer is probably going to be pretty limited, I definitely wanna make sure we have enough people serious about doing this, and a serious timeframe in which to accomplish it.

Also, I do have a fan film script I wrote last summer, but I know James mentioned having a script or a lot of ideas for a script, so James, if you wanna do a script, that would be awesome.

 

Sadly my script would be ambitious and require more resources, man power, technology and knowledge than I have. As was suggested above the best bet for a fanfilm to begin with is to start small and work our way from there. Besides a great screenwriter I am not. Personally I think something simple like entering a choreography contest may be the best bet, to begin with.

And of course I am not wanting to monopolize this category and am more than willing to work on things that other people bring to the table, fan film or possibly a different category of film altogether. So please feel free to bring forth other suggestions.

 

My script contains lightsaber dueling, but I am no choreographer. I think in the script it's like <insert lightsaber sequence> is the extent of my writing about lightsaber duels. I like your idea though, of entering a choreography contest. Does anyone feel they have a flare for sword choreography though?

 

Well... perhaps we can force Justin to be involved for the dueling... he's okay... (he makes lightsabres pretty)... in the summer I may even get time to practice against him myself... who knows... then there's that whole suggestion I had for fight practices...

 

I have studied the katana in martial arts, although it has been a while. I also have the MR version of Obi's lightsaber as well as a complete Darth Maul lightsaber. I also have my bokken from practice that's all beat up, in addition to an actual katana. I'm not awesome, but I know a couple moves. I'd love to help out in any way I can.

 

Well unfortunately MR sabers make horrible dueling sabers because they so easily break and stop working. Its honestly easier to spray paint dowel or PVC...or if you can afford it Aluminum poles. Its would be a dream to buy a couple of carbon rods that don't bend or flex as often but those are pricey ($40-$50/rod). There are a number of methods of making the hilts and I knew of several different resources for different methods to build and machine hilts. If you have the money that are sites like randomsabers.com that have a plethora of really interesting saber hilts.

So as far as sabers go there are a number of options. There are also people within the group with more experience than I with this stuff so I am sure we can figure out something.

The big thing is the choreography. If there is serious interest in this I will start doing my homework and try to plot out an interesting series of shots/actions etc.

 

I'd say go ahead and plan for it... at the VERY least there would be 4 of us... and I suspect it would grow from that... as long as filming times were short, and they got done! people get turned off if things never get done...

EDIT - By short I mean fitting into one weekend... if not one day...

 

Indeed which is why I think that a simple choreography competition entry might be best. It requires a little more work than a simple acting scene, but beyond the choreography it takes little prep time essentially.

 

you should come out to Milton some day to look at the parks for filming... some awesome spots... Cliffs, a waterfall, small rivers, caves... PLUS... the Badlands in Brampton would be wicked I'd think...

 

Well I think avoiding the cliche forest scene would be best. I thought of something more rock like...a quarry possibly. But I am wondering if we can find a suitable indoor location...something where we can control the lighting and weather a little more, give us more hours to shoot and fit it into a day or two better. However thats just a suggestion and should a suitable location be found elsewhere, I am honestly not that picky. I would just prefer something...unique.

 

I'm up for anything myself.... I just want to do something!... those places I mentioned are mostly all rocky...

the badlands is a red rocky location, very unique in Canada...
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I was thinking we could have one of the first event as a sort of get together to be silly in a park... "Sabres in the Park"... maybe have Sirene show off her super powers! perhaps record a few shots of members... play with some rotoscoping... all just for fun... HECK, rotoscoping is something many of us would like to learn about, that's pretty much a meeting of its own, to be shown the how to's... be it still shots or video...

 

WE are thinking if we end up doing some exterior shots for our film we might do them in High Park. I should mention in the experience of my group things generally slow down in the summer even though we hope to get away from meetings and have outdoor events like BBQ's and such. I should mention that durning Toronto Trek/Polaris we try for a informal meet up on the Saturday mid afternoon for anyone attending and we go to a local place where we share experiences thus far and depending on the person he or she can get a drink and or eat. We do it mid afternoon that way we usally beat the diner rush and if anyone has panels or does the masquerade they can still attend. I think have more then one event/meeting might be a tad to much. We try to do ours around the middle of the month cause most people have bills and money expenses near the begining and end of each month. Should also like to say if you do start a group speaking as one of the IC higher ups I would think it would be cool given each group could get enough people invloved to have one big picnic/diner or maybe some sort of event like the 2 square off in a bowling match or something else.

 

DUDE, Daniel, those Badlands are seriously in BRAMPTON? I can't believe I was so close and never saw them!

They do look like a good filming location. Someone I almost worked on a fan film with (he turned out to be a crank, so it never happened) had an interesting idea for a location, it was this burned out factory site in my town. I don't suggest filming IN a burned out factory, since even if we could pull it off it would be dangerous (though possibly no more dangerous than Justin's brilliant idea of sword fighting on a 10 foot high stone wall...), but directly outside something like that might be cool. And if we could frame shots so it looks very burned out city, even if it isn't really that extensive of a location, might be extra cool.

Just throwing out ideas.

Indoor location is good for weather control, which is important for dialogue, if we intend to have dialogue, but it's hard to create a very striking backdrop inside anywhere. At best it's an old warehouse (been done), or someone's house (just kinda bizarre). But thats just me being artistically picky, we hafta film where we hafta film, ultimately.

 

That looks like such a good location to shoot at!

Oh, so sorry I haven't been on the boards. Oops. More regular checks I suppose.
If you're planning on working on a fan film I'd gladly get involved with any of my equipment or anything else. If the plan is something for the duel contest on the forums, and Justin isn't up for the project, I'd love to do some choreography for the duel.

Maybe a group meeting is a good idea to toss around some ideas in person

 

I might have a location we can meet at. I will see when it is available. On the plus side it should be free. On the negative side for some people it is in North York.

If anyone has some sort of script I would like to look at it. For the light saber duel thing I would be interested in that too.