✏️The Design Process👷♂️
It all started with our theme brainstorm. One group member asked “Okay so guys, what are your favourite movies?”, a millisecond after, someone replied excitedly “Rocky!”. Then the ideas just started to flood in. Most group members were more than familiar with the movie, so it was honestly quite simple to begin our story. However, we had to get a little more creative with the construction + destruction elements.
We started off with a few half-witted ideas but they gradually improved. We eventually came up with a simple fork-lift. Essentially a pulley system, Cole so kindly brought in a toy coupe and I’ll tell you why. Our plan was to totally deconstruct this piece of art by ripping the roof completely off the base and replacing the upper-hand area with a a platform used to pick up out stack items (Rocky’s seized possessions claimed by the bank, for example, keys to his confiscated home). We earned a lot of points for creativity and resourcefulness through blending originality with mechanical function- all while making the story flow and only using materials we already possessed; I don’t think we spent a penny on this project, yet, we still managed to create a solid final product (very proud)!
Additionally, our destruction element was a weighted push-sled rocky uses to train that stumbles into the stack items- pretty simple but effective! Even through adversity, our group stayed positive and solution-oriented leading to a collaborative success. All in all, I’m very proud of our team and we assembled a solid final product.
👦The Transition👨
Leading up to the regionals tournament this year, as one of the eldest in the group, I put more responsibility on myself to be a leader on our team. Last year, I contributed a lot to my group’s success, but I played a more supportive role; not an instigator. This year, I’ve taken more initiative in our groups’ communication through brainstorming, problem solving, and critical thinking skills. The key is to not be afraid to share your ideas, no matter what role you think you play in a group setting. You never know, a fresh idea might just win you a tournament- even if it’s not a great one, it has the potential to evolve into one.
⏳Instant Challenge😰
Although I can’t disclose any information on our challenge, I can tell you that we not only meeted but exceeded the maximum measurements, showing sophisticated problem solving, critical thinking, methodical thinking, and most importantly, collaboration skills.
🏆The Main Event🥊
In our final act, the judges praised our soundtrack, storyline, enthusiasm, fork lift system, and my rocky impression/impersonation! I think we nailed everything but the execution of the forklift system. We only tested our construction element on one surface (concrete), leading to challenges with the final act (on gym floor). For provincials, on the preparation side of things, we plan to test the machine on various surfaces, ensuring our construction element can perform and secure first place instead of second (I genuinely have lots of belief in our group).
👏Contributions🗣️
Comparatively to last years tournament, I also took up the responsibility of developing our script and poster- both of which demonstrating my areas of expertise in interpretive design. On the creative side of things, I also dictated many of the themes we used in our final product (e.g. creating a detailed sign featuring the original 1976 rocky film cover layout whilst blending our own twist to it).
That’s a wrap, thanks for stopping by. Stay tuned for Provincials happening on April 12th!