MAP Chat Transcript December 17th, 2009

Kelly at MAP: Welcome everyone to the MAP chat.  Jay is here to answer any questions you might have about uploading work samples.  Denise and I will answer any application questions you have.

Josh: Are the work samples from previous work, or the proposed project?

Kelly at MAP: Typically, the work samples are from previous work, however, if the work is underway and you have work-in-progress samples, you can send that as well, in addition to previous work.

yogal: Can you go over once about the work sample requirements?

Kelly at MAP: All of the information about work samples is here:  http://apply.mapfund.org/guidelines_samples.php

Josh: Do you want the work staged at house with a certain minimum number of seats?

Kelly at MAP: MAP has no requirements regarding the size of the audience or the venue.

Odome: Just to confirm: we have a performing ensemble, and individual performing artists, and a visual artist. You want video from the ensemble and individual performing artist, and a CD of images from the visual artist, yes?

Denise at MAP: Yes.  You’ll have to upload all of this material and send it to us in the mail, as well.

Josh: We are thinking of staging the play in LA and using a pupeteer from San Francisco.  Is this OK?

Kelly at MAP: Sure!  We leave it up to you to decide the content and artists for the work.

yogal: ok, I am a composer, but going to submit an video, since this is an opera in progress, that I also design

Kelly at MAP: That's fine to do.  If a video makes more sense for your role in the work, then send that. It should be 10 minutes of material.  Two 5 min works samples or one 10 min. work sample.

Odome: Total 20 minutes of video (10' ensemble, 10' individual) and the images-- right? (Just don't want to submit to much). If we're uploading to YouTube, should we put the two performing work samples in the same video or separate them?

Denise at MAP: Yes, each artist gets ten minutes of sample time. The video should be separate on YouTube, but sent on the same dvd to our office.

yogal: You used to require a continuous video, not segmented.  Is that still the case?  What do I do if I have some performance footage that I want to present, but also new video work created since the performance?

Kelly at MAP: Continuous is best.  No slideshows or series of short clips strung together.  Its best not to send any video clip that's shorter than 5 min.  Perhaps you could send a little of both?  Can you clarify a little...is this documentation of the work-in-progress?

yogal: Yes, it's an opera (videOpera) currently in development.

Kelly at MAP: Each proposal is allowed one additional (optional) work-in-progess 10 min. sample, so perhaps you could send that new video as that sample.

yogal: Could I send 20 minutes all from the proposed work?

Kelly at MAP: Yes, but it can be beneficial to include some previously completed work in your samples.

Josh: Our production has a puppeteer and also music and song.  Does this qualify as multidisciplinary?

Kelly at MAP: It's not a requirement that MAP projects be multi-disciplinary.  Yes, what you have described does sound MAP eligible.

Josh: Do you want bios and resumes on non-lead artists?

Kelly at MAP: No.  Only for lead artists.

Alis: Question about the project timeline: do you want plans from today forward, or would you like to see the entire life of the project from inception to premiere?

Kelly at MAP: The entire life of the project, from inception to premiere.

yogal: How about 10 minutes of previously completed audio and 10 min of the proposed work

Kelly at MAP: That could work.  We just recommend that artists send something complete along with work-in-progress, because it helps evaluators get a stronger sense of your work.

Yogal: Great.  Can I send a released CD?  Or do I have to copy tracks into a new CD??

Kelly at MAP: A released CD is fine, as long as its labeled well, so that we know which tracks you are offering as samples.

contact@: I actually only have a digital file of my work smaple and NOT in dvd form and don't know how to burn one from my Mac the 125 gb 89 min. piece that I have.

Jay at MAP: Do you have iMovie or iDVD on your Mac? What format is your digital video file?

contact@: I have both, never used.  It is in mp4, also I have a downloadable link.

Jay at MAP: To get started with iDVD, open iDVD and create a new project. Under the File menu, you'll find Import, and can import your mp4 to add to your iDVD project.

contact@: I have a new iMAC desktop with one dvd slot, I'd be able to burn it through it correct?

