Rebecca Rojer Dedicated Project Visit Application

Stats & Contact Info

Name, age, gender, location, contact info (phone, email, Skype).

1. Name: Rebecca R. Rojer
2. Age: 23
3. Gender: Female
4. Location: Brooklyn, NY
5. Contact Info:
   1. Phone: Will email separately
   2. Email: rebecca(at)rrrojer(dot)net
   3. Skype: rrrojer

Photo

Rebecca Rojer

Schools

Please list schools you have attended, degrees and/or major areas of study or training, and independent studies that you have done.

• HARVARD UNIVERSITY Cambridge, MA.

A.B. in Visual & Environmental Studies - Film Production Track, 2010.

• WILLIAM H. COSBY FUTURE FILMMAKERS WORKSHOP at NYU New York, NY

Scholarship to study film for 15 students in the tri-state area. Spring 2004.

• CSSSA ANIMATION PROGRAM at CALARTS Valencia, CA

California Arts Scholar. July 2004.

• COLUMBIA HIGH SCHOOL Maplewood, NJ

Graduated June 2005.

Work Experience

Please attach a resume or provide a list of work experience, both paid and volunteer.

• VIOLET WISTER’S DAMSELS IN DISTRESS New York, NY

Assistant to the Director, August 2010 – August 2011
Assisted filmmaker Whit Stillman throughout the production cycle of a feature film. Liaised between the production office and director. Managed calendar. Initiated negotiations with product placement companies, music rights holders, and post-production houses.

• RRROJER DESIGN Brooklyn, NY

Freelance Web Designer, 2006 – Present
Designed and maintained a variety of websites in Wordpress and Drupal. Clients include small businesses, artists, and non-profits.

• COTTONWOOD GULCH FOUNDATION Thoreau, NM

Assistant Cook, Summer 2007 & 2008
Helped cook 3 meals a day for 30-75 campers & staff at a wilderness summer program in New Mexico, including many farm-to-table dishes comprised produce grown in the camp's garden.

• DIGITAL NATIVES PROJECT, BERKMAN CENTER Cambridge, MA

Intern, September - December 2008
Contributed research and graphic/UI design to the development of a “Creative Rights” curriculum for middle school students.

• CREATIVE COMMONS San Francisco, CA

Business Development Assistant, June 2007 – May 2008.
Created mock-ups to visually demonstrate Creative Commons licensing integration with various web services and online communities. Prepared presentational materials and blog posts. Co-wrote and co- illustrated Sharing Creative Works, an illustrated guide to Creative Commons licensing.

• DC COMICS New York, NY

Creative Services Intern Summer 2006
Prepared promotional materials for the DC website using Flash and Photoshop. Edited Podcasts.

References

Please provide 3 References with email and phone number - 2 work references, 1 personal reference

Will provide references privately via email

Why are you applying?

How did you hear about the program? Why are you applying for a Dedicated Project Visit? Why are you interested in our work?

I heard about Open Source Ecology from my former boss at Creative Commons, Jon Phillips. I was telling him about my growing interest in small-scale, sustainable farming and he sent me the link to OSE. I spent some time on the website & watching the videos, and was very intrigued.

As someone with a long standing interest in open source & DIY, and a more recent interest in farming, OSE interests me on many levels. I am frustrated by the common perception that organic farming is inherently regressive and anti-technology. There is no reason that "progress" should mean dependence on fossil fuels and soil degradation, and the concentration of power and resources into a small handful of huge corporations. Some of today's most successful organic farmers owe their methods to recent technological innovation, from portable electric fences to lightweight plastics used in hoop-houses. Technology is a tool, not a solution, and it is up to people to choose and use their tools responsibly. So the Global Village Construction Set is exciting to me: a set of open-source tools designed with the intention of making small-scale farming more affordable and resilient.

I am applying for a Dedicated Project Visit because I want to help the project succeed. Documentation is key to any open source project and GVCS's success will in part be determined by making the fabrication instructions clear & accessible. As a filmmaker I think I could aid in the documentation efforts, and if I happen to learn something about fabrication and farming along the way, that would be a great perk.

Skills

Describe practical skills you may have - from agriculture, workshop, industry, organizing, hands-on, CAD, manufacturing, computer skills, etc.

Filmmaking: writing, editing, filming, producing & animation.

