Mt Hood Narrative - Revised

I. Executive Summary

Free Geek is spontaneously and rapidly expanding, around the Portland Metro region region and across the country. In our own community, informing the public of the services that Free Geek has to offer will increase the benefits to the public in two major categories: diversion of e-waste and increasing digital inclusion through an efficient and cost effective, volunteer based system.

The purpose of the Film Freek project is to take Free Geek educational content and produce cost-effective professional quality digital media versions for public media outlets. The Film Freek project is designed to teach student volunteers how to create digital media projects and learn professional production skills in a cooperative environment. The selected students will work on a series of progressively more complex projects, while learning to use cost effective methods to produce quality end products. Each group of students (3 groups of 6 students over one year) will learn the basics and then start working individually, progressing through group projects, finally culminating in a 1 hour cable access showcase for the students work and other original content related to Free Geek's mission. Students receive the training for free, in exchange for volunteering 100 hours of teaching future classes and/or providing additional content for Free Geek educational videos and/or cable access episodes. Free Geek is seeking funding from the MHCRC to help provide for the physical and technological infrastructure for the project. Free Geek has a large amount of area dedicated to our education programs. Due to lack of funds, none of these area has been fully remodeled and all suffer from poor acoustics and lighting.

The main outcome of the Film Freek project would be the creation of self-replicating generations of film makers versed in a range of production techniques from low cost to professional quality using primarily Free and Open Source Software for all aspects of the productions. Direct “deliverables” would be three broadcast quality cable access shows and three Free Geek education program classes presented in a digital video format. As part of the self-replicating student/teacher/content structure, additional, and updated content for broadcast on cable access via FreekTV and other media formats will be generated on an ongoing basis.

The main public benefit that will be met with the successful completion of this grant is service delivery. The populations served by this project cuts across many spectra. E-waste ultimately affects everyone, by educating the public about E-waste and the availability of Free Geek as a local resource that can help, we hope to continue to reduce the amount of computers going to waste. Lack of digital inclusion affects those who do not have access to computers for a variety of reasons, though these are mostly economic in nature. Increasing the public awareness of the many free education and technology access opportunities available at Free Geek will help to increase digital inclusion across the region. Additionally, existing Free Geek (or similar types of) organizations around the region and the country can get more direct access to the education resources we have developed.

We have developed a partnership with Portland Community Media for assistance in training our teachers and students as well as providing resources to edit and broadcast our content. Portland Community Media will also provide a slot in their cable access programming schedule for at least 3 different productions of the FreekTV show during the first year of the project. The total project budget is $106,780, the grant request is $53,195 with $54,285 in matching funds.

'''II. Project Narrative'''

Film Freek [a Free Geek digital media project]

At the turn of the millennium, Free Geek created a way to stand between two really big problems and combined them in a way that could solve them both. The problems of ever growing piles of computer e-waste and the lack of digital inclusion come together and cancel each other out as computers destined for the landfills are diverted for either no cost/low cost reuse or responsible recycling. Individuals who do not have access to computer technology can volunteer for just 24 hours and be rewarded with a personal computer and the resources and support to use it effectively. Individuals with the desire to learn how to build computers are given that opportunity with a free comprehensive education in computer assembly and introduction to GNU/Linux and other Free and Open Source Software (F/OSS). No prior experience with computers is required and a free computer is available to all who finish the basic course. It is in this spirit of community problem solving, free education, hands on skills training and no cost/low cost technology that we want to create the Film Freek project.

E-waste ultimately affects everyone, by educating the public about E-waste and the availability of Free Geek as a local resource that can help, we hope to continue to reduce the amount of computers going to waste. Lack of digital inclusion affects those who do not have access to computers for a variety of reasons, though these are mostly economic in nature. Increasing the public awareness of the many free education and technology access opportunities available at Free Geek will help to increase digital inclusion across the region. Beyond our region Free Geek is spontaneously and rapidly expanding around the country. There are nascent Free Geek Community Technology Centers operating at a variety of levels in 5 states (Portland, Oregon; Columbus, Ohio; South Bend, Indiana; Chicago, Illinois and Fayetteville, Arkansas). Free Geek is also helping the community of Gresham to a Free Geek like organization of their own. All of these organizations can benefit from the six years of experience that we have had. Until now, we have only documented things in writing with the occasional still image or diagram for publishing on the web. For the uninitiated, there is a nearly overwhelming amount of information and some of the basic educational content is lost in all that clutter. Creating digital streaming videos of course content will allow organizations that haven't fully developed their education programs to quickly and easily train volunteers to become first rate instructors.

