Tuesday 5 March 2013

Creativity


   Creativity, Definition; The use of the imagination or original ideas espcially in the production of an artistic work.
   So what does this mean? Everyone has an imagination, whether it be imagining what food they will have tonight or imagining a narrative in a post-apocolyptic world. There are different variations of imagination and creativity. Artists nuture creativity and express it through artist mediums such as paint, pencils, digital. But how far can we go within imagination and what defines this from reality. Imagination can sometimes be a vessel from the stress of real world issues and allow us to become submerged into a lower level of our subconscious. Many times a day I will zone out and begin creating different stories and characters.
   In practical terms, if someone is psychologically damaged in childhood, they may imagine things such as people, personalities and some even create hole new meanings for reality. This is the end of creativity that I find quite frightening, the human brain can not handle a situation so it creates another as reality to sooth the stress. This is the furthest push of the imagination, and is overwhelming to think about.
   Talent is produced when creativity is carefully moulded and practised excessively. It is unlikely that any human will try something once and be amazing at it from the off. I personally believe that artists are taught. This stems back to the nature/ nuture debate. This debate can be traced back to many aspects of the human psyche, for example are murderers born natural killers or does society make them this way? I think it has to be a mixture of both, as well as creating an artist. You have to be able to recognise shapes and dynamics of drawing, but you will learn new techniques from peers and people throughout your life. Some people do not care for there creative sides, and allow this to wilt. Artists however enjoy the creativity, and therefore allow the knowledge and perception of art to grow. Craft and skill both play a part on stimulating creativity and talent. You develop the skill of art via practise, practise allows you to craft your talent. It is an inevitable circle, you practise at something then you will improve. I personally disagree that skill and craft hinder your abilities as an artist, as these traits improve within time. Anything learnt cannot be a hinder. Talent can be seen as something you are born with, this is incorrect. We are all born with the same talent as everyone else. We are infant humans, we have the same aspects as each other at that age.  Skill is often seen as something learnt. Both skill and talent are things that are learnt, on one is born amazing, we are born with the basic urges, cry for food, cry for change, cry for pain. If we didn’t learn we would still be at this stage now. This is the simplicity of human evolution and learning. From this we learn and manipulate different aspects of our personalities.
    Creativity is seen in game art generation. Without the imagination to think of a suitable story there wouldn’t be a starting point for the game. It manifests itself throughout the evolution of a game. Technical advancements allow artists to use more than traditional medium to express the creativity. It allows us to get the thoughts in our mind, down on paper for others to see. It can be argued that it is much quicker to make digital paints than traditional, because you can erase and change colours at a click of a mouse, although it still takes a lot of talent to use.
   In the industry, all roles use creativity in the creation of a game. Art directors, programmers, writers all have to be able to imagine how something looks or works and get it into the game. It is an important aspect to have, and is needed to create a flowing game. As the audience we feel the creativity stems from the entirety of the game, not individual identities. You don’t normally focus on individual points in the game unless you are playing it to find these tell tale signs.
   There are a variety of ways the gaming industry manifests creativity. All areas of the team uses creativity, so it will be shown via all areas of the game. The graphics are engineered by imagination, as are the narratives, AI, gameplay, concepts. You cannot escape imagination, it is everywhere.
    As an artists, I show my creativity through the images I create, the thought flows from my brain to my hand and splurges onto the paper in front of me. I cannot control it, I need to express it through however I can, thus by drawing it in physical form. I need to develop my drawing understanding and ability to enter the field I wish to be in.

H R Giger

Wanted to show you some amazing work by one of my favourite artists.

Generalist to Specialist


As the gaming industry rapidly expands, young budding artists need to know the real deal with what is needed and wanted in industry. It is a completely competitive industry so knowing your weaknesses and skills and changing them according to what is desired by the industry.
    Once upon a time in a land far different from our own, there was a bedroom coder. This boy would have to be generalised and good enough at all areas of game making to create a fully functioning game. This covers everything from concepting art, creating models to scripting and introducing assets to the gaming industry. This seems incredibly difficult, to be able to be good enough at all aspects of game creation to make and sell a fully working game.
   Nowadays, multi-million dollar industries require specialists. It is better for the average jack-of-all-trades to be able to be superior in one aspect than good in many. This is because the industry is in constant competition with each other and require workers to be absolutely godly in what they do and can achieve. Because the industries have a large amount of money, they can afford to pay many people to cover many jobs. They need an expert covering all areas to get the best from the employees. These include such things as artists, lead art director, concept art, 3D artists. Programming roles such as scripting, engine work, animators. That’s not even including such things as overall game management and researchers. There is a wide variety of jobs in the industry, it’s knowing which role is best suited to your abilities is the key to success.
   For me, I would prefer to go into the 2D art side, being a concept artist or something similar. There is an incredibly, super majorly slim chance of becoming a concept artist in industry. You have to be able to use both traditional and preferable digital art skills and are able to quickly produce rough and interesting concept ideas. Now, I can be quite quick at drawing, but I am no way near good enough to become a professional concept artist. I practise to try and better myself, but it is going to take many, many months until that is even a slight option. This reality check is something I need to keep in mind. However I will not let it crush my ambitions. I do not want to enter the industry blind and foolish. I need to be able to recognise my strengths and weaknesses so that I can change in accordance to what industry needs. Instead of faking reality and thinking  everything is fine and dandy. If you want to get into the industry, you need to be absolutely amazing in what you specialize in and you have to want it like your lungs want oxygen. This course is not for the faint-hearted, I’m overjoyed that I have got this far, I’m going to chase this dream until I physically can’t anymore. The only way to improve is practise.

Interaction Design



   Gaming interfaces are changing rapidly with regards to the ever changing advancements in technology. This means that the industry has to keep on top of the ever changing needs of the gaming audience. Gamers are in constant need of the new technology so it is wise for companies to keep an eye on the oppositions advancements.
    The GUI (Graphical User Interface) needs to look appealing and allow audiences to easily navigate through the image driven menus in order to begin gaming. If this is not done successfully then it could cause stress and upset for the player, making them dislike the game before even properly starting. Menu navigation is key for setting a smooth and interesting visual for the  players to interact with. Messy and confusing menus provide a dull and annoying experience for the player. Menus are important features and are easily distinguished in game if not done correctly. If a game has a well made navigation system then it doesn’t stand out, it makes an easy flow and minimal disruption for the game.
    The interaction with the actual console is important also. If you compare the early PS1 with the new PS3, you can clearly see the amount of change manufactures have put into the design. It comes from a grey boxy large machine, to a sleek, slim, black design. The big bold buttons and flip lid have been