For GAPPP, Marko Ciciliani developed a Polar Diagram for the Analysis of Gamified Audiovisual Works in order to establish a common framework for analyzing the commissioned pieces examined in the research. The proposed model is highly intricate, designed to account for a multitude of parameters, and it arose from the need to conduct a comparative analysis of the commissioned works within the project, given the absence of an existing analysis model suitable for this field of research.
A polar diagram, commonly known as a polar pattern chart or graph in the field of music, is frequently used to describe the directional characteristics of microphones. It visually represents how a wave propagates in various directions and, in the case of microphones, indicates the extent to which the signal will be captured.
Ciciliani has chosen to structure the model with 10 parameters, sometimes defined in opposition (paidia vs. ludus, spontaneity vs. planning) and sometimes in absolute terms (dominance of rules, liveness...), following an unusual yet highly effective arrangement. The axes on which the 10 parameters are laid out are 5, essentially organizing the parameters into pairs through further categorization. These five axes, in turn, are divided into two sections: compositional choices, on the upper part, and performers’ perspective, on the lower one.
In selecting the parameters, the author draws from various elements: partly from Caillois' aforementioned theses regarding gaming attitudes (Paidia rather than Ludus), partly from specifically musical elements such as the indeterminacy and spontaneity of execution as well as the realization of the electroacoustic system and its responsiveness, and finally from elements resulting from the combination of gaming structures with music, such as the agency of the performer and the predominance of rules. It is thus a model encompassing all the characteristics analyzed so far and more. Ciciliani also states, “This approach incorporates concepts from game theory, composition, and performance analysis. Even though the method is aligned with our specific combination of game elements, performance, and audiovisual composition, with minor adaptations it could also be applied to related dispositives beyond this specific field.”
Once the values assigned to each parameter are defined, the resulting figure exhibits a profile from which useful comparisons emerge. As the author explains:
The axes and parameters are ordered in such a way that a hypothetical standard situation could arise in which the two parameters of the same axis have similar values, leading to a point symmetrical diagram. In concrete terms, this means that hypothetically a high value for one parameter of an axis can lead to a high value for the complementary parameter of the same axis. This is based upon the following assumptions:
• For the interface axis, we anticipate that an interface whose use requires extensive practice offers greater control and artistic leeway than a generic interface.
• For the determinism axis, we assume that a deterministic design will probably lead to a more predictable situation for the performer than a design based upon a lot of random decisions.
• In the case of the agency axis, we expect a situation in which key agencies are subject to the performers' will means that the performers also have greater interpretative leeway.
• For the presence axis, we assume that numerous and pronounced mappings increase the performers' sense of liveness while playing, as many of their actions are transformed into data and processed further.
• For the ludus axis, we anticipate that a design based upon the concept of paidia is more likely to lead to the development of artistic free play than a strict rule-based context.
If all these assumptions are realized, the value assigned to one parameter of an axis should be mirrored on the opposite half of the axis.
When applying this method to concrete compositions, the parameters on the same axis are rarely actually symmetrical. An example concerning the presence axis illustrates this. It is conceivable that in a given work, the performers' playing is translated into data in various ways (→high value of the "input data mapping" parameter). If these data are not processed in a way that is transparent and comprehensible to the performers, the degree of liveness experienced certainly could be low (→ low value of the "liveness" parameter), which would lead to an asymmetry on this axis. The opposite asymmetry is also conceivable: thus the skillful linking of very few parameters can help to create a very strong sense of liveness if the performers are able to understand and easily control the effect of these parameters.
The assumption of point symmetry as a hypothetical standard model forms a helpful criterion for analyzing a diagram. Thus it is interesting to begin analyzing a diagram by searching for asymmetries and investigating why these have come about in greater detail. This makes it possible to quickly recognize and identify a given work's specific individual traits.
It is worth noting how Ciciliani's research starts from the premise of an aesthetic evaluation, as well as from the delineation of an audiovisual multimedia dimension, including an element that likely declares the existence of the ludic factor almost immediately. Without considering these parameters, in order to broaden the scope of investigation to any form of gaming in any media dimension involving sound, at least one parameter regarding the audience's perception of the presence of the game should be added. To borrow a term from media studies, the transparency of the "game" medium, or how evident a medium's role is, should be considered. This parameter is a derivative of the concept of "transparent immediacy" as defined by Grusin and Bolter. They argue that “transparent interface […] one that erases itself, so that the user would no longer be aware of confronting a medium, but instead would stand in an immediate relationship with the contents of the medium”1. The desire for immediacy stems from a craving to encounter authenticity firsthand, free from the mediation of technological devices.
This definition is fully applicable to the context of traditional media, but in the musical paradigm, which involves a kind of "double" filter, given by the existence of a composer who imagines a work and a performer who realizes it concretely, it needs to be updated by partially unlinking the medium in question, the game, from the author. It is a separation that's only formal, which in the use of the term can be traced back to the borrowing from Grusin and Bolter's formula, but it still proves particularly functional in not a priori assigning to the author the responsibility for the emergence of gaming dynamics, which may not be understood in their intentions but result from a combination of uncontrollable events, as managed by the performer.
The transparency of "game" as a medium could thus be a parameter that could be incorporated into the polar diagram using a similar tool, the opacity of the color of the shape that is created. Just as in some spectrograms, where color is used to indicate the intensity of sound, in Ciciliani's analysis system, the use of color opacity could be understood as a value to indicate the "immediacy" of the gaming component in the game. The opacity should be distributed somewhat like Ciciliani's axes, presenting a fracture in the center: one could imagine that values from 0 to 50 represent the clarity of the gaming components and that from 50 to 100 one could speak of hypermediation, thus opening the discussion to a more nuanced reflection. Following Grusin and Bolter, "the logic of hypermediacy acknowledges multiple acts of representation and makes them visible," where "the artist (or multimedia programmer or web designer) strives to make the viewer acknowledge the medium as a medium and indeed delight in that acknowledgement”.
This system does not include a dimension in which the performer is unaware of the gaming components. It might be interesting to include this as well, although potentially not very useful given the complexity of the assumptions of such a composition and hence its very existence.
Another suggestion from Grusin and Bolter arrives, the implications of which are decidedly too broad to be considered here, but nevertheless worth mentioning: "Like other media since the Renaissance [...] new digital media oscillate between immediacy and hypermediacy, between transparency and opacity. This oscillation is the key to understanding how a medium fashions its predecessors and other contemporary media.”
Could exploring the remediation of games lead us to understand other media of the current time?