Unit 11

PROJECT AIM: Continuing forward from last year in which as part of the Professional Practice Unit you researched various avenues in potential job roles and the industry from a career perspective.

Unit 11 is now the time to start finalising some of My plans in what career route I want to undertake. Unit 11 encourages Me to investigate potential career routes but also to make applications which could mean applying to University, Internships, Apprenticeships, or a work placement.

The main goal of the Unit is to make it specific to MY needs and discipline that I want to work in within the industry. This Unit can also help give Me an understanding on where I want to take My future projects in Unit 12 & Final Project.

As part of this Unit, it is encouraged to take part in University online open-days and even listen/watch talks on career progression. This Unit will involve weekly tasks which will build into an online portfolio of resources

Preparing for Progression in Creative Media Production

Career Paths

Introduction

Going into the Games Design Industry, I have always found myself looking into the Character Design & Creation aspects along with lighting and storyboards. Having gone through a couple websites for job listings and looked at what the industry is typically looking for job wise, I feel as if the job choices that I have an eye for will be hard to find as well as few / far between. nevertheless, I will be sticking to my guns when it comes to my preferred jobs, even if it means that I have to start out under a different path such as an entry level role like Junior UI Artist and Junior Technical Artist

With my chosen career paths which are in a sense locked away behind other roles, I still see it as a great opportunity to learn the Junior/Assistant positions as then I can get those skills under my belt and expand my knowledge of different positions, if I do it correctly I can point myself in the direction of being a heavily sought after asset in the Industry as well as potentially start my own Freelance office with years of experience.

My aim in the end is to get to the positions I am seeking, with or without the help of other titles to build up a CV and add to my skillset, though as I look at it now I believe that a bigger skillset for when I go ahead into the industry and apply for jobs with both AAA & Indie games companies. a bigger skillset will give me a better chance at landing an industry job, be it Part-Time or Permanent.

AAA VS Indie

To start I will look into the size difference between the two types of games company, AAA games companies having loads of positions in terms of job placements and workers within their own respective departments, such as storyboard artists and level designers. but also have loads of offices around the world, take Ubisoft or EA for examples, these companies have offices in the UK, France, Germany, USA, Japan, Scotland, & even Singapore. When we even try to compare these AAA companies to Indie companies, the AAA offices and man power far outshine those in the Indie teams, as Indie games companies work in small teams of people, and sometimes even only having one Man/Woman doing the work themselves. Indie games companies in terms of man power and office locations are usually made out to be small crews and places, in recent years, indie games companies have been made and run over the internet entirely such as an unofficial company called "AppleBarrell Games" for instance. which was an Indie games company created by a group of online friends to battle the "office worker" stigma when coronavirus had all sorts of companies having teams working from home.

AAA games companies and Indie games companies also work differently, AAA places like to have specialists that can work in one department where as in Indie companies, they usually try to hire generalists, who have a broad set of skills with a pointer of one skill that can be their forefront job, but the other skills under their belt can also be utilised by having them as backup or re-enforcements to the lead of a different department.

Funding is another difference within the battle of AAA and Indie games companies. AAA companies get bigger amounts of money for their worker capacity as well as their games creations getting more recognition, netting them larger amounts of money for sales, they also get their funding from big investors such as brands and the console / system that the game is being released onto.

Skills Matching

Skills Matching is what I need to know in terms of what skills I currently have under my belt and the ones that I need to gain via learning or putting ion practice, as well as putting the differences between them such as the difference between being "on time" to college and finishing projects "on time". The skills which I view of having on under my belt in terms of Games Design and Development are few but, with a little learning and conviction I believe that anything is possible and that I WILL be able to learn almost anything that I put my mind to, gaining the skills and knowledge to pursue my desired job within the industry.

The first skills that I view myself on having which works well in any job would be "Leadership" and "Teamwork", as they both go hand-in-hand. Leadership skills require teamwork and teamwork require a bond of leadership as well as direction. Having been a part of small teams and taken on leadership roles in the past, I would ask team members how we can face the obstacles in front of us and what ways we can tackle it, brainstorming which ways are better with the team. I believe that a team should always scheme and draft up different possibilities together and go through them. A leader should always include everyone in the team and give everyone a voice so that everyone is heard and most often, from experience when leading, the quiet ones within the group have great ideas and can almost tackle whole situations by themselves.

