Leading up to the running of the Character Defining session, a number of decisions and adjustments were made to its delivery:
- A total of nine participants had booked to attend the session, with this in mind I reduced the bibliography accordingly for reasons of practical ease.
- Initially I had intended to play the game alongside the participants. Play testing with individuals had shown me that there was a definite need to act as a games master and guide during the session. As such I would present myself as such and act as a present source of help and coordination.
- The range of books would be presented on library trolleys, separated using bespoke playing card dividers, which Print Finishing services at LCC helped me create.
- Whilst the primary research would remain an art-based research project that codes and analyses the players’ outcomes (see the next blog entry), this would be supplemented by an ethnographic approach, taking guidance from (Tjora, 2006) specifically its elucidation of Erlandson’s focus on the documentation and analysis of ‘critical events’. (Erlandson, D.A., Harris, E.L., Skipper, B.L. and Allen, S.D, 1993) As such I would keep a note of critical events that occurred during the session whilst also taking note of direct feedback as it was offered.
The room
The newly refurbished learning lounge was set-up with floating tables able to sit two players each. Copies of the rules, character sheets, pens, dice, playing cards and scrap paper were all laid out to use at each desk. The two trollies containing the playing card indexed books were set aside to one end – encouraging players to leave their seat select, retrieve and return with the items to their own research/play area. Enough space was given to store and stack the required sixteen books. A pathway was left to allow me to move between desks, address all players as well as quickly reach the books to offer assistance.
The players
Although nine people had signed up to play the game, only five turned up on the day. During introductions the players outlined who they were and interest for attending. The group included, an associate lecturer, UG students, a PG student, a recent graduate and a Librarian. The interests noted included, writing graphic novels, game playing in general, design processes and having a creative and fun experience.
Players were asked if they were happy for copies of their character sheets to be taken to used for research purposes for my PGCERT; all agreed to doing this.
Observations of critical events during the playing of the game
The following events were noted by myself during the running of the game, many of which provide useful insight for improvement in delivery and group cohesion.
| Player 1 | Looks at rules, puts them aside, gets up looks at trolley of books, returns to seat, catches session leader’s eye and asks where the prompts are. |
| Player 2 and Player 5 | Players are both looking for books on the same run of the trolley, one of the dividers is knocked. The session leader intervenes, ascertains what is being sought and directs both players to correct items. |
| Session leader | Session leader notes that with multiple books taken, the dividers are falling over. An attempt is made to reset the dividers but is only partially successful. |
| Player 4 | Player sitting looking at books, puzzled look on their face. Books are sifted. Pen is held, no writing is taking place. Session leader catches their eye and receives a pensive smile. Player tentatively writes a few words down. |
| Player 3 | Shows signs of excitement, and openly shares a statement to the group, that they can’t wait to show everyone who their mentor has turned out to be. |
| Player 2 | Openly notes to the group that they are finding things are flowing much more easily than they thought. Prior to starting they were worried, but now feel immersed. |
| Player 3 | Asks if they can draw their characters in the frames provided and use a scrap piece of paper to record the details. This is agreed, although the other players choose to continue with text. |
| All players | One player is continuing to add more detail to their character sheet, the rest have completed theirs. There is some fidgeting and starts of feedback and sharing. Session leader asks everyone to allow another five minutes beyond the allocated time and to hold their thoughts for the group discussion then. |
Players’ sharing and reflective comments
Detailed analysis of the players’ character sheets are undertaken in the next blog entry. In addition to this, I have collected important points raised by the participants about their experience during the final 30-minute sharing section of the session.
How the players described their creative work:
- Player 1 noted how the material had focussed their ideas on film making themes, especially the work of Ken Loach. Political motifs had come to fore for them, and their character had started to develop around the idea of exploring photography especially in sites of conflict from around the world. They were surprised, as this was not the outcome they expected.
- Player 2 noted familial tensions, and resistance to political views of older generations. Their narrative developed around a love triangle that dealt with escaping the past.
- Player 3 embraced the chaos and whimsy of the various books, encouraging themselves to make links wherever possible as a way of driving their narrative forward.
- Player 4 noted that they had always found creative writing hard at school, and this exercise stumped them too. They had not been able to write characters. Instead, they presented abstract ideas that linked the topics together. Their work had a poetic and philosophical flavour.
- Player 5 mixed elements of fantasy with a small urban life via tales of travel and exploration. They used reference to magical realism.
How the players described the experience:
- All the players talked in depth about the freedom the game format gave them. Player 1 noted how the structure of starting with a single allocation to a character eased you into the creative process, with each subsequent choice helping to build a framework that helped avoid the player getting stuck. All apart from Player 4 agreed with this.
- Player 4 described the frustration of the process, but also the outcomes they had come up with. A discussion as to the value of alternative outcomes was held.
- The topic of cheating was raised, did it matter if you chose to swap books for those you preferred. The system was raised, and while agreeing that it wouldn’t matter, one would only be cheating themselves from experiencing the novelty and value of the game.
- Player 2 noted that the dice rolling in the game was a faff and could be removed.
- Everyone note that the trolley arrangement and labelling needed to be rethought as it collapsed after multiple books had been removed.
- Travel and the notion of characters relating to journeys rather than places resonated with everyone. The session leader acknowledged this was a bias of their selection of material and the limitations of the collection.
- Everyone noted they had enjoyed the experience, Player 4 adding their caveat. Feedback forms were received that allocated a score of 4.5/5 in total for the session.
References
Erlandson, D.A., Harris, E.L., Skipper, B.L. and Allen, S.D (1993) Doing Naturalistic
Inquiry. A Guide to Methods. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Tjora, A.H. (2006) ‘Writing small discoveries: an exploration
of fresh observers’ observations’, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Vol.(6(4)), pp. 429–451.