The Film Freek project is designed to teach student volunteers how to create digital media projects and learn professional production skills in a cooperative environment. The selected students will work on a series of progressively more complex projects, while learning to use cost effective methods to produce quality end products.

Each 12 week course of instruction will be offered five times to 6 new students over a two year period. The course consists of 4 classes from a basic introduction to digital video to helping produce a 1 hour episode of a cable access show, showcasing their work. Final projects for each series of students will consist of documenting education courses that are currently happening at Free Geek. The classes will be offered at no monetary cost for the students, in exchange for either helping to teach future classes or working on additional content for other projects outside of and in addition to the class projects assigned.

Phase One Introduction to digital video using open mediacasting. Weeks 1 – 2 Instructors: Will Luers, Chris Dawson and Ed Stantsy.

Students learn the basic of composition and lighting using low-cost, low-resolution digital cameras to produce 3 minute personal projects videos and publishing them on the web. Instructors will work with students to teach them compositional and lighting techniques to create high quality short, 2 minute video projects using simple low-resolution motion cameras that are issued to them for the duration of the course allowing for a more spontaneous creative process. Students will learn to use Free and Open Source Software (F/OSS) for post-production, editing and mediacasting of their individual projects.

Phase Two Introduction to documentation Weeks 3 – 5 Instructors: Phil Sano, Chris Dawson and Jeff Johnson.

Students learn the basics of documenting a single subject. Instructors will guide students in creating a short nonfictional video segment. These 5-10 minute videos will demonstrate training of Free Geek practices. Students will use a F/OSS software basic editor (Kino), with an introduction to iMovie.

Phase Three Class projects Weeks 6 – 11 Instructors: Phil Sano, Will Luers and Blank.

Students assemble the content created in phase two into complete, broadcast ready educational video segments. Instructors will guide the students in working on a collaborative project, creating, editing and producing the video. Students will use professional editing software, using both F/OSS (Cinellera) and proprietary editing software (Final Cut Pro). Each class of students will work on the following educational program segments.

Class Project 1 - FreekBox Adoption Class: Filming several Free Geek adoption classes to create an overview of the course.

Class Project 2 - Free Geek Pre-Build Program: Details the basic steps of card and mother-board sorting, system evaluation I and II.

Class Project 3 - Free Geek Build Workshop: Details the basic steps computer assembly and software installation. Phase Four FreekTV Show Week 12 Instructors: Phil Sano, Ed Stansty and Dave Slay.

Students help produce a one hour segment of FreekTV, a cable access showcase of samples of the students videos from various phases of the project as well as original content. Instructors, working alongside staff and volunteers from Portland Community Media will train students in the various tasks associated with producing a cable access show. Students will also contribute or work on content to inform the public of the Free Geek mission and other computer technology and recycling interviews, news, opinion and educational feature segments. Free Geek staff and volunteers will provide additional content for segments.

Students The students will be selected through an application and review process. Each applicant will submit an essay stating why they want to participate in this program. Candidates essays will be read by a selection committee comprised of the instructors and guest film makers. Selected candidates will be interviewed by a committee of instructors and final candidates will have to agree to perform 100 hours of volunteer time working on Free Geek digital media projects. The program is open to all, but special consideration shall be given to students from under served populations. Women and persons of color will be recruited and otherwise strongly encouraged to participate.

Project Coordinator

The project coordinator will be responsible for coordination with the Free Geek education program, scheduling classes, recruiting student candidates and volunteer instructors, tracking student progress and volunteer hours and producing final reports.