Design: webdesign (html/css, Wordpress & Drupal), graphics/illustration (photoshop/gimp, Illustrator/Inkscape) & layout

Kitchen: cooking (including for large groups), kitchen managing & bulk food buying for communal kitchens

Organizing: event organizing, meeting facilitation, press releases

Have you designed and built or produced anything for your own use?

Not really, unless you count my website.

Which of your skills are particularly relevant towards creating the GVCS?

Please view the TED Talk and recent update for the latest on our approach and on-the-ground work.

My filmmaking & storytelling skills are relevant for assisting with GVCS documentation. My design and web skills may be similarly relevant. I imagine some of my organizational/cooperative living skills could also be relevant, though in less concrete ways.

Do you have any organizational skills and experience?

Yes. I led various student groups in both high school and college, produced a number of short films, and served as co-President and kitchen manager in my student co-op. All of these experiences involved coordinating dozens of people, running meetings, hosting events, securing locations, fundraising, creating and sticking to a budget, and various publicity/PR campaigns.

Can you cook? Can you cover your food expenses?

I can cook and love to do so. I can cover food expenses, especially if supplemented by food produced on the farm.

Do you have resources to support yourself while volunteering with us?

I have a little bit of money saved up, but not a lot. I would prefer to spend as little as possible.

Do you have any medical, physical, or psychological conditions or disabilities which may affect your ability to do physical work?

I have seasonal allergies but nothing Loratadine can't handle.

Do you have any emotional, psychological, or mental conditions which may affect your ability to act with composure and good judgment?

No.

Are you easy to get along with and can you get along with other people?

I think so. I strive to treat everyone with empathy and respect.

Do you have strong ideological views (political, religious, elitist, feminist, etc.)?

I have many strong views but they are constantly under evaluation and are revised in response to new experiences and perspectives. I like to discuss them when I find a consenting partner, and have been known to do so passionately at times. I also try to act in accordance with my views, under the knowledge that the resulting experience may lead me to revise the underlying belief.

While I'm sure many "ism"s could be associated with my views, I don't subscribe to any one particular cohesive doctrine or worldview, at least not consciously. But because it was explicitly listed, I feel compelled to say this:

I do consider myself a "feminist" in the sense that I believe women should have equal rights under the law; should earn the same amount of money as men for doing the same work and have comparable access to networks and mentorship that lead to such work; and should have agency in matters of their body and health. Out of respect for the people who fought for those rights, and as a reminder that those battles happened not too long ago and many would prefer to see them reversed, I am not so quick to drop the label "feminism" even though "humanism" would probably be equally (literally) descriptive. I do believe in gender differences, I just don't think it is the role of government to negotiate them and suspect that in most cases they are overstated.

Are you a team player?

Are you a team player or someone who understands that the work we do at Factor e Farm is for a much greater purpose than for our own self-gratification, indulgence, or agenda? This implies a level of maturity in the participant which allows one to remain not only aligned with the vision, but also to remain motivated in this work.

Yes, or at least I hope so.

Do you smoke?

No.

Do you have any dietary restrictions? Will you eat meat raised at our farm?

No dietary restrictions

Do you have transportation? Will you be arriving by car and leaving the car on-site?

No. I would probably arrive by plane and may require transportation from the airport.

Documentation is key to moving our work forward. Are you familiar with using a Wiki?

Yes, plenty of experience using them in student groups and at work.

Can you work well as a pioneer under rough conditions, by taking the responsibility to create your own environment?

Yes, to a degree. I can camp out and "rough it", but my homesteading skills are sufficiently scant that I would probably not survive a winter if I had to rely on myself alone.

When would you be available for a Dedicated Project Visit?

Beginning October 2011.

If you are accepted and things don't work out, do you have other options to pursue after the month?

Yes.

Goals & Deliverables

List your goals and deliverables for your Dedicated Project Visit, breaking it up by each of the four weeks. Please write a one-page proposal brief summarizing what you would like to do, how you would accomplish it, and what resources you would need to do so. Include a budget as necessary. We are willing to pay for prototyping materials.

Summary of Proposal

The goal of my Dedicated Project Visit would be near-daily publication of video documentation. The majority (~2/3) of these videos would be instructional videos documenting a specific, bite-sized component of a GVCS device. The remaining videos (~1/3) would be more freeform: human-interest, vérité, eye-candy or philosophic. I would publish 5 days a week, spend one day a week either collecting footage or helping on other projects at Factor-e-Farm, and one day at rest.

