(a companion piece to working in groups)
aside from the main concern of group work and timezone differences as well as availability, there are still quite a lot of risks involved in the making of this project.
starting with technical things, such as softwares crashing and files getting lost in translations and whatnot. this is a common problem with all digital age projects, so really the only way to counter this is to save frequently and make back ups. nothing much to discuss here.
secondly, and the more important part, is again with interpersonal relationships within the project. i firmly believe that everyone on the team has the capabilities to create art worthwhile, but the main struggle i have is with the direction of the project.
because Lumiron is a world co-created by me when i was much younger, its only natural that i want to include the friends that conceptualized it with me together on this project. but because of how long ago Lumiron was created, visions are sure to differ from one person to another. if i want this project to be a success, i need to be able to take charge of this vision and direct it–this doesn’t mean not taking suggestions obviously but ive been struggling with making decision making lately.
my friend told me that the entirety of university experience is realizing that 80% of the populace (especially introverts like artists) will never take initiative with anything. i felt this very hard at the start of this project, where we kept bumbling around as a team because nobody could decide on anything. i would have ideas to direct the story into, and then get anxious about disrespecting others’ autonomy on the project. but the truth is i cannot keep waiting for everyone forever, so i have to learn how to take charge and propose definitive things. if anyone wants to disagree and offer a different opinion, then we can slow down and reevaluate. otherwise, the project would suffer without a clear direction and constant ping ponging of ideas.
an edit to this post: it was a hard hurdle to cross, but i think in retrospective at the end of E1, i managed to pick up the pace in time to keep production at a reasonable pace. let’s hope i can keep this energy moving forward!
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