GI Career Fair: Art & Animation

Fri 07 Oct 2011 8:30am GMT / 4:30am EDT / 1:30am PDT
EventsGI Fair

Members of Creative assembly, Lionhed, Crytek and Blitz discuss their careers in the art disciplines

The fourth video in our series from the GamesIndustry.biz Career Fair panels deals with looking for a job in art and animation, with opinions and insight from newcomers and industry veterans alike.

At the most experienced end of the spectrum for our four-person panel are John McCormack, Art Director at Lionhead Studios and Scott Davidson, the Art Manager at Blitz Games.

John has been a professional artist for 20 years and has worked at Mindscape, Bullfrog, EA and Big Blue Box prior to starting at Lionhead where he has been art director for the Fable series. Scott is a senior member of the team at work-for-hire studio Blitz, founded by long term industry figures the Oliver brothers.

Mark Sneddon of Creative Assembly and and Liam Wong of Crytek are newer to the industry, but have been through the process of application and career founding more recently, giving them a fresher perspective on the issues faced by today's students.

That combination of experience and relevance results in a lively discussion of the problems and triumphs of a career in the artistic fields of game development, including advice on portfolios, progress and what to wear to an interview.

The session is chaired by GamesIndustry.biz's Rachel Weber.

Earlier this week we posted three more of our Career Fair session videos on: game design, programming and careers & education.

The four remaining sessions will be posted next week.

9 Comments

Robert Baker
3D Artist

Very informative and entertaining. Thanks for the upload!

Posted:A year ago

#1

Jamie Read
3D Artist

Fantastic! Really useful tips to aid me through my course studies and beyond, really motivational and inspirational to get you through low points.

Posted:A year ago

#2

take note - these folks made it because they were savvy enough to DO something prior or during the university degree (think of uni as a polishing stage to allow yourself to build upon,explore and work freelance amongst various game jobs). That sandbox time is your best guarantee of a future job, whatever the circumstance.

Posted:A year ago

#3

Awesome advice about whether to finish the degree before accepting the job.

I would love to work in Japan, so I would have to finish my degree before trying to get into Japan, and perhaps after I finish my degree I will try to learn how to speek Japanese course at a Melbourne university while also trying to do my game demos and unreal mods in my own style and send them to game companies, to the CEO perhaps,

I am also have a Linked in account, so perhaps that is one thing I have been lucky about.

Posted:A year ago

#4

Michael Endres
Art Production Manager

Great video and 100% spot on.

I liked the comment about the butterfly building up some pixels....people have to imagine that an Art Director might have 5 minutes for the review of a portfolio (1 hr scheduled per week - 12 applicants if you are lucky. i had sometimes 30 applicants to review in one session) - you do not want to waste their time with long winded intros, complicated level design...even a blog is better than this stuff. at least it shows the progress, which is important for a reviewer to judge the potential...

Edited 1 times. Last edit by Michael Endres on 7th October 2011 3:31pm

Posted:A year ago

#5

Big thank you to all the developers who took part, they really made it a great panel!

Posted:A year ago

#6

@ tony Japan is a very unique challenge for outsiders wishing to work. Not only do you need to have a good proficiency in japanese written and spoken. Then there are special recruitment requirements, cultural adaptations and having to think team first, and less about me me me or individual wants/ needs or what you think of is best. For those willing to go tonippon, and qualify for a certificate of eligibility, and have a open humble mind, ready to adapt, it can be a lifelong enriching experience

Posted:A year ago

#7

Nelson Nobrega
Studying artist/animator

its always great to know how great artists start and brings a lot of inspiration and motivation to carry on and believe in ourselfs....thank you!

Posted:A year ago

#8

All artists start the same - a significant amount of hard work and humility. The best artists you'll ever meet will be the first to tell you they have more to learn.

Posted:A year ago

#9

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