First year summary

Don’t have much bad to say about the course ive enjoyed all the aspects and thought its run very well and is hard but you can really see results throughout the class from start to end

My progress : I think my 3d skill has improved loads but I think it’s a lot easier to judge from knowing nothing to what I know now but the first couple 3d projects could literally do in half an hour now not to bragg as most people in the class I think would agree but they were very hard at the time  but I hope keep improving at the same rate.  I think my critical studies writing skills have improved , still trying to find my style of writing but I hope that will develop because I haven’t realy done much of this style of writing let alone what im interested in . I think watching the critical studies lectures had broadened my design skills because after doing my research throughout the first year I know what style of game art I want to go for rather then just bog standard realistic plain characters  I do still really like realistic games but stylised game have intrigued me a lot this year.

I personally find critical studies hard because of dyslexia I find the huge amount of links hard to take in and then rember and write about them  but I think the lectures are layed out very well quite simple we now what we’ve got to do and just get on with it I really enjoyed watching the films every week and looking at them for there artist values and direction styles and characters not just to watch a good film an assessing them in blogs I thing this helped me understand more  how development of stories work and how there shown across through media etc. films and games and I find them a lot easier to write about then some of the other tasks also what I think would be good is more game reviews maybe if we all had to write about the same game or a demo that you could have a quick go on in the labs or an internet game to see everyone’s opions not just to play on games instead of working .

I think the game production lectures are hard to follow and a lot of people feel the same but that’s what blackboards tutorials for I think maybe could be eased into 3d abit better but I think what progress everybody is how hard it is how fast it goes also the way the labs are set up is very helpful and if ever your realy stuck there’s lots of people who can help second years thirds years which for me is one of the best things about the course that if anyone gets overwhelmed or stuck all you need to do is just ask someone . I have really liked learning about 3d and has open a lot more doors and option to my original art skills and huge amount of places that I can improve on

I really enjoyed vd this year I think it’s good that were doing something different every week so cant really get bored and I thing the short week by projects are good espialy for building speed in drawings work and getting ideas down fast  which I think will help later being used to short snappy deadlines and moving very fast. The only think bad I could say about vd is not enough life models!! but I think it has improved my skills in anatomy drawings just hard to draw the same person and keep the attention span going

I think its very important to keep all the aspects of the course the desing drawings and 3d work and crit but I think the projects could integrate better and run along with each other better like when we go out to draw vehicles for example would of gone well with building them in 3d at the same time.

But overall I have enjoyed the course and am very glad I chose this course very clear to me it was the right choice  

enviroment

Environment

my concept art piece, environment design I’m starting by building mood board from great concept artist already out primarily for games i have some initial ideas of what i want to design so from the mood boards and ideas i have going round my head made a simple spider diagram getting all my ideas written down but also to help narrow down my ideas i had to think which one is least likely other people would thing of and what i know personally and to narrow down do something I know and have primary research i think with my boxing background design a boxing environment for a game would work well I think its important with this type of painting is  to no what style I’m going for and how realistic I want it so I think because it boxing and its  real thing not an abstract concept very realistic as I can get in proportion would work and maybe some stylization in the characters .


After i have the idea i looked into further mood boards primarily about boxing gyms like English gyms and American and rich an poor gyms

Thought ide try figure out the rules an boundaries around environment design and what i can figure out by looking at environment pieces before starting the piece

1)      firstly the environment pieces with characters in you can get a strong feel for what type of game it is adventure game or shooter action all different types of games but as far as i can tell what grounds an image and lets you know what type of game it is the character or characters or just civilians walking around for example or people running round with guns firing

2)      thumnailing is a big design rule for concept art you must make thumbnails instead of diving straight into a design without having any idea how the composition will work or where lights coming from and by doing several thumbnails you’ll have more interesting images to choose from an a better outcome .

3)      having a clear idea in your head and the style your going for like realistic or styilised .

4)      Reference the more reference you gather to build an image the more substance it should have espialy if you’re creating a very realistic image.