Another skill I would say that I have under my belt is "Inclusion" of others, this fits into "Teamwork" but I personally hold the opinion that Inclusion as a skill needs more recognition in its own folder of sorts as it holds allowance of team members or leaders that are either disabled or otherwise as there are many factors, Inclusion is needed across more than just teamwork and leadership and I am honestly disheartened to know that this skill is often regarded as an afterthought and is overlooked by MANY games companies these days.

A third & fourth skills I will say that I have which is important in not just the games industry but many jobs is my "Attention to detail" and "Creativity." Attention to detail is as important to me as well as many other jobs is because without the details and purposeful attention to them, many games within the industry now passed such as Toby Fox's "Undertale" and Tripwire Interactive's "KillingFloor". I chose these games as they have a flair for attention to detail and creativity. these two are games I have both watched as well as played myself so when I talk about them I will know what I am talking about in terms of both usually missed details and creativity within them.

SPOILER WARNING FOR "UNDERTALE".

Within Toby Fox's Undertale, the attention to detail and creative arch's this game went though are unimaginable, this game has winding pathways to it's gameplay and on your first playthrough, you as a player will choose to go the "heroic" route unknowingly, smiting any and all enemies that cross your paths, not trying any other path way as they will at first be invisible to you. being the fearless and fear filling, bloodthirsty and genocidal monster the Undertale characters will grow to see you as as you complete the "Heroic" storyline. I speak about this because the details and creativity to different ways of play within the game change on the run you choose to complete.

Progression Planning

Planning for my Progression within the Games Development Industry, I see myself as heading more and more towards the Character Designer and Scene Lighting specialist jobs, whilst I feel as if I would like to go into either of these jobs I need to look into the technical aspects behind the jobs and the difficulties that these titles hold to see if their are any skills that I must either match or gain for me to have "My Dream Job"

At first, I wanted to become a Character Designer and Creator. The skills that I would need to have to even apply for the position let alone need to continue within the industry as that position I do hold, to a degree, as I used to be a traditional artist, drawing other artists work from a reference image on a board across the room, having not done any sort of traditional art for such a long time, I know for a fact that I would need to take a lot of time to re-learn how to draw human or near human figure accurately.

The second job I wanted / still want to go into to Lighting Artist, I love the way that lighting a scene can sway a players mood and feelings just by changing colour and themes around, all of this is available within the Light Art sector of the Games Industry and it makes me want to follow the footsteps of a brilliant indie games company called Campo-Santo, creators of a game called "FireWatch" & soon to be released "In The Valley Of Gods".

Diagrams For How I Would Go Through

To Get To My Top Choice Jobs

Character Artist

This is my flow chart on how I think my best ways are to getting into University, starting an apprenticeship or even just going straight into the job itself at entry level. Looking at this, I can see the major points in my career.

When choosing the character design artist pathway I will decide to go into University and develop my art skills in traditional styles (on paper) the move onto digital skills (on tablet) later in the years of the Uni course.

Lighting Artist

I made the same flowchart for my road if I chose to go into becoming a Lighting artist because I fell as if I would go down almost the exact same route but with a more light and shadow focused artist portfolio.

My initial plan was to go straight into an apprenticeship within a small indie company and develop my skills whilst working with them for a number of years, hopefully being credited as a light artist before leaving for bigger things.

Researching Universities

When I started looking into Universities to go to, Games Development wise, I came across the UCAS website and searched up "Games" as a blank starter term, having a load of different Universities come up and plenty of courses to choose from.

Knowing which way I wanted to go within Games, I looked more towards the art and character creation courses in conjunction with lighting art. The main goal for me in the games industry was to become a visualiser or storyboard artist with connections to character design and a back-up of the lighting art as these three courses are what I have always wan ted to go into since I found out that games creation was a course I could do.

ACM London

ACM London University gives five unique specialisms when it comes to games creation, these five differences are the choices that they offer and within them, I can expect to learn the life of a games creator and put previous courses work and experience all into one.

ACM London Specialisms

Game Development Art (Character Art, Game Art and Animation)

Game Development Audio (Songs, Character Voices and Sound Effects)

Game Development Design (Rules, Physics Systems and World Design)

Game Development Programming (Coding, Language Learning and Equations)

Game Development Business (Project Pitching, Marketing and Management)

ARU Cambridge

The ARU in Cambridge is well versed when it comes to games development and games creation and a three year course filled with modules that allow students to learn all the various jobs and positions within the industry. These modules change form year to year with the third and final year being a full year project to create a Indie level game along with a team of students with their own preferred profession. this full year of games creation allows the year to create a brand, website and dev blog about the game they will be creating and where iot will be released / how it will be released.