Jay at MAP: Most likely.  Start iDVD and if you do not receive an error about not having a DVD burner, you should be fine.

docbart: We want to send a track of a released CD via the internet - do you forsee any rights issues uploading previously released material onto one of these free sites?

Kelly at MAP: Nope, we don't....Jay at MAP: do you have any thoughts about this?

Jay at MAP: Docbart, do you own the rights for the track?

docbart: Yes.

Jay at MAP: If you hold all copyrights to the material, nothing would be violated by an upload. Vimeo states "Directors, DPs, editors, musicians, graphic effects artists, and actors may all upload work in which they have contributed significantly."  Vimeo clarifies: "Users uploading popular or professional content that they have created should add their role and involvement in the video description and on their profile to avoid accidental deletion."

yogal: Will your panel be the same as last year?

Kelly at MAP: No.  All evaluators and panelists are new each year.

yogal: My material is going to be quite similar to last years application

Kelly at MAP: That's okay.  We sometimes get the same application from artists a couple of times.  No one will know but the MAP staff.

Josh: Can a lead artist who is already receiving MAP funds for a different project be eligible?

Kelly at MAP: In a previous year?  Yes, they would still be eligible, unless they were a grantee in two consecutive years.  For example, if you receive a grant in 2008 and 2009, you have to sit out the 2010 cycle.

yogal: Do I need to post my audio and video to a public site?  Can I just send you a link to my own website?

Kelly at MAP: Yes, you can do that, if you would prefer not to use Vimeo or Youtube.

Jay at MAP: Please make sure the audio/video link on your own website allows the file to be downloaded.

Yogal: Does vimeo or youtube support just audio?

Jay at MAP: vimeo supports uploading audio. It is preferred you convert the audio file to a video mp4 via Quicktime is that's possible.

yogal: If I do keep it on my website, do you have instructions regarding file size?

Jay at MAP: A high quality (but compressed) audio format would be preferred, for example, 320 mp3 and not aiff. what format is your audio file in? how large is it?

yogal: Audio instruction are clear now, I can compress as high quality mp3.  but I'm also uploading video.  What are the size instruction for video?

Jay at MAP: MP4 H.264  Please refer to http://apply.mapfund.org/guidelines_faq.php#faq14

yogal: I’m confused, can the video be both Video Codec: H.264 (form your website) and MP4??  I actually think that MP4 and H.246 are both compression formats.  It's either this one or that one....

Jay at MAP: They are roughly synonymous. The standard is technically called H.264/MPEG-4 AVC.  Please follow the compression details at: http://apply.mapfund.org/guidelines_faq.php#faq14

lisa48: For my playwright's submission, if I submit a work-in-progress, should I not submit a full script as well and do just a portion of a previous script?

Kelly at MAP: You should send a previous work for the playwright's sample and then you can send the script of the proposed work as the work-in-progress sample.

lisa48: Ok, but full scripts for both (or at least as close to full as we have for the work-in-progress)?

Kelly at MAP: Yep!

lisa48: I'm uploading a 5 min. video for our director on a piece the playwright wrote. If that play's script is also our strongest material for the playwright, would it be redundant to submit that as well, or beneficial because the video is only a short piece of it?

Kelly at MAP: I think in this case, beneficial, not redundant.

lisa48: For my video submission, can I do, say, a 7 minute video and a 3 minute video?

Kelly at MAP: That would probably be okay.  We just recommend at least 5 min, because reviewers need a slightly longer sample to get a sense of the work.  Really short clips make it difficult for them to grasp it.  But if you think it will work for what you are showing them, 3 min. is probably the shortest you'd want to go.

James02: Does each lead artist (we are two) submit his own work ?  In our case one is a performer/visual artist and the other a composer, so the formats would be different

Kelly at MAP: Yes and yes.  All the info regarding what to send is here: http://apply.mapfund.org/guidelines_samples.php

James02: So in our case you will receive a DVD of some performance excerts and a CD of music excerpts- does that sound right?

Kelly at MAP: Yes, but remember, you'll also have to upload all of that material as well.  Either to your own website, or to youtube or vimeo and provide us with a link.