Post-Mortem
Introduction
WeTheme set out on its adventure September 13, 2011 as the first project teams in the Masters of Entertainment Technology here at UMa. We worked with the Madeira Theme Park, a seven-acre park dedicated to the history, traditions and culture of Madeira. The goal of this project was to prototype one interactive and one non-interactive experience for a four screen pavilion as well as a pipeline for future students’ reference.
Unlike most client projects, the design of these experiences was totally left to our imaginations. We first decided on a target audience, selecting schoolchildren between the ages of 9-12 due to the large school groups the theme park receives. Then, after careful consideration between seven unique concepts, weTheme chose to create O Faroleiro e a Espada and Ilha Musical.
weTheme consisted of Mário Pinto, producer and sound designer; António Gomes, programmer and technical lead; Monique Park, lead artist for O Faroleiro e a Espada; Hyunjoo Oh, lead artist for Ilha Musical; Pedro Candelária, artist and video editor; and Ashlyn Sparrow, Documentation Lead. Everyone contributed to the creation of both experiences, taking responsibility for some aspect of the design.
We had little understanding of what went into a project course, however, being a team of six strong willed students, we wanted to make fun and engaging activities that would bring children back to theme park, time and time again. What transpired in the following 14 weeks was nothing short of an adventure!
What Went Right
Beyond Our Target Audience
One great aspect of our project was the uniqueness of our four-screen prototype and its appeal to a large demographic. Although our experiences catered to children in mind, we were thrilled to see not only children actively engaged but the adults as well.
Efficiency
Coming out of BVW, we all learned the importance of rapid prototyping and being as efficient as possible. Applying this concept to our project, we were able to hit the ground running once all of our technology arrived. Within three days, we had an operational project room and began working on the programming and artwork for Ilha Musical, as well as developing storyboards and art assets for O Faroleiro e a Espada. By Soft Openings, we were able to create two near complete experiences that utilize four screens, a CAVE environment, a camera rig and light box with a total development time of six weeks.
Exceeded Expectations
Our client was at a loss of words when we presented our project. Impressed by the quality of our work and the determination, we had exceeded is expectations and what MET students were capable of doing. We are extremely happy to know we have gone beyond what our client wanted!
What Went Less Well
Two Week Delay
One of the first hurdles we faced was a two-week delay between the start of the ETC semester at UMa, yet we had to follow the same calendar. This meant having less time to work between important milestones such as quarter and half presentations. To compensate for this lost; we had to push ourselves a lot harder and compressing two weeks of work into one.
Lack of Infrastructure
For the first two weeks of the semester, we did not have a project room, requiring us to share a room with the first year MET students. This is quite different from the ETC where every team has a separate project room. It was very difficult to conduct research or hold meetings when other students needed to use the space. Tension began to build, not only between the first years but also within ourselves. This tension continued to build, as we had no technology for the first six weeks. This meant we had to use our own personal laptops and personal desktops from home but they lacked the sufficient computing power needed to begin proper development.
Vagueness of Project
weTheme is a design heavy team, with the majority of us coming from art or multimedia. While conceptualizing a range of diverse experiences was relatively easy, the open-ended nature of the project caused us to spend a significant amount of time deciding which direction to take. Because of this, we did not have a detailed semester schedule or specific team roles until week 5. We felt that setting a clearer project goal from the beginning would have helped to streamline our process allowing us to focus more of our efforts to creating quality experiences
Budget & Ordering Parts
One major challenge was getting our budget approved and ordering the necessary parts for our project. This project required several prototypes to be built including a scaled CAVE environment, a camera rig for four cameras and a light box for animation. We were also in need of computers. Getting equipment was a long and tedious process, having to go through a long chain of command before an order could be placed. To speed up the process, one of our advisors and a couple of team members paid expenses out of pocket, under the reimbursement policy, allowing us to move forward.
Access to tools
Once our technology arrived, we learned that students no longer have access to UMa’s woodshop. However, to begin assembling the prototypes, we were in need of tools that were immovable from the woodshop. Fortunately, one team member has power-tools of his own that could be lent to the construction but the space we were given was not appropriate for such a task. We had no dust extraction/ventilation system, heavy duty tools or safety equipment. It felt like building a house with a Swiss knife. Despite the obstacles, construction was a successful!
Guest Testing
It was important to be able to test with our target demographic during the semester. However, for the first couple of weeks it was very difficult for us to find children. We talked to the MET project manager to initiate contact with local schools but the process proved too slow for our needs. Instead, we had to contact UMa professors who had children around 9-12 years in age. This proved to be a success and even opened the doors for direct contact with a private elementary school. From that point on, we managed to conduct five more playtests over the last seven weeks of the project. We tested children and opened the tests for adults, which better mimicked the scenario at the Theme Park.
More Support
Because we were creating a CAVE environment, we made efforts to gain existing information on building and working with these environments from the ETC in Pittsburgh. However, because the CAVE is not a usual platform for BVW, documentation was not readily available. In addition, the professor responsible for the CAVE had other commitments and could not respond to our emails. Fortunately, with enough research and a lot of trial and error, we were able to successfully build and program our CAVE.
Not Enough Planning
One of the downsides of our BVW-mentality was that once we had an idea, we immediately began building art assets. The line between preproduction and production was no longer there. By not planning properly, we realized that we wasted some valuable time that could have been used elsewhere.
Conclusion
One of the first lessons that we learned was that our attitudes have a huge effect on the outcome of a project. At the beginning of the semester, we had a very negative mindset when coming into this project. We felt a lot of stress due to the lack of support and infrastructure, the vagueness of the project, the budget and ordering constraints. As our thoughts became more negative, we became less productive. Only by changing our attitudes and thinking in a more positive way, were we able to significantly increase our productivity.
We also learned the importance of flexibility. Problems appear whether we want them to or not. We learned that it was important to remain flexible, accepting problems and not letting them get the best of us.
Lastly, we learned that workspace conflicts should be resolved in a timely manner. Letting conflicts escalate creates rifts between team members. This can lead to resentment and causes problems in the work performance of the team. Fortunately, we were able to talk out and solve our issues allowing us to come together as a team and finish our project.