ARU Cambridge Modules

Year One Modules: Concept Development and Digital Sculpting Creative Research in Computer Games Introduction to Computer Games Art Computer Games Art

Year Two Modules: Advanced Computer Games Art Character Rigging and Animation Computer Games Development Digital Practice in Computer Games Art

Year Three Module: Major Project for Computer Games

Bath Spa University

Bath Spa University holds a reputation of one of the highest cut Universities for Games Development in the UK, this University has a history of passing workers of AAA companies and having alumni that hold positions within Ubisoft, Rockstar and EA Games. Modules for the University allow for diverse portfolio's when going into the industry along with the Uni name itself already holding a good position in hiring agents' eyes.

Bath Spa University Modules

Year One Module: Build a table-top game and portfolio of mini-game prototypes

Year Two Module: Build a 2D, 3D and VR game

Year Three Module: Build a serious game, a tangible game, and a playful interactive entertainment experience.

Year One Key Topics: Understanding Game Concepts, History of gaming and theory, Introduction to game engines and coding, Graphic design, Illustration for 2D characters and Level design

Year Two Key Topics: Technical development and design skills for both 2D and 3D games, Writing interactive narratives, Marketing and entrepreneurship, 3D modelling and animation, Web games, Sound design, Extended realities working with the Bristol VR Lab

Year Three Key Topics: Serious games, Data visualisation, AI and machine learning, Tangible games, Real-time interaction using game engine technologies and Commercial games studio workflows.

Futureworks

Futureworks bodes well when looking into becoming a game artist, be it for an AAA company or Indie, with alumni also being in the freelance trade with built up portfolios that give an extensive hand to the university as where they learnt to become who they are in terms of artist skill and principles. My goal if I were to chose this as my university of choice would be to become a part of a AAA company or even go freelance after the three year course that the university gives.

Futureworks

Year One Modules: Art Fundamentals (40 credits) Visual Design 1 (20 credits) Introduction to 3D Modelling for Games (40 credits) Historical Contextual Studies (20 credits)

Year Two Modules: 3D Character Art (40 credits) 3D Environment Art (40 credits) Visual Design 2 (20 credits) Contemporary Contextual Studies (20 credits)]

Year Three Modules: Honours Project (40 credits) Visual Design 3 (20 credits) Game Engine Project (40 credits) Personal and Professional Development (20 credits)

Now that I have looked into the Universities that have caught my eyes, they all have their uniqueness about them, But now that I was to make a final option. I didn't know what to pick for it, especially as I was strung for not just choice but also the fact that I'd be moving far away from any current friends and family where I was currently. when going through the list of Universities, I can safely say that I will most likely not be heading into either A.R.U & A.C.M as they are deemed as too far away for me and maybe even my family to move to safely.

The more and more I looked at Bath and Futureworks, The more I personally wanted to look into into them more, and not just their websites. I have already planned to go to an "Open Day" on the 27th of November to Bath University and as of the 18/11/21 I wish to do the same with Futureworks to see if it may be a good fit for me as one of the two job roles that I would like to go into is Game Art, and as it stands. Futureworks is one of two courses that do an whole course dedicated to that, The Other being ACM London, which is primarily a Music University but provides a pure game art course.

Bath University in terms of travel is significantly closer than the Manchester based one, and as of current, I have family friends who live close to the University, possibly having the ability to stay there rather than staying on campus itself, when weighing the pros and cons of both, they are equally matched for both of them, not from my own decision, I will have to go towards Bath University as my First choice of University and leave Futureworks behind as a close second choice. If Bath does not work out for any reason what so ever, be it accommodations or just not generally liking it there during the open day I will fall back onto my Plan B.

Professional Portfolio's

Professional Portfolio's from people that are working within the industry are a great place to start off as these folk that have experience within the sectors that I wish to head into myself. The portfolios of those within the industry currently give me a perfect heading for what I must be able to achieve if I want to get into the positions I would like as well as be able to use as a guideline so that I can improve myself.

Character & Concept Artists

Hicham Habchi is a principal concept artist for Riot Games that has worked on games such as "Ruined King", "True Damage" and " Overwatch" all three games being amongst the top grossing in their categories. As a principal concept artist, Hicham is top of the board in terms of the artist side of the industry. His skills clear from his artwork and attention to detail even in his sketch work, when doing multiple characters, Hicham has shown which characters to give shading, closer detail and even colour.

Loyal from the profile on Artstation is a student from Portugal and also a freelance artist that has helped in the indie games creation process of "Mr. Rocky" as a character. Within the profile, she has detailed down what the collections of images are on the page themselves, but has not given any sort of details as to what she does, my only guess is that she is a student with a freelance secondary job.

