Animex Game

Animex is held up at Teesside University in Middlesbrough, I wanted to attend last year but missed out on tickets so made sure I could go this year. The line up of speakers did not disappoint and there was a wide range from writers, composers, animators and art directors to name a few. The week was split into two, Animex Game and Animex Talk.

Day 1:

• Lionhead Studios - Jennifer Clixby, Producer and Mike West, Lead Designer
• Ubisoft Reflections - Matthew Oakley and Andrew Willans 
• Rhianna Pratchett, Writer
• Naughty Dog - Eric Baldwin, Lead Animator
• Austin Wintory, Composer / Musician

The first day gave me a great insight into the game industry and how Lionhead Studios in particular, worked on each of their Fable games and the challenges they faced with each. Planning is key in order to ship the game out of time. Another thing they mentioned was that it was good to have just one person who had a clear vision for the game, as with their previous games they had a few directors wanting different things and in the end there was confusion between people. Communication is key, you have to be able to pass your ideas down through the departments and also back up to the director. Regular meetings between departments can overcome this but communication at all times plays a big part in any production. Ubisoft Reflections spoke about taking advantage of things that come your way, their studio is well known for the Just Dance games, it may not be your thing but it is one of the best selling games - don't pass up that chance if you get an opportunity like that. 

Rhianna Pratchett opened my eyes to how much more there was to writing , I always knew story was a huge part but didn't realise that hiring professional writers was only a recent thing. Before this studios would just get anyone in their team to write, it sounds quite absurd that this has been the case for a long time, you wouldn't get just anyone to code the game, so why should the writers be any different? Eric Baldwin from Naughty Dog showed the process of making their teaser trailer, to make it as realistic as possible they used a lot of reference. They spent a lot of time working on the fine details just to make it that bit more believable and creating new ways/processes of doing things such as footprints on the sand.  

The last speaker from the first day was composer, Austin Wintory. It was just so inspiring and moving, to hear how he spoke about music and how music affects so much. It can change the meaning of a game or film drastically, and is also something the viewer can connect with. The work he did on Journey was beautiful and he more than deserved the Grammy he got for it. It shows how recognised games are becoming within the entertainment industry.

Day 2:

• Richard Frankie, Creative Director / Open World Designer
• Indie Development Panel
• IO Interactive - Janus Kirkegaard, Senior Environment Artist
• Epic - Wyeth Johnson, Art Director
• Bay Raitt, Artist and Designer, formerly of Valve

Richard Frankie from the Burnout series talked about the process he went through as an open world designer. A major point he brought up was about iteration, iteration is key. Develop your work and keep changing it. The Indie Development Panel was next, it was interesting to see that a fair few speakers came from AAA games before hand. They mentioned that they found at big studios there is a restriction on creativity there, you got more freedom being indie instead. The downside to becoming an indie developer first, is that there is always the issue of not having more experienced people to guide you, as you would have in the industry. You could miss out on learning certain things. When you do make your first indie game, it's best to create something to test your skills on and so you can work out how to improve from then on. It's easy to set up a company, it's harder to maintain and keep it going. IO Interactive, well known for the Hitman series also attended Animex. It's good to always think about the other disciplines/departments as well as your own when working with others. Whatever you create needs to work for the next person along in the production line. 

The most useful and motivational talk for me was from Wyeth Johnson of Epic. It was a really great talk - very eye opening and useful. It really got me thinking about my work in a different way and how I could push it further. What was really helpful is that Wyeth spoke about the do's and don'ts of what to include in your portfolio. I will definitely be reviewing all the notes I took and editing my work / showreel to this advice. The other things he spoke about would seem like common knowledge but didn't actually click until he pointed it out. Bay Raitt spoke last, such an inspirational person, very talented and amazing to see what he has achieved in his career so far. We should never pass up the chance for the work we love, even if it means living off hardly any more - which Bay did for awhile. If it means getting to do what you're passionate about, just do it. It was amazing to see how much he had taught himself and how many different areas he could adapt to. I need to take note of this and learn as much as I can and different pieces of software!

I can safely say that even though at the moment, I'm looking more into animation within films, all of these talks and speakers have been so inspirational and motivating. I have taken so much knowledge from each of them and can easily transfer this advice into my own area of specialism.