In the last few days I have come across some videos with some fascinating ideas. I had the opportunity to observe the effect of individual and team effort in a group on the collective output. I watched three different categories.
The first was about game producers making a game together. I have always wanted to make a video game, but my lack of programming skills, insecurity and lack of motivation have always prevented me from doing so. However, it can be fun to watch the kind of videos that show the process of making a game.
In my opinion, the process of producing and building the game is labour intensive, enjoyable and stifling. Besides the academic part, I have tried to teach myself as a hobby, but I could not get beyond being an amateur. Nevertheless, the process is similar to a general management process.
I have seen it many times in the videos. People who come together with their own skills enter into a common process without communicating with each other (which I think was the most striking part). Sometimes they can add a lot to the project, sometimes they can leave an impact that can ruin everything.
As I watched, I realised once again how important it is to have both a division of labour and completely accurate and efficient feedback. In this particular context, it would have been quite difficult to get together and work as a team. This is understandable, especially when you consider that our work in the digital field is almost entirely individual.
The second problem concerned the videos of a channel playing a role-playing game. In fact, contrary to what is known, they are not playing in any particular order. Instead, it has a simple, amateurish appearance. Although there are some pre-prepared game mechanics and basic information, the game manager is providing the players with information about their own rules.
This is something we should keep in mind. Roleplaying is like theatre. At every moment you have to follow or direct the course of events as they unfold. In fact, when you think about it, you have to realise that it is not easy at all. Instead of thinking of it as a game, you should think of it as a stage on which you give yourself completely.
I felt like I was playing with them as I watched the game manager, the players’ behaviour, the sudden implementation of irrelevant and hilarious rules, and each player’s interaction with every other element. With the game’s ever-changing random structure, no two games are ever the same, but the interesting thing is that each player can give it their all without disrupting the team play. So the enjoyment is at the highest level.
The last topic I’m going to cover is drawing. There are indeed many illustrators in the Internet world. Drawers of all styles and themes are trying to find a place for themselves on various platforms. Such a group is also present in the videos I watch, but the situation is slightly different. In fact, each of them can draw well (very well, if I compare them to myself) and their unique structures stand out. But the most important thing was that they were able to adapt themselves to drawing unusual subjects and themes.
Sentences and words that might not initially come to mind are chosen by one of them and the others create a scene, character or visual narrative around them. They can do this individually or collectively. I think this is the most praiseworthy part of the work.
After drawing, each person passes the drawing on to the next person. After a while, the drawing appears on the next illustrator’s screen. The new artist has to anticipate what the scene will look like and draw accordingly. The drawing is then passed on to the next person and a kind of flow emerges. No one speaks or gives hints; they bring their own spirits from different themes into their own drawing space. And the resulting mini-animation sample is always the best that could be expected. I’ve never said, “Well, this isn’t bad”. Every single one of them has been wonderful.
Photo by Andreea Avramescu on Unsplash
These were examples of both individual and team behaviour. Sometimes it was a matter of lack of communication, sometimes it was a matter of trying to understand each other’s thoughts despite being in the same environment. Ultimately, it is a process of adapting to each other and the endeavour they are working on.
No matter what kind of artistic endeavour it is, the feeling of personal effort is one thing, and the awareness of realising it in a social sense is another. Yesterday, after a long time, I worked on my book again. I can’t say that I made much progress, but this time I finished the writing phase (although I still have to go back to the beginning and correct my mistakes).
My friend and I had made a decision together: we would set a day in advance, lock ourselves in front of our own fictions and write until we were satisfied or until a certain amount of time had passed. The funny thing is that we can do this alone. But the sense of making decisions together and the motivation of having a friend working on the same endeavour, combined with personal discipline, can create a healthier and clearer structure.
Then we evaluate each other, keep talking and encourage each other. We don’t have to force it because it really comes from within. So much so that this time we decided to take it to the next level and write a mini story (flash fiction) on another topic that we liked at the time. As you can imagine, our morale went through the roof when we did two productive pieces of work in a row. It is one of the rare activities where we have regained some of our ambition.
In other words, although we seem to be making progress in our personal endeavours, this is not the only thing. Moreover, our work and our reflections on it have led me to reconsider a possible community project that I have been thinking about for some time.
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It isnt easy to write a ministory together. Your friend and you both did great job. You are both very lucky. Congratulations! I wish you continued success.