Louice Adler is a concept and character designer in Tripwire Interactive that has been a key developer in the games "Killing Floor", "Killing Floor 2" & "Man Eater". Within these games, Louice has had herself added into the games, be it by voice, modelled in as a playable character or even as an NPC that can be seen, Most notably in Killing Floor 2, where Louice has been confirmed to have been the inspiration for the character Ana Larive, a female mercenary that makes use of the M79 grenade launcher (Nicknamed the China Lake) and has a fashion sense for metal / punk as well as favouring the mohawk that can be styled with different colours that can match the outfit a player so chooses the use.

Creating My Professional Portfolio

Creating My own professional portfolio, I would have to start uploading some semblance of artworks. Knowing I could potentially start uploading my artbooks from back in the GCSE days of my artwork, I also knew that since I hadn't picked up a pencil or pen in years, that I would have to dive back into the traditional drawings and then start again from the beginning.

With the possibility that I have my ArtStation as a learner account, I can set it up as a student and use the about me section to clarify that what I will be posting is my personal road to becoming a good or at least semi-decent traditional artist. then start to move onto 2D computer art, All whilst being self taught.

This is my personal profile on ArtStation, as my profile is new, I have not really had the chance to add anything that I have created to my profile, The name "Magpie²" is my nickname for the site as it is what I used to use as a tag for my previous traditional art creations. Still definitely needing to work on it, I will be uploading some of my works to the site at a later date so that the portfolio looks a little more polished and lustrous.

The end idea for the portfolio is so that when I go into the freelance industry I have works ready for any and all on-lookers to view ands see if my portfolio is the one for them in terms of being hired to create a specific character model or scene or even reference image for them to mold into a piece of game engine excellence.

What kind of Portfolio would I need?

Going into the Games Development industry has important questions that need to be answered such as Portfolio type and upload schedule in addition to publishing work that isn't finished so users see the creative processes that I have as a Lighting and Concept artist.

Instagram: Instagram is a good place to start out when starting up an art page as this gives the user or creator freedom in which things can be posted, Instagram is also used by all sorts of major companies, artists and games designers, a great way to see this is by following them, and more of what you like from that specific creators can be catered towards you with the added possibility of similar creations by other companied and developers can be put on your feed. A great example of Instagram being a good tool to use when creating artworks in the freelance industry is BEEPLE, an American digital artist that has pioneered and become infamous in the NFT world as of MAR 1st 2021 when he sold an artwork worth $69 Million called "The First 5000 Days" that centred around his first ever 5000 days of being a digital artist that made a piece of art every day for exactly 13 Years, 8 Months, 1 Week, 4 Days.

This goes to show, that Instagram, a place where almost anything can be posted, anyone can rise through the ranks and become famous just by posting what they find a passion in, even going as far as to become a multi-millionaire.

LinkedIn: LinkedIn is a more professional, whiteout and text based application, used by those that are looking for a job or b y those offering help to find a job, having used linkedIn myself to find a Cleaning job, I know that the app itself is easy to use as it has integrated a swipe feature where after a user that is looking for a job, it gives you a list of locations and hiring offers that best suit the wants of the potential applicant, you can narrow the swipe feature down by favouriting the job listings that are on offer and even favourite or heart companies that aren't hiring so that you can get an alert in the vent hat they release a job listing.

The app is made for those who are more inclined to head into a more company based line of work such as working for a major company E.G Ubisoft, EA Games or even Epic Games.

ArtStation: ArtStation as a PC based website is a well rounded, games focused domain that is chock full of games design powerhouses along with the individual artists, this allows any and all people who stumble on by the website to see what exactly the individuals that have had their name posted into the black screen credits of AAA games to showcase what they exactly contributed to said AAA game and what they have been working on in the freelance industry or even as a student, such as one Millie Cleary, who was a student at Wiltshire College in the year above me, and has always been an inspiration to create and design what ever comes into my mind as best as In can.

Personal Statement

I would like a career in Games design. I have been studying Games Development for 2 years, and prior to this studied Level 2 Media Studies which in cooperated six months games design.

Ever since I was a young boy playing my first ever game on the PlayStation, (which was Crash Bandicoot) right through to the games I play now (such as Call Of Duty, KillingFloor2, Rocket League and Viscera Cleanup Detail), I've been fascinated with how the games are developed, how the lighting is coded and how storyboards for the games are written/drawn up. Since studying Games Development at college I find that I enjoy the creative processes immensely, and relish in discussing the story and strategies with fellow classmates. I enjoy talking through what is behind the game and how writers develop them.