Phil Sano: Film maker, graphic artist, zoobomber, Free Geek volunteer teacher and outreach coordinator for more than 5 years.

Instructors

Free Geek has arranged for the talents of several local film makers, video documentarians, webcasters and Free and Open Source Software advocates to help with this project. The following instructors will be donating their time teaching one or more of the four classes in the course: Chris Dawson: Prior to co-founding Webcast In A Box, Inc., Chris was an Engineer for the Professional Services Group at Virage, Inc. where he implemented a wide range of streaming media systems in Perl, C/C++, and Java, including web applications and media plugins. As an Systems Engineer at RealNetworks, he developed multimedia applications and deployed streaming media servers for the Systems Marketing and Sales organization. As a Software Engineer with Claris, a subsidiary of Apple, he was responsible for Internet enabling Apple's office product ClarisWorks, using primarily C/C++. Chris became fluent in Japanese and Portuguese, and he earned a double degree in Computer Science and Japanese Language and Literature from the University of Washington.

Ed Stansty: Illustrator, programmer, animator, videographer, gamer and bicycler of Portland, Oregon. Among his many projects are: Camposites: composite portraits created using dozens of individual close-up digital photos. Camposites are single large images created from many, generally low-resolution, web-cam still images. Gridcosm: a web based, non linear art collaborations that is forever continuous, and could be looked at as having no beginning or end. Anyone can join these projects, that are constantly in progress.

Will Luers: Will is the winner of the 2005 Nantucket Film Festival screen writing competition and the Showtime Tony Cox Award. Along with screen writing, he has over fifteen years experience shooting and editing video documentaries and experimental shorts. A world traveler, he has taught video production and film studies in Italy, Japan, Spain and Cuba. He currently teaches film history at Portland State University and creates short-form networked cinema through his company Taylor Street Studio. Will holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania in Folklore and Folklife and an MFA in Film from Columbia University.

Dave Slay: Dave has been involved in television production for nearly 25 years. His experience includes working in various capacities for production companies like ESPN, CNN, Intel, Freightliner, US Forest Service, and hundreds of others. His history includes over six years working for various local, regional national and international production companies, six years with Portland Community Media as a training and production coordinator, two years with Tualatin Valley Community Television and others. This history includes thousands of broadcast commercials, dozens of sporting events, infomercials, talk shows, entertainment and news programs and much more. He was an award winning journalist for the Department of Defense and has produced documentaries appearing nationally on The Discovery Channel and PBS. Jeff Johnson: Free Software advocate, media activist, technologist, systems integrator, 10 years of experience with free software as well as promoting free software at various organizations.

Blank: Film editor, Indymedia volunteer/video journalist. Blank traveled to the Astrodome in Houston, Texas to provide technology aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Guest Instructors

Guest instructors will teach short subject courses in specialized skills to help round out the education that the students receive. Topics to include:

Typeface, titles and credits. Plot, scripting and storyboarding. Principles of audio. Live talent methods: Actors, lines, blocking. Post-production effects: using Aftereffects, Livetype and Flash. Getting your work seen: Screening, promotions and festivals.

Supplemental educational video content for student projects and broadcast on cable access.

Starting a Free Geek – How to start a Free Geek in your home town, walks through the steps and available resources to begin a Free Geek community technology center.

Install Ubuntu - How in install a Linux system for just about any neogeek off the street.

Install/update software on your Linux system – Learn how search for, find and install all the free software you need to be all the geek that you can be.

E-waste - The importance of reuse and the proper recycling of computers and other electronics.

Free Software Foundation - Free and Open Source Software is civil rights issue, find out why.

Volunteering at Free Geek – Explaining the wide variety of opportunities to participate at Free Geek, how to earn a computer and how to get a free education about computers.

The History of Video Games – Covering the three eras of video gaming, from Pong to Halo 2. Featuring classic gaming artwork from the original boxes (courtesy of the Free Geek Classic Gaming Library).

