Professional Context Reflection

Laia Auge Posh

Leaning how to communicate with team members and how industry jobs work.

Having a broader specialties is useful than being really good at one thing.

Deciding on a single final topic

Setting deadlines and time management

Laia Auge Poch is a a UoS Careers Consultant. In her presentation, we were asked with the year 2s where we are in our thinking of our future:

Tasked with asking many personal questions like, “what I would like to do after graduating” and how would I come about it by keeping track of time and setting deadlines. Throughout her presentation, having been with the year 2s she explained her role as what I should do and act and responded to the quiz set in class and answered it truthfully of what I want to do after graduating.

Recognise your skills
Reflect how to apply skills to possible roles

Learning a new instrument and mastering Abelton Live (music software) could help me learn how the music industry is like and if there is any need for composers in games.

Explore opportunities to develop your skills

Going to game’s events and meeting and chatting with people from the field could help me learn more about what the industry could be like and learn more about the roles and make connections along the way.

Plan post University and where I would want to work

Asking myself what I want for myself and for my future is a difficult question to figure out but thinking what art I want to create and work on makes it slightly easier for example joining a studio that creates narrative stories with memorable characters and choices that impact the story.

The combination of film, games and a memorable soundtrack like the Syd Matters in Life is Strange, makes me believe I would enjoy the working at first idea of companies that do that pop-up include the AdHoc Studio, which include former members of the Telltale Games, Quantic Dream and Don’t Nod Entertainment.

Looking at the market for Games

According to Prospects detail for graduate schemes

A report stated that a direct graduate hires in their sectors lined up to only 8% percent meanwhile games design programming course went up to a total of 14% (Media Nesta statistics https://media.nesta.org.uk/documents/next_gen_wv.pdf?)

Requirements for Quantic Dream studios

Cinematic Director:

Under the guidance of the Creative Director, you will create the cinematics for the project and oversee the elements that make up the game’s cinematics.

Their role includes:

Creating cinematics by developing an original sense of cinematography in service of the narrative.
Extending the vision of the Creative Director and supervising the entire production: conception, storytelling, editing, shooting, framing, composition.
Ensuring an optimal level of quality for the final output.
Facilitating effective communication and collaboration with other departments within the studio regarding cinematic-related matters.

Skills needed:

Sensitivity and a cinematic sense: have an artistic vision and high standards, while also being receptive to feedback and capable of working collaboratively to achieve a high level of quality.
Hands-on with your productions, you have an eye for framing and editing, and you can both implement your vision and share it.
Minimum of 4-5 years of experience as a director in 3D animation studios or video game studios (cinematics department).
Comfortable with 3D CGI or Real-Time camera tools.
Curiosity and a willingness to grow and commit for the long term in a stimulating environment working on original and ambitious games.
Nice to have: Previous experience working with a game engine like Unreal Engine or equivalent.

Even though I am obviously under qualified for I might be interested in it for the long term additionally working as a composer for video games sounds like an amazing job, as it includes different unique projects which can range from games, films and videos.

Having to find a company and be a member as a composer in video games field is rare and a lot more people working full-time in it are working for music agencies rather than game studios. Big studios often use them rather than finding individuals.

Having considered Jamie’s advice regrading, how to get a job after university and what interviewers are searching for. Is your very best work on your professional portfolio and putting yourself out there and easy to find. Taking in mind this for my love of music I would to distribute my music out there and free to listen to. Aside from working for music studios, you might want to a pursue a non-gaming music career to build your professional resume. Consider a salaried job in music something you might get towards the end of your career, not the start. Same thing for getting your music in larger games, according to a ‘Hyperbits’ article. (https://hyperbits.com/103-music-production-tips/)

An example is Clair obscur: Expedition 33 the composer was found on Soundcloud and which he never even composed a piece for a game. Built by an indie small company with it peaked to a team of 40 people in the course of almost 6 years.

Relations to travelling and games

Following my curiousty and interts led me to booking traveling trips.

