The Watershed’s sci-fi Fun Palace was a hit! I am incredibly proud of my team for working so hard and it all coming together to make such a wonderful weekend, but I must admit a small underlying come-down now that the event is over, and my role within the Watershed coming to an end. I guess, in the future, I can use this feeling to inspire a new project.

During a couple of months of workshops, talks, discussions and creative play, my definition of what a producer is has shifted, moved and eventually evolved. I’ve definitely been used to being the artist, rather than a producer. It’s a far more complex job than I had first anticipated, with a requirement to adopt many different roles and to juggle a broad range of skills. I wasn’t so naive before to think it was a basic role, but before putting it into practice I didn’t imagine quite the amount of layers involved.

I found the group I was working in to be incredibly strong. Each person had a skill-set and range of contacts that complimented the other. I felt that we had strong communication and enthusiasm constantly throughout the project despite all having very busy working and personal lives. If there was one thing I could have done differently, it would have been to not have had such a demanding day-job so I could have dedicated more time with helping my team and working on the project, but in the same sense it how me how much I can do with my time, if I really push myself.

The Event
The Saturday night kicked off with some words from Lolo and Roz who described what the fun palaces was and then the cube orchestra kicked in which some classic sci-fi sounds

There was also a U-V ping-pong room which was sound-interactive. Jaz, Will and I created a sound-reactive table using contact mics, a Kaoss pad and a lot of wires and initial glitches! Roz & Jaz also came up with the idea of including UV-pens so that the audience could decorate the table.

The Saturday night featured a ‘Debate Station’ in the bar area which was to inspire the audience to discuss with one another what the future had in store. The table was a constant feature throughout the night, and there are so fantastic ideas that have been written down on the cue-cards provided.

Half way through the night we screened The Fifth Element,as a blind cinema screening. The audience had voted from a small selection of sci-fi classics and The Fifth Element won. It was also in-keeping with the underlying Afro-futurism theme.

We also had an interactive set followed by a full hour set by Memotone

Behind Memotone’s set was an Alphasphere, a device with many pads, which, when pressed change the visualisations on the screen, this meant the audience could control the videos.

The BFI future producer’s group also had a telescope on the balcony which the audience loved. The moon looked incredible through it, and was apt as the BFI were showing Duncan Jones’s Moon the film as the late-night screening.

There was a sci-fi playlist compiled by Mark and decorations to create a sci-fi atmosphere.

Feedback from the audience proved that there was something there for everyone.

The Sunday had a different feel than the Saturday, but equally had a great buzz.
There was table for a ‘making station’ which ended up being extended as there were so many children and adults creating masks, figures and pictures with materials we had given them.

There were also a range of Hackspace instruments installed around the bar area, which were really fun to interact with. A robot that could take a picture of you, and then draw a Shrigley-esque portrait from the photograph was a great hit.

The ping-pong table was a constant feature again throughout the Saturday and it was interesting to see a different aged audience have great fun- it proved UV ping-pong really is for everyone.

Laura Kriefman showed her ‘Kicking the Mic’ performance, an interactive set including the use of contact mics to create a sound- respondent dance-floor.

There were interactive games by a Contributor-Alex Latham. ‘Gorb the Cyborg’ which involved a puzzle in a very make-shift environment

Bristol-Con also featured in the day with discussions about the future and with general panel discussions.

Unfortunately our photographer fell sick on the Sunday, so I don’t have any pictures right now, but I will edit this post soon.

Tonight is the final meeting with the Watershed Future Producer’s team and I’m very excited to talk to everyone again for the first time since the event.