Facility Remodel

As part of making this a successful project, Free Geek needs to improve two areas our existing facility. Currently, our classroom space is poorly divided and has poor acoustic separation from other areas at Free Geek. We are proposing to use funds from the grant to split the current classroom space (1,200 SF) into two approx. 600 SF class rooms (one computer lab style and one lecture style). As part of the remodel, we will also improve the lighting and light controls and improve the acoustics of both classrooms.

As part of the project, Free Geek will be reclaiming a 200 SF office space that is currently sub-let to a unrelated group of artists. We are requesting additional funds to turn this space into a quiet and secure editing studio. We will be adding network and Internet access, power, lighting and security. See attached plans in Appendix A.

Project Schedule

Not included on the wiki version.

Project Evaluation

Phil's stuff goes here.

'''III. Budget Narrative'''

Personnel:

Project Coordinator: part-time (24 hours/week). Responsible for program set up, coordination with the Free Geek education program, scheduling classes, recruiting student candidates and volunteer instructors, tracking student progress and volunteer hours. Coordinator is also responsible for producing project assessments and final reports. Total cost to the project: $23,400. Grant Funds: $9,000 Matching Funds: $14,400

Construction Coordinator: part-time (15 hours/week). Responsible for coordination of remodeling and construction. Total cost to the project: $3,000. Grant Funds: $3,000 Matching Funds: $0

Total Personnel Costs: $26,400

Fringe Benefits:

Healthcare: $320/mo. for one year. Total cost to the project: $3,840. Grant Funds: $3,840 Matching Funds: $0

Total Benefits Costs: $3,840

Contractual:

Teachers: 300 hours of professional instruction in film making and production at Free Geek, Portland Community Media and other locations as needed. Total cost to the project: $22,500. Grant Funds: $0 Matching Funds: $22,500

Portland Community Media: Training and studio time (108 hrs), studio preparation (45 hours) and consulting (45 hours). Total cost to the project: $16,050. Grant Funds: $8,025 Matching Funds: $8,025

Total Contractual Costs: $38,500

Equipment:

6 - Low-res video cameras ($1,500), 6 - MiniDV cameras ($5,000), 1 - HDTV camera ($1,500), 1 – Firewire to MiniDV deck ($1,000) microphones ($750), lighting ($3,000), editing stations ($17,000). Total cost to the project: $29,750. Grant Funds: $16,250 Matching Funds: $13,500

Total Equipment Costs: $29,750

Facilities Construction:

Classroom Remodel: includes new sub-dividing wall and doors ($5,000), new drywall ceiling ($2,500), new lighting and lighting controls ($5,000) and acoustical treatment ($2,000).

Grant Funds: $7,500 Matching Funds: $7,000 Total Cost to Project: $14,500

Editing Studio Remodel: includes installing work surfaces ($1,500), networking, power and lighting improvements ($1,500), building new wall and installing new door for privacy/security ($2,000). Total cost to project: $5,000 Grant Funds: $2,500 Matching Funds: $2,500

Total Facilities Construction Costs: $19,500

Overhead:

Rent and basic utilities for 200 SF editing studio for one year ($1,750). Total cost to project: $1,750. Grant Funds: $875 Matching Funds: $875

Administrative costs and overhead, includes accounting and resources to manage grant budget and expenditures ($1,800). Total cost to project: $1,800. Grant Funds: $0 Matching Funds: $1,800

Total Overhead Costs: $3,550

'''IV. Statement of Matching Funds for Free Geek's Grant Project.'''

The matching funds will consist of Free Geek's own funds to provide resources of the items listed below.

$12,000 editing stations $1,500	Lighting Construction $9,500 Remodeling costs $1,800 Administrative overhead $800 rent $75 utilities

Total cash contribution $25,675

In-kind contribution from various instructors. 300 hours of instruction valued at $22,500.

Cash contribution from McGuire Brothers (landlord). McGuire Brothers will pay for a new drywall ceiling in our existing classroom valued at $2,500.

In-kind contribution from Portland Community Media. PCM will provide training and use of facilities valued at $8,025

V. Budget