building a True American project
Our project was to build a True American, a drinking game adapted from the drinking game True American in the television show New Girl. The extension is a video gaming application distributed by Apple and Google Play Store. Throughout the project, I had many experiences that improved my social skills, cooperative abilities, and also my knowledge and understanding of extensions and their role in transmedia. During the course of the project, there were several challenges that the group and I faced but through teamwork and collaboration.
One of the main challenges was the language barrier among the group members. As a Chinese student, English is not my mother tongue, and therefore I could not effectively communicate with the group. The project required a lot of creativity, and to achieve this effective and clear communication is very important. Each member of the group had assigned tasks, and we needed to lias with each other frequently to compile the information. The group members were very understanding of this and were very patient. Kenna, the group leader, in particular, made it a point to ensure that the opinions of all the people in the group were reasonably considered and that everyone’s work was included in the project. I also improved my communication skills in this enabling environment and gradually grew more confident with my ideas and opinions about the project.
The second challenge that I encountered was that I had never watched the show New Girl. Therefore, when we settled on the project, I was a bit worried that the fact that I did not watch the show would encumber my ability to contribute to the project fully. However, my fellow team members were very helpful and supportive about this issue. They gave me an overview of the show and also helped me to locate a few materials about the show on the internet. One group member even gave me the first season of the show, and this was of great help in understanding the dynamics of the show and its characters. At first, I did not understand the nature and rules of the game True American, but the group leader Kennia took time and explained to me the gameplay of the game, which was of great help.
Despite the challenges that we faced during the creation of the extension, all members were active participants in the project. Even though my oral English is relatively poor, I was able to collaborate with the other members of the group in various aspects of the project. The group has two meetings outside of the class, where we brainstormed about the project and assigned roles to students. The meeting was also a convention to compile all-out information and to come up with the final project. Everybody had great ideas about the extension from the design to the marketing and how to earn revenue from the extension. Even though not all the ideas made it to the final bit of the project, every members’ ideas were represented to the project. By the time of presentation, all the members were deeply acquainted with the project that all of us were confident to present without even consulting the presentation cards.
The group of our team, Kennia, was very helpful to us group members. She was always available when we needed to consult on the project. Her enthusiasm was infectious and spurred the rest of us to take a keen interest in creating a useful and viable extension. She made sure that the group worked together and was inclusive of all the members of the group. She created an environment that encouraged creativity and innovation. She is a crucial reason for the success of the project.
This project was very helpful to me both academically and socially. I got to fully understand and appreciate how transmedia works and the world of extensions. I was able to understand my classmates better and to improve my abilities to work as a team. It also sharpened my nous for creativity.