I believe I am suitable for this course because over the past three years I have been focused on building my knowledge and developing myself to start this degree course. I think during this time and over the remaining level 3 course I will have gained both skills and attributes which will allow me to achieve the requirements that I need to embark on this degree. The skills and essential qualities that I have learnt include teamwork, sharing ideas, working to deadlines and having good communication with classmates. I believe I have a sound background knowledge and insight into media and the gaming industry. This is an area of work that I feel very passionately about and I am keen to further expand my knowledge and develop myself to be the best I can within this field. I feel that I have good camaraderie with other students and have shown leadership when required. Recently I have led on a project for my level 3 course that involved pitching multiple Game Jam ideas to my team and leading the group in discussions to develop the final project.

I am currently studying Games Development level 3 at Wiltshire College Salisbury Campus. I have also studied Media Studies level 2 and Media Studies level 1.

I am good at designing graphical images and have done this during my college course for 'sweded' films. I have found I have a niche for graphics work and really enjoy the design process. I helped fellow students with the graphic element of the level 2 media course when they were finding it hard. I enjoy drawing , especially miniature comic strips and anthropomorphic characters and have had some of my art work displayed at my secondary school.

I was an army cadet. This helped me learn many skills such as leadership, field craft, first aid, and communication. I learnt how to live alongside others from differing backgrounds and cultures. I was the best new recruit for my first year in my detachment. During secondary school years I went on the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme at bronze and silver level. I learnt skills such as map reading, navigation and undertook physical challenges with expeditions. After finishing secondary school I embarked on the National Citizens Service . During the NCS program I went camping , undertook both physical and mental challenges which has helped me gain teamwork skills whilst develop confidence and making new friends. I undertook many outdoor activities such as coasteering, surfing, paintballing and skateboarding. I spent time painting and upcycling benches at a hospital site and fundraising for Cancer Research UK. I also got to experience boarding in student accommodation and a taste of what student life at university and living away from home might entail.

I spent 2 weeks at school doing work experience with an architect. I really enjoyed this and designed an outhouse building that was used in a clients garden. I also helped with designing an indoor pool and lift. I have recently been offered a job outside of college as a hospital domestic.

I would like a future working in the games development industry. I would be very keen to work for a company such as Ubisoft, RockstarGames or 343 Industries.

Unit Reflection

WHAT WERE YOUR PROGRESSION GOALS?

My progression goals at the start were to find a University, apply for it, get into said university and hopefully start a job within the character design and concept sketches sector of the games development side of media. be it as a junior artist for an indie company, freelance on contract or even for a AAA company such as Ubisoft, Tripwire or Rockstar

HOW HAVE YOUR PROGRESSION PLANS CHANGED?

I now tend to view my line of work slightly more linearly, this changing my plans by now forcing me to focus on the art side of the community, now taking classes for human body along with animals for a bit of added security if I am to go forwards into a freelance-on-contract setting.

WHY HAVE THESE CHANGED?

These have changed because when I first started, there was only a general idea on what I myself wished to do, but now, beginning in January, I will be more focused towards the character design than sketches as a full character design outlet will provide more opportunities as I go further into education such as University.

ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH YOUR DIRECTION?

As of writing, I cannot truly say that I am satisfied with my direction for the games development sector of media, but what I can say is that I am more than willing to pick up the pencil and start making headway into this direction that I have chosen for myself.

WHERE DO YOU HOPE THIS IS GOING TO LEAD?

This direction in my games Development cycle I hope to lead and direct me into a soft job positioning as a junior character artist for games of the FPS/TPS variety as you are always able to fit a lot of details into the fine print of characters such as in The Division 2 where player models depending on clothing worn or armour issued, can be hidden in plain sight or even be able subtly fit into the scenery for a few seconds as a AI patrol passes by.

WHAT COMMUNICATION METHODS DID YOU USE THAT WERE USEFUL?

The vast majority of communication that I have had within the industry is within a "press" setting, where I was asking people that create games for a living what they do in their job, how they do it and what kinds of software would I be expecting to use or rely on to get the job done.

WHAT PRESENTATION AND PROMOTIONAL METHODS DID YOU USE THAT WERE USEFUL?

I primarily use an app called telegram to communicate with people and have spread some of my personal artworks on there for others to see within art channels. this method I use is a niche one, but it works for me as it allows for a private and unhindered channel of access with other creators and people with the same interests at heart.