The Forest for the Trees

Comment from /.

I didn't want the PSP's LCD screen to become any smaller than this, nor did I want its machine body to become any larger.

That's why. It sounds like one of those things that someone just gets "stuck" on. Like a broken record. "I will not compromise on that." To the exclusion of everything else, even usability. Pffft, that's how crappy products get made. We're probably talking about making the PSP 2mm wider or something.

Sometimes we get so far down inside a project that we can't see what is going on. It's good to sometimes to step back and evaluate your position to make sure you don't have blinders on.

This issue came up while we were preparing for this year's Boba Nite.

Early in the process, we had decided on a theme and decided to create all the drama, dance, and music to fit into the theme. The theme was broad enough that it aloud each ministry to interpret it in different ways and come up with its own material.

As the months went on, it became clear that CG.Drama was the only group that had anything prepared. I knew that CG.Drama would be putting on a one hour play but wasn't expecting it to take up the majority of the time.

As the design for the flyers and posters evolved, it got to the point where we loved the concept and didn't want to give it up. But after talking to the other ministries, we decided to take the show in a different direction. Instead of having different acts about a common theme, we would have one big production where every ministry played a role in its development and story telling.

CG.Drama already had its play finished by the end of December, while the rest of the ministries were still at a loss as of what to do. We took this opportunity to integrate dance and music into the play. The other mediums would not play an integral role, but would add a considerable amount to the overall quality of the play.

Now that the play was the center piece of the night, we realized that all the art that we had prepared no longer fit with the themes or the atmosphere of the play. We could've easily forced it all to work, but instead, we chose to change and mold the visual theme so that it was consistent with the play.

Sure it was hard to give up an idea that we were all excited about. It was also hard to ignore the amount of time that we all, especially CG.Visual Arts had put into the design. But it was worth the sacrifice and the work that we will have to do in the weeks ahead to catch up.