Game Design: Art Director

Art Directors within video games have one of the most essential roles. They are in charge of the aesthetics of the game, from everything to the style, props, characters, level designs, pretty much all the visual parts of the game.  They are also in charge of giving orders to other art divisions to ensure that all parts of the games elements maintain the same visual elements. This means they have to be able to lead a large number of people effectively.

Art Direction is a very creative role, using many different artistic skills in order to portray an idea. The style of the game and understanding how colours can effect the mood can drastically change the feel of a level and how the player portrays it. They must make decisions on the style of the game, deciding between realism to very cartoon visuals. Of course this does depend as well on what genre of game it will be, but they need to have the knowledge to know which style will work best. Being able to understand such things takes a lot of skill and experience as a art director.

Film Art Directors and Game Art Directors have similar roles in both their fields. They are both in charge of the main visual elements. Yet for films the art director mainly works on story boards, set design and the specifics of how a scene should be shot to convey the correct messages to the audience. With games this is very similar yet they have to create the sets but in interesting ways in which the player can explore and lose themselves in. This means games have to have much more designs as there are much larger areas and levels that a player will explore than that someone will have to see in sets in a film. Along with game limitations its much more difficult to add in a the subtle visuals and in a way that works within a level which may be ignored and not noticed.

During my A level Spanish I studied the film Director Pedro Almodovar. In his films he uses colour to show certain themes such as love and death through the colour red. In so many scenes the lead would either be wearing elements of red and in the background there would always be a red object. Even subtle things such as the colour of the car or bus they drive in are red. All these subtle elements that you don't even think about when watching his film surprised me when i had to analyse it. His attention to detail was insane but set the mood of the film perfectly. Being able to understand how colours effect the mood, the camera angles, and the way he filmed the scene gave the exact impression he wanted and hinted to a more subtle undertone.

In order for me to become an art director I am going to need to look at how visual elements can be used to portray the mood of a scene and how colour and lighting can effect the scene. Another very important job is to communicate your ideas to other members of the team in charge of different elements. For this I need to work on my communication to be able to clearly get across my ideas.



http://www.discoverit.org/art_director_game_design.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_director
http://www.creativeskillset.org/film/jobs/productiondesign/article_4669_1.asp

Elements of Game Design

Game design is one of the most important elements of games yet one that I have never really thought a lot about. Yet as I have got older and began to take interest in game reviews and getting more picky in the games I play. With that of course you begin to notice which games are more successful than others ect. And this is all down to how the game is designed.

Things are much tougher for game developers and designers today though. When video games first started out, all the game bases and genres were being created but now with all the bases set, creating something new and innovative is very difficult. Money has also becoming a factor as many game companies are creating games purely for a profit and not because they themselves truly want to make the game. This means the game becomes like a tick box, being created to do certain things but for no other reason than that it will be based on something already popular and gain some attention from those Gamers. For me it would be the large amount of singing and dancing games, they are all almost identical and in no way innovative just being created because they know they will sell. Even First Person Shooters and Role Playing Games are becoming very generic and similar.

Even the box art looks the same

Its games where the team puts in their full effort that are successful. If the designer wants to make a game he himself would like to play then more often than not others will also want to play it too. Why would someone really want to make a game that already exists? Its unlikely to happen if the motivation is there for it to be made. In this way the team will be putting in all their effort and  creating something special.

Game designers have to think through many different elements. One of which is the genre f the game. Depending on what type of game it is, will determine many elements of the game.
Another is how to challenge the player. Games are challenge based and we enjoy playing them so much by overcoming these challenges. It gives the player bragging rights, but today games have become very simplistic almost holding your hand all the way through it. The player isn't stupid if you leave them with it they will be able to work it out with simple hints given in the way that the game is designed. For example showing the player whats going to happen before they them self have to complete it. But instead we get long tedious descriptions of what to do which takes the player out of the immersion of the game.

Along with the idea of immersing the player in the game the designer has to think of the world that they can get lost in. Players like to fantasize and in-vision themselves as the characters. A mage, a bounty hunter, a purple dragon; games give you the opportunity to become these characters and control them and get lost in their stories.

There are so many elements in a game that need to be thought about but they are not just one persons responsibility though more one idea then being enhanced by others. Such as the level designers, character designer and writers but all working on the Lead designers idea. Without the strong base idea its just not going to work properly.

When I play a game, for me its the ability to fully be immersed in the story that is key. The world the characters, learning about them, exploring them and forgetting about much else is what I really enjoy in a game. Often for me even if some of the elements are not as strong as they should be I can still enjoy it purely for the fact I was still able to fall into the game.