Each week would begin with a meeting with Marcin and any interested project managers to discuss documentation needs. 3-4 instructional topics would be determined, as would interesting filming opportunities, such as a big harvest or new construction. Pre-existing footage would be discussed and new shoots would be scheduled/coordinated with the relevant parties.

The rest of the week would be spent shooting, editing & publishing. A sample day would look as follows:

1. Writescript/storyboard - 15min - 2 hrs. 2. Consult with Marcin or applicable project manager for technical correctness - 15min - 1hr. 3. Shoot footage or pull selects from the archives, record voiceover - 1-4 hrs 4. Edit - 4-6 hrs 5. Upload daily

If a daily schedule is maintained for 3 weeks, for the final week I will have the option to work on 1 or 2 longer pieces in lieu of the daily video.

Weekly Deliverable Schedule

Week 1:

1. Weekly Schedule outlining video topics & shoot days (anything that require coordination with other people)
2. 5 scripts/storyboards
3. 1 introductory video explaining my DPV and announcing arrival at Factor-e (1-2 min)
4. 4 instructional videos (1-3 min)

Week 2:

1. Weekly Schedule
2. 4-5 scripts/storyboards
3. 3 instructional videos (1-3 min)
4. 1 "life at Factor-e" video (2-5 min)
5. 1 interview video (3-10 min)

Week 3:

1. Weekly Schedule
2. 4-5 scripts/storyboards
3. 4 instructional videos (1-3 min)
4. 1 eye-candy video (1-2 min)

Week 4:

1. Weekly Schedule
2. 4-5 scripts/storyboards
3. 3 instructional videos (1-3 min)
4. 1 "life at Factor-e" video (2-5 min)
5. 1 interview video (3-10 min)

Week 5:

1. Weekly Schedule
2. 2-3 scripts/storyboards
3. 2 instructional videos (1-3 min)
4. 1 longer video piece on a subject of my choosing (3-15 min)

Note: This is an ideal schedule and may prove to be too ambitious. As currently planned, each day I would take a project from start to finish: write-shoot-edit. However if the result is unsatisfactory, it may make sense to lower the target to 4 videos/week and try to concentrate like activity. The first day of the week would be spent writing all four scripts & shooting, and then the remaining four days spent exclusively editing. This way there would be less time wasted context-switching.

Resources Required & Budget

1. Camera Package: I don't currently have a camera package but would be willing to purchase/borrow. However considering the documentation needs, I think it might make sense for OSE to invest in equipment. I would say the minimum would include:
   1. Camera - HD isn't a requirement, especially since we're shooting for web and will have limited storage space/processing power. I would highly recommend getting a camera w/ stereo input (for external microphones). $500-$1500, depending on whether or not you buy used. Could probably get even cheaper used if you don't bother with HD as many have upgraded, so should not be difficult to find a professional SD camera on the second hand market. I don't currently own a camera with these specs because until recently I was able to borrow high quality ones from school, but I would be willing to buy one if it couldn't be provided. I would want to do some research on cameras that hold a charge for a long time.
   2. Spare Batteries - price depends on the camera, we'd want a couple extra.
   3. Tripod - Does not need to be of super high quality, just something to keep the camera fixed. Could probably get something decent for under ~$100.
   4. Lavalier Mic - A small wireless mic that clips to speaker's clothes. Very useful if you are shooting at a distance, especially in a place with lots of background noise (wind, machines, etc). I don't have much desire to purchase this for my own collection, but I think it would be very good to have for this sort of video work. ~$100-$400, wide variance in quality.
   5. Shotgun Mic - Directional mic to mount on top of camera as well as to record voice over. Again, would prefer not to purchase personally but would if necessary. $100-$400.
   6. Wind Screen - Foam or fuzzy cover for shutgun mic to help reduce wind noise ~$25-$50
   7. Case - water resistant case to store camera & accessories ~$75, may be included in used camera package.
2. Media & Storage - depending on what the camera records to (mini-dv, flash card, etc.), enough media to record 15-20hrs of media, as well as ample hard drive space.
3. Computer & Software - I can provide my own laptop, editing software, and external monitor.
4. Generator - would be great if I had access to a generator but don't know of anyone I could borrow one from.