5)      knowing the the world making everything fit it together even if its not realistic keeping it real but abstract elements that fit into the surrounding because you believe in the idea of the game for example and apocalypse town with plants everywhere the people would be dirty an carry rucksacks and weapons and be dirty to help them cope with this new world where as wouldn’t make sense if everybody was walking around in tailored suits all polished and clean.

 

6)      leading on from thumbnails composition checking everything is proportions using perspective lines depending on how you’re looking at your image like this image above from a two point perspective view were looking into a scene fading away  and it looks realistic because its in proportion but also they break it up with things extruding in the scene like the trees and the van the characters are standing on .

7)      lighting having a strong lightings source or lack of one in a dark image lighting certain areas realy pull together an image and helps draw the views eyes to the most importants parts of an image.

My final outcome

I think my image came out well the mix between stylised and realistic which what I was after I think it could of done with a lot more detail thought but I was trying to paint it in a blocky way like team fortress concept art edge of simplicity but descriptive witch I think I could of needed more of also I think more lighting would of boosted the image as well I think the characters blend in well and leave a believable image

part 3: character

i think its hard to thing of an individual character from films or books that give of feeling because all well made films let you relate to characters and give you an impression of them as you would in real life very fast we seem to make assumptions of people and get a gist of what there like the main way in films they would do something ab it extreme to give an impression of someone  like someone being a nice guy helping an old lady across the street or a man being a womaniser by waking up with a woman or talking about women allot a good film that instantly give you an impression of these 3 main characters the first within the first 2 Min's you can tell he works hard but hes ab it of a pushover who gets ab it annoyed but has to hide it ill let people walk all over him but i think what  makes the audience  like him is one because hes funny character and when he overcomes his shortcomings  and stands up to the boss the other characters is likable just because hes ab it daft and gets him stook in amusing situations and hes ab it squeamish about them and the last character you like because hes abit of a lad a womaniser but still seems to be a very nice guy and has a cheeky face.

another character that relates to game characters hugely i think would be troy because everybody loves to play as character who kicks ass and just batters everybody in style which what most games are about i think what attracts people to characters like troy is one the acting but mainly i think the look of the character like women would Fancy him and men would appreciate the alpha maleness of him nobody wants to play as a Winny character people i think want to play or watch someone who who is invigorating and basically awesome like argon or gladiator for example.
stories that attract me are good story lined exiting films drama but for me in most films acting skills are key i will watch specific films because i know certain actors are in it so its properly going to be good stories what attracts me inparticuler are epic story lined films that are set in other worlds like sci fi war of the world or big journey films for example lord of the rings or a film that i thing looks good hunger games because its a grounded and relates to real life but set in a place that's diff rent system different way there world works

part two art director

an art director is in charge of the look and genral style of the game and to make sure the game is meeting its deadlines  one of the main parts about being an art director is keeping the stylisation of the game together and constant throughout for example strong stylistic games like bring and street fighter that have constant style from the begging concept art to the final product the art director is responsible for the art staff .

i think its a creative role because you have to have allot of knowledge about art and be able to show your vision for the film through the scenes i think its very artist but not in the sense that you have to be able to draw not that they necessarily cant but i think it more important to be able to show your style thought the whole team
games art directing could be considered as similar because both roles your trying to portray a story a mood through style but the obvious main difference is film directing majorly working with  real people and trying to invoke a mood through acting where as games art directing is trying to invoke a story also thought characters but let you interact with the mood of the game and what you see

also directing a film is the storyline everything where art directing for games is just the art side nothing to do with the storyline

i think if i wanted to become an art director i would have to build a big knowledge on games  an art and history and stronger leadership skills mainly i think idea have to really develop my own style so that ide be able to influence other people to work to the style I'm after

intersting character design mayan warrior

interesting character design Mayan warrior

for my interesting character design Ive chosen to design a Mayan warrior from a strong influence from the film apocalypto because it has really amazing designs and coincidentally one of my favourite films so thought it might be a good idea to review the film.