Backpacking across Spain and volunteering in a sustainable self sufficient mango farm. Tasks included digging and placing dried branches and soil for planting trees and cutting, picking mangos driving down to natural spring waters and sleeping in cabins while hiking up mountains. Laia went around the class asking everyone what they would like to do after graduating which was followed by me saying I would love to travel. In the farm I learned how to dig and what soil to use to grow mangos, how to cut mangos and challenged myself to see if the boredom and heat would defeat me before the three weeks were up, however to my surprise in the second week time went by super quickly having met people around my age and socialising led to another trip being planned in late summer. Like in traveling connecting with people is important also for gaining the job you want. Putting myself out there and challenging myself led for a positive experience and useful which that’s what I should do with the portfolio I started to make, Linkteam and going to game events even just for socialising with people like Laia explained. and not only the work was interesting but the people as well which now another trip is planned, a Shovel and a Mattock for breaking down the rocks, befriending strangers and seeing festival celebrations in the middle of nowhere, all thought me how unexpected nature is and how water is very important in 30 degrees hikes.

After university plan to take a year abroad and travel around the world. Having these experiences would help me in creating more accurate games due to experiencing the topics I aim to make games / music about. In addition, with more life experiences I can create more impactful work, as how am I meant to envision a story that I have no relation to if I aim to create it.

My set deadlines

Create at least three musical complete pieces before the start of next semester and familiarise yourself with music producing with Abelton. Research more into what you would want to do after university, if it would be a trip then where and in what you would work in. In internships not just in games, but films or music would be available abroad, deadline would be before winter of 2026. Improve LinkTeam profile and create a professional portfolio, show up to events.

Booking the Solent Game Development meetup in Portswood for learning and following my interest in learning more about the industry and hopefully getting connections.

Presentations that influenced my way of thinking

Jordan’s presentation about his games showed me a unique insight into what games could be and how soundtrack and simple visuals could create a powerful message. Most of his works purely relied on messages and soundtrack to bring the games to life and leaving space for the player to find their messages in them from their own experiences. This interested me in experimenting with Abelton Live and drifting towards that. My strength’s and weaknesses and what I want to learn in this year. (https://www.gametrekking.com/)

I want to focus more on visual aspects and narrative telling through the art and music. Learning what I can achieve in my game and what I want to portray is mostly an experience, which like Jordan doesn’t heavily rely on the gameplay mechanics rather the story told itself.

The market for those games:

Greese

Life is strange

The Walking Dead Telltale games

Similar games made by Winchester school of Art students include a canoeing game

Portage

At the beginning of our third year Adam showed us a video in Week 1 which stayed on my mind

I would want to live the stories I want enjoy to play. Try new things and see more what the world has to offer.

Like Laia mentioned in her presentation, “work is the Longest Game you’ll ever play”, live life on your own terms and plan what you would actually want to do if money was not an object.

Jade Carter

Learning a lot in Jade Carter’s lecture presentation, through the importance of deadlines weekly tasks and the overall scope and strategy in making a game without wasting too much time on less important aspects, having the lecture with guest speaker Jade Carter a Producer in Studio Gobo Ltd.

I explained to Jade my game idea:

The games settings reference:

A town like the one in Stranger Things, Hawkins

With visual art-style similar to Fretless

& Hotline Miami

Gameplay mechanics:

Scavenge

Survive. Keep your nutrition tab up and hide from creatures that lurk in buildings

Explore. See different places and discover outlined environmental items to search for food and materials

Craft. Craft the ultimate weaponed to get out of the place scattered around the map in each building with the creatures

Stealth. Hide from the creatures who lurk in the dark like in buildings and out at night cycle

Genre:

Slasher like thriller / eerie game

Retro stylised

Plot:

Stuck in a deserted town needing to find a way out, having to scavenge for food and materials that could help you escape while hiding from creatures that are trying to eat you.

I could expand on the plot but right now keeping it simple without over complication.

Inya’s feedback,

A good interesting idea which I responded with believing it is an over-scope.

She mentioned you could prioritise the key components the game should have and what mechanics you adjust when production begins.

Explaining my game for the time with ideas for how the gameplay would play out proved extremely useful for the first time having a complete idea before talking made me have a way clearer vision of what my game could look like and play out in addition I began prioritising what I need to show for Monday’s presentation.

Deciding for Monday I should include in my prototype more aesthetic elements I would want to include to give the students a bigger idea of my game and how it would look like. Having developed it I wanted to show what I enjoy doing which are the sprites and overall look of the game.

Finding out the easiest and fastest way to my sprites with the 3D space could be easier if I created a flat sprite and ‘glue onto the floor instead of previously trying to create a 2D backdrop.

Using my artwork on Aseprite components and creating the sprites of them.

Art work: