MetaChat - emcee squared?

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Player 1 starts it off and once that square is finished, players 2,3,4 and 5 get that center square plus a grid that shows their position. They create their own squares (building out from the center square), then, when 2 and 5 are finished, player 6 gets a grid that shows their two squares, which he/she must then blend together within his/her own square. Same for player 7 (who sees 2 & 3), player 8 (who sees 3 & 4), and player 9 (who sees 4 & 5).

Let's do an example of how this comes together, using the top left four squares...

Player 1 does his/her starting square:

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Which then goes to players 2,3,4 & 5. Player 2 makes his/her square:

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Player 5 makes his/her square:

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When they are both finished, player 6 gets those two squares:

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and then does his/her own square, trying to connect the squares from 2 & 5:

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So the top left of our emcee squared would be looking like this:

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Player 1 has the easiest bit - no constraints! But they should try to do something that gives people on all four sides enough visual information to carry forward.

Players 2, 3, 4 & 5 only need to connect to one other piece - so not too hard. Players 6, 7, 8, & 9 have the most challenging tasks, to try to connect two totally different squares.

The nice thing about this, if it works out, is that it should be faster moving than our regular emcees, which progress linearly, and therefore everyone in line has to wait for whomever is doing his or hers at any given time.

So, what do you think? Who's in?

posted by taz 18 January | 07:22

Oh, the circled numbers mean those are the most difficult positions...

posted by taz 18 January | 07:24

Looks like fun, and I bet the resulting collage would be a trip. I've also been wanting to try an emcee, anyway, so count me in.

posted by BoringPostcards 18 January | 07:54

yay, BP! You're on my list!

posted by taz 18 January | 07:59

Me too! Any position's fine.

At least that's what my husband always says.

posted by iconomy 18 January | 08:59

yay for ico's husband - he's such a good sport!

Anyone let me know if you want to start with the middle. If no one does, I'll make it. It's definitely easiest, but then also not as much of a fun challenge. But it also sets the feeling for the whole piece, so that's kind of neat.

posted by taz 18 January | 09:04

I'd like to play! I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 9.

posted by danostuporstar 18 January | 09:12

I'll do it. I like the idea of being able to see more than that tiny slice!

posted by mygothlaundry 18 January | 09:18

excellent! Five down, four to go!

And of course, if we get more people than squares, we can do a second one.

posted by taz 18 January | 09:21

I'd like to do it too.

posted by auntbunny 18 January | 09:36

added!

posted by taz 18 January | 09:40

Sure, use as needed.

posted by ethylene 18 January | 09:51

Oh man I am so into this.

posted by cortex 18 January | 09:57

wunderbahr!

posted by taz 18 January | 10:05

I'm in, as usual.

I guess I'm part of the "in" crowd.

I'm in like Flynn.

I'm often in by the skin of my teeth.

I'm in trouble. I'm in debt. I'm in the mood for love. If it's Friday I'm In Love. I'm in the middle. I'm in the red. I'm back in black. I'm in control, I'm in business?--Ha, right! I'm in Heaven, I'm in Hell, "who cares, who can tell?" [-Christy Moore].

posted by shane 18 January | 11:40

Okay! That's nine!

I'll make up the grid, and we'll get started!

If more people want to do it, we'll set up a second one.

posted by taz 18 January | 11:55

Oh god, it's like sudoku, but with art. Just thinking about that hurts my head.

I look forward to seeing the end product, though.

posted by mudpuppie 18 January | 11:58

Okay, does anyone have a problem with this setup? Ico, ethylene, cortex and shane have the somewhat harder ones... anyone want switcheroos?

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posted by taz 18 January | 12:12

Can we have a category for people with no artistic talent whatsoever? Like, you have to do your piece using only basic MS Paint tools (whatever program you use, just use paintbrush and maybe some fill or whatever.)

posted by agropyron 18 January | 12:13

I like that idea, agro.

posted by box 18 January | 12:15

(Actually, since I know what the middle one is, dano also has a hard one, but a single hard one...) Sure, Agro, box... let's set up another one - a "Basic Tools MC². I bet it will come out looking awesome.

posted by taz 18 January | 12:18

I'll do a corner! I loved the idea of joining together two unlike squares.

posted by agropyron 18 January | 12:19

I'd be in for the "no artistic talent" one.

posted by muddgirl 18 January | 12:19

Woo! Agro I've got you down for a corner. Muddgirl? Box? Whatcha want? I also need someone to do the middle startup.

Three down, six to go!

posted by taz 18 January | 12:22

Whatever needs filled in--I'm just happy to be on the team. MSPaint, and maybe Irfanview, here I come!

posted by box 18 January | 12:26

I'll take a side. The middle sounds like too much pressure!

posted by muddgirl 18 January | 12:28

Okay, muddgirl, you're down. Box, you're an intrepid fellow - I'm putting you down for a corner. :)

posted by taz 18 January | 12:29

I'm not hearing any requests for change of placement on the first mc², so I'm going to start sending out to the first four participants - that's you, mgl, BP, dano, and auntbunny.

posted by taz 18 January | 12:52

Yep, I'm happy with my spot (but concerned about the artistic talent part ... are we supposed to hand draw our square?)

posted by danostuporstar 18 January | 13:20

just the same sort of thing we normally do for emcee, dano, except this time you get see what you're connecting to.

I'll be sending you your info in about a half-hour (or less, probably).

posted by taz 18 January | 13:30

taz: Since Team 2 isn't known for an excess of artistic talent, maybe you could start us off with a nice, tasty middle square like you did for the demo in this thread?

posted by agropyron 18 January | 13:32

Team 2 still needs members, right? Surely agropyron, muddgirl and I aren't the only ones who don't have any artistic talent.

posted by box 18 January | 13:36

I'm in for the less-than-talented one.

Agro, I'm holding you responsible if something something something.

posted by deborah 18 January | 13:43

I've never done this before but I'm up for team 2.

posted by CitrusFreak12 18 January | 13:46

cool, 2 more members for team 2! And I'll be glad to do a center for this one, agro.. That makes 6 players so far, then. We only need three more people!

posted by taz 18 January | 13:51

Got it! Just to be 100% sure ... the squares should be 200pixels on each side, correct?

posted by danostuporstar 18 January | 14:00

200 pixels horizontally and 200 pixels vertically; a 200-pixel square, in other words. Like this:

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So! The first four for set one have been sent out (dano, auntbunny, mgl, BP). I used emails in your profile pages, so if you don't check that address often, go check!

posted by taz 18 January | 14:11

Is there a place where I can become more familiar with what this is all about? I assume you guys have done similar things before, judging by the three pictures on the left side bar of the site.

posted by CitrusFreak12 18 January | 14:48

citrusfreak, I'm in the process of getting all the old emcees organized on this server (I used to host them myself on a domain I let go, so I need to go change all the links, etc.); the latest two are linked from the sidebar, as you noticed.

As you see from the links, the regular emcees are organized horizontally, with each square (or "panel" since they're not really square) connecting to the next one linearly.

The dynamic principle is an exquisite corpse sort of thing, and the way they are created is that the first person makes a square with their art image, whatever it is, then sends only a tiny 15-pixel-wide strip from the far right of their image to the next person. Working only from this tiny bit of visual information, the next person creates the next square, trying to make it blend with that 15-pixel-wide strip as much as possible, and so on 'til the end of the row (usually 5-7 panels/participants). It's very demanding but very fun, and we've had some incredibly beautiful blends.

It's also kind of quite demanding for whoever organizes it (me and iconomy so far) so there tends to be some space between emcee efforts while the organizers recover. :)

Ico did a really nice explanation of how they are done, with images, which I'm going to have to find and post on this server... But this current (mc2) idea is different, because players get a lot more visual cues to work from, and more people can work at once. I love the original, though, so if these turn out well, I hope we can do both kinds on a regular basis.

posted by taz 18 January | 15:08

ah! none of this will make sense unless you actually clicked the lower two images on the front page! Those links lead to the last two emcees we did!

(also, "emcee" is for "MC" - MetaChat.)

posted by taz 18 January | 15:11

Yes I clicked on the link, and think i fully get it now.
Its just stuff like the amount of time to complete or a common theme or type of media used etc that I'm unsure of still. Thanks for the explanation!

posted by CitrusFreak12 18 January | 15:19

If team two still has room can I play?

posted by arse_hat 18 January | 15:23

citrusfreak12 - some of us team twoers will be using Microsoft Paint, and maybe even the crappier Photoshop tools. Emcees have included hand-drawn or collaged art that's been scanned in, if that's more your style.

posted by muddgirl 18 January | 15:23

Team 2 is still open! You're on the grid, arsey. Now awaiting four more players.

Citrusfreak, we usually give people up to a week on the regular emcees, but that only really works out because some people are really fast (otherwise it would take up to seven weeks to do one emcee!).

I'm asking people to have their mc2 squares done in 3-5 days because it's not quite so demanding, at least in the sense that you get to see what you're connecting to.

Media in regular emcees and the first of the mc2 experiment includes just about anything. For the most part, people participating in those have a pretty good to quite good idea of how to use different tools and techniques in their graphics software, but as muddgirl mentions, quite a few people have done their pieces almost entirely by hand, with awesome results.

The second mc2 will be more basic in the sense that we're saying you don't need to do lots of fancy-schmancy stuff in photoshop, etc. - just use the basic tools of any common graphics program (like MS Paint, et al).

Anyway, it's always a really fun, kind of zen thing (at least for me)... It always does nice stuff to my head when I get to do an emcee square.

posted by taz 18 January | 15:45

If you need anyone to fill up space, I'll have a go. I may be starting a new job soon, which'll take up a lot of my time, so I'd rather not be a definite "yes", but a last resort/fill in person.

posted by Zack_Replica 18 January | 15:48

I see those of us on the second team sitting around a table with those extra fat pencils and crayons. ;)

posted by arse_hat 18 January | 16:02

those fat pencils rule!

zack, I've got you down as mr. fill-in. ooh, baby!

posted by taz 18 January | 16:07

Thanks taz!

posted by Zack_Replica 18 January | 16:09

We only need three more people!
posted by taz 18 January | 13:51
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Team 2 is still open! You're on the grid, arsey. Now awaiting four more players.
posted by taz 18 January | 15:45

Two more?

posted by danostuporstar 18 January | 16:10

heh. Got very tangled up there. Yes! We need two more players.

Right now we have me, agro, box, muddgirl, deborah, arse_hat, and citrusfeak.

posted by taz 18 January | 16:19

Wait, we get the whole panels?
i'm not sure that's easier.

posted by ethylene 18 January | 16:31

I've only gotten started, eth, so I haven't decided whether it's easier or harder. It's definately different ... one wants to carry backgrounds and such throughout the square but you don't have a seperate layer to work with. Just as interesting/fun, though.

posted by danostuporstar 18 January | 16:41

I can already tell mine isn't going to be "pretty," so I'm going to settle for "memorable."

posted by BoringPostcards 18 January | 18:56

I haven't any artistic talent, do you still need players? :D If we have 3-5 days, I can submit a square.

posted by LoriFLA 19 January | 11:43

holy crap. this looks fun!! if there's a list i wouldn't mind being put on it :)

posted by freudianslipper 20 January | 01:04

18 January 2007