Production job roles
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The Creative Director oversees all aspects of game development including story, design, art, and sound. They work closely with leads in programming, art, and design to ensure quality and vision. Creative Directors promote the game and make major decisions affecting its look, feel, and play. Experience, strong vision, and ability to inspire others are key to succeed in this role.
Production job roles
- 1. Creative Director The Creative Director oversees the entire game project; they are responsible for the look and feel of the game. They are linked to various parts of the making the game, such as designing the story, having an input on the game as itʼs built, and the soundtrack and voice acting. They oversee any high-level decisions that affect how the game plays, sounds, and looks. Not all game companies employ Creative Directors. Some companies prefer to continue to split the duties between a game's Lead Artist, Lead Programmers, Designers, and Producers. Where the position is used, each game development team has its own Creative Director. Some highly experienced and talented Creative Directors oversee multiple projects. At the start of a gameʼs production, the Creative Director will sit down with a small core team of writers, and outline the basic story and characters for the game. As the game's development continues and more staff are added, the Creative Director works closely with the Lead Programmers, Artists and Designers to ensure all the code and art assets produced, as well as playable versions of the game, are of a sufficiently high quality. They deal with issues arising such as new features and any major redesigning of characters and scenarios. Aside from overseeing the gameʼs production, the other main role for a Creative Director is to promote the game, this varies from hosting the gameʼs announcement at events such as E3 and discussing the game in interviews with companies such as IGN, GameInformer etc, they also promote the game to the sales and marketing department. There are three main qualities to succeed in being a Creative Director, these are: experience, artistic vision, and the ability to inspire others. Aside from the main route of having five years experience, there are two other ways you can get into this job role; one way is to work your way up through different jobs such as a Lead Artist or Lead Designer. Another way to progress to this role is from a similar position in the film or special effects industries. Creative Director: Jonathan Blow Jonathan Blow is an American independent video game designer, who is most known for his 2008 hit Indie Game Braid. He is currently working on The Witness, which is due out some time this year. Before Braid, Blow wrote the inner column for Game Developer Magazine. Braid was a massive success, and received critical acclaim with an aggregated score of 93% on Metacritic. Blow stated he made the game as a personal critique on game trends, he funded the three-year project with his own money. The game was unique because it was revealed at the end that your character (the assumed protagonist), was actually the antagonist. One of Braidʼs most praised features is the ability to rewind time in game, this feature was unique as it not only allowed players the chance to fix any mistakes they made, but it was also essential to complete the game. Webcomic artist David Hellman designed the artwork for the game, but it went under several revisions until Blow was satisfied with it, this was within his right as it is one of the jobs of a Creative Director to do so.
- 2. Game Programmer Game Programmers design and write the computer code that runs and controls the game, incorporating and adapting any ready-made code libraries and writing custom code as required. They test the code and fix bugs, and also develop customized tools for use by other members of the development team. Different platforms have particular programming requirements and there are also various specialists within programming. Large teams of Programmers might be involved in creating a game, some in leadership roles, some working on just one aspect. Programmers are employed by development. They also work for middleware producers. Programmers might also work for localization companies which translate and re-version games for different territories. There are many different programming roles. Job titles include: Games programmer; Tools programmer; AI programmer; Middleware programmer. The Lead Programmer translates the design into a technical specification for the game and then delegates tasks to the programming team: • General programmers work on a whole range of tasks, often working with code that other Programmers have written. • Programmers with specific tasks, might work on physics (e.g. programming movable objects so that they appear to obey the laws of gravity, etc.) • Specialist tools programmers identify and design any custom tools, which may be needed, perhaps by the Artists or Level Editors, then build them to an agreed specification. The Programmers create different 'builds' of a game, liaising with the QA Testers to fix any bugs identified at each stage. They might also work with a Localization Manager to create versions of the game for different platforms and territories Identify three key qualities to succeed at this Job Role • be able to work on your own initiative and as part of a team • have good communication skills • be able to take instruction and work to deadlines
- 3. Explain two alternative approaches to entering this Job Role • The path most people take in to this career is through graduating at a degree level from university and then either looking for a job or if your talented being offered a job from a company. • The other option is to create independent games and show your portfolio to an employer, whom you are trying to seek employment from. Example Case study Andrew Heywood – “I took part in the Dare to be Digital competition. My team, The Frozen North, won "Product with Greatest Market Potential" for our dance-mat based educational game, Primary Steps. Immediately after that, I went to work at Outerlight in my hometown of Edinburgh. I was basically thrown straight in at the deep end, starting work on The Ship just as it went into full production; it was released 9 months later to great reviews and a small, dedicated fan base. I spent the next two and a half years working on supporting The Ship, my dissertation, and then the sequel to The Ship, which is yet to see the light of day.”
- 4. Games Designer • Devising what a game consists of and how it plays, defining all the core elements • Communicating this to the rest of the development team who create the art assets and computer code Qualities to succeed: • Be able to communicate your vision to artists, programmers, producers, marketing staff, and others involved in the development process • Be able to accept constructive feedback on your work • Be imaginative and creative • Have good written and verbal communication skills • Have good basic visual design and drawing skills • Be reasonably fluent in a range of 2D and 3D graphics and animation packages, such as 3D Studio Max, NUKE or Maya. As well as having some programming skills at least at ‘scripting’ level • Possess a thorough understanding of game play theory • Have storytelling and narrative development skills Approaches to career: • The path most people take in to this career is through graduating at a degree level from university and then either looking for a job or if your talented being offered a job from a company. • The other option is to create independent games and show your portfolio to an employer, whom you are trying to seek employment from. Shigeru Miyamoto: • He is famously known as the man who created some of the world’s best selling video games; • Donkey Kong, Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros., The legend of Zeld, Yoshi, Star Fox, Kirby Super Star, Mario Kart, Super Smash bros., 1080° Snowboarding, Pikmin, Metroid Prime, Nintendogs, Wii Sports • Since the 1970s Shigeru Miyamoto has been making video games his first big hit was Donkey Kong an arcade game madein the early 80ʼs which every gamer knows about today, this simply difficult platform game created the most well know characters ever, Donkey Kong, Mario and Princess Peach. • Shigeru has been offered countless jobs with lots of different companies but has remain faithful to Nintendo who let his childhood memories and imagination loose onto the world. • As a Games Designer he has had input into a lot of different areas of the games heʼs help build, but it all goes down to defining the core elements in Donkey Kong for example the core elements were jump to avoid the barrels and climb up the ladders.
- 5. Audio Engineer An Audio Engineer designs the soundtrack, sound effects, and oversees the voice actors recording their lines in a video game project. Depending on the engineer & Creative Directorʼs preference, they may begin work early on in the gameʼs production, and adapt as the game changes and takes shape, or they may choose to come in after production on the game is complete. The composer for The Last of Us, Gustavo Santaoalalla, chose to begin work early on in the gameʼs production. Audio Engineers work for development studios. The size of the audio department depends on the company, but can consist of just one or two people who are sometimes required to work very long hours. Audio Engineers also work for specialist outsourcing companies and localization services that ʻre-versionʼ games for different territories. The main qualities for being an Audio Engineer include being able to compose and perform music first and foremost; you must also have sound engineering skills and knowledge of the relevant tools and technology. An Audio Engineer must also possess “aural skills” and a sense of timing. It is also essential they have an understanding of the gameʼs theme and atmosphere. A Creative Director may decide that he/she does not like a sound/ soundtrack during production, and the Audio Engineer will then have to tweak it (working with the Creative Director) to a point they both agree on. There is no set route you can take to become an Audio Engineer in the games industry. A musical background is essential as the role usually involves composing and performing music. You will also need experience of sound recording, editing and mixing. You will need to show creativity, resourcefulness, a range of styles and a love of games, rather than skills in specific technology and tools. Audio Engineer Example CaseStudy: Gustavo Santaoalalla Santaoalalla began his music career in 1967, when he co-founded the group Acro Iris. Santaoalalla began working on film soundtracks in the 1990s, and in 2006 won the Golden Globe award for his soundtrack Brokeback Mountain. In 2013 he composed the soundtrack for The Last of Us, this was his first soundtrack he composed for a video game. Santaoalalla began work on the score early, using the concept art for inspiration; he played around with a variety of instruments including unorthodox ones, to create a soundtrack that gave the game a tense atmosphere.