Intro to creative play part 2: 5/10/17: Parachuting Eggs:

After break it was time for our next activity which involved creating a structure around the egg which would prevent it breaking after being dropped from a great height on the third floor of the campus building. We were told we could do some research on this task in another room for ideas to protect the egg and create a suitable structure. I asked if parachutes were applicable for this task and thankfully Mark confirmed that they were, as well as the use of other materials like paper straws, foil, fabric, string, masking tape etc, and so we set to work. The winner of the activity would be who evers fell the fastest and who's egg would remain intact.

Bonnie had already done some research into this and members of the group began sketching ideas, our final product would be the egg contained within a padded box contained within a box like structure supporting it made of paper straws and the parachute would serve as slowing its decent. Some of us suggested hard boiling the egg but we decided against it as if were going to gain back some points and dignity after the tower fiasco we would have to do this by the book.

Holly and another member of the team worked on the box and protective padding for the egg whilst myself and Bonnie worked on the parachute. Sadly an accident caused our egg to be slightly cracked so another had to be done but this time it would have a pilots mask on showing it was a jumping egg out of a plane and Bonnies art skills proved valuable in this matter. Once completed we worked on the parachute the material was a clear plastic sheet of foil which would be tied on using string, we decided to test it on her empty water bottle as that was an equivalent to the weight of the final product, as this task was about testing and correcting issues in our design work. We tested it by dropping it off the second floor and though it slightly worked it dropped too fast which could compromise the egg.

Parachute test:

I soon helped Holly on putting the box together for the egg and for a little frazzle dazzle we added old Christmas lights which would flash on its decent which was an excellent addition to the box. I helped Holly secure the paper straws onto the box by folding each in half around the box sides then taping them down with masking tape. However the difficult part was the masking tape wouldn't hold in place on more masking tape but thankfully we rubbed down hard enough to make it secure properly. Once completed the next stage was tying on the parachute which was a plastic shopping bag which had been patched up slightly and soon had a backup parachute which was a bin bag with glittery letters on them. Whilst incorporating the theme of Razzle dazzle it did get a bit messy. The addition of the kite base suggested by a member of the group seemed to work in terms of aerodynamics. 

It was soon time to release our boxes and see which would work some were very interesting in structure and design whilst some were a bit concerning such as Alister's design which was an egg secured to some spoons and a helicopter spinner and Ollie's who proposed to fly off with the egg but didn't due to health and safety risks (and that he was joking).

We went up to the top floor and saw the target landing zone far below us.

The goal point was to see who could hit the target image, and we went in the order of the first activity , some members of the group went below to observe it fall whilst others watched from above as they were dropped by other members. Some design ideas such as Graces' team acted like a glider gliding to the ground though it flew slightly off target it worked just as well, and other teams fell to the ground fast or slow pending on the design of the parachutes and materials. Many of the eggs survived thanks to their padding and protection and as ours fell it worked perfectly and the egg survived. Sadly the only one of the teams that didn't work was Alister's as when Tasha( project manager, artist, illustrator and curator member of the staff) dropped his design it fell too fast and the egg hit the ground with an almighty SPLAT!

We then returned to the room and the results were as follows:

We were one of the best groups that won which meant we had earned back our honour and dignity after the fiasco with the towers. This was one of the icebreakers of our sessions and we walked away with the idea that we collaborated with the digital media group and we could try and interact with them in the base room be it waiting for a lesson or even during break time. This was about having fun and seeing what refining and designing our ideas in the industry was about and could help us in our future studies on this course. Next week we would be down in the T.V studio working with the medium of Film Noir which was black and white films and we were told to bring in props for this which to me sounded like old school props like hats and canes. I would be much looking forward to this task and what it may have installed for us, but for today I very much enjoyed meeting the digital media students and working with them in these activities.