apocalyptic

the Mayan civilization faces it downfall and in effort to stop there dismisses they build massive temples to worship the gos and to make sacrifice which needs slaves and sacrifices the story revolvers around Jaguar paw and his clan who live in the Forrest and are stolen for sacrifice and Jaguar paw is the only member to survivor by fleeing and eventually fighting back whittling of the enemies in clever ways there is a huge amount of character development throughout for example Jaguar paw starts out abit normally scared as he should be he is very motivated to survivor  and as hes fleeing after a close moment with a Jaguar he has a moment of clarity and says this is my Forrest and then he fights back using all the tricks of the Forrest .directed by Mel Gibson who looks like has done a really good job the film i think is very visual like ridley Scott's you could watch the film and no whats going on its also in subtitles which actually made me enjoy the film more because it make you main concentrate on what you see Rather than hear but also different to ridley films apocalypto is a fast passed film always locked in like ridley but it goes on a big loop retuning to same king of thing as the beginning where as ridley doesn't .the film also has beautifull settings which would be amazing to make in a game filmed in different parts of Mexico and the film really gives of the sound that places you right there the film also has a interesting ending big boats with the cross on them coming to the shore of there Forrest .

 

black hawk down

black hawk down

123 elite U.S. soldiers drop into Somalia to capture two top lieutenants of a renegade warlord and find themselves in a desperate battle with a large force of heavily armed Somalis but then things start go in wrong and Somalia as whole go crazy and try to kill the soldiers two choppers go down and it then becomes a rescue mission to get all there men out before the Somalis Malissa get to them

black hawk down is directed by an amazing artist called ridley Scott first an for most an artist you can really tell by the way he draws hows much he thinks about like angle tone depth the sketches defiantly show through is drawings you can see the exact idea  of what he thinking he also has key frames that you barley notice or scenes that are in the main flow of the film but really brink out emotion and depth like a son shooting his father by accident then holding him and the children running along side the soldiers smiling an laughing  almost like there lots of separate story to be told in short spaces of the film but they never go back to them they always keep moving onto the next story but without breaking the flow  i personally loved the film i think it could of been a also very interesting if they was no talking just music  and the scenes very clearly explain themselves  to what is going on with abit of editing i would be intrigued to watch that film or to get someone who hasn't seen it to see how well they understand it but also there were some very good young actors who have hugely developed since the film i don't no whether black hawk down kicked of there careers but i think it would of helped alot if it wasn't an all star cast back then it certainly would be now.

what amused me in the film was certain call of duty moments that made me laugh for example when Ewan mcgregor  jumped out with a grenade launcher and tyred to noobtube the gunner and completed missed and the quick weapon change on the second hawk down trying to defend it all i could think was spamming {y} i thoroughly enjoyed the film i thought it was interesting how it manages to keep your attentions and interest for a long film because not all films can pull that of .



elements of game design part one :

game play is basically the way you interact with the game the way you run jump kill play but also the depth and atmosphere the game makes you feel when you play it game play is also used to show the interactive of game design game play is difference between interactive games  and non interactive films as such or books in their way that you have to control what happens in the game rather then watch it happen .the biggest game developers i know releasing the best games like epic games rockstar and bio ware  also leading developers like gearbox president randy pitchford who's worked on games like half life and halo pc version an also james hawkins who's worked on gears of 1 and 2 and unreal 1 an 2 and half life counter strike and severall others work al over America in big cities like new york.

i think game design begin with idea from a group of people in a room to one person who would initiate the game and build a team to bring it to life or take it to a big company  imaging an idea for a game begging with concepts designs scripts several different ways to sprout an idea.

i don't think different genre need different design principals i think the initial design skill is needed to build on but always keeping in mind what the genre is to design forward not nessically knowing already  but i think as your stick with a genre you will pick up the key skills that make it what it is .
when i play a game i want to be able to really immerse myself in the world and in the characters believable and enjoy whatever obstacles face them i think characters have really got to feel real an show emotion like what you'd want out of real actors for me to be able to get into a game and also still keeping it action packed but real i think graphics definitely help to add realism for example mass effect series very believable characters even thought some are aliens but there personalty and graphics make them so realistic that it makes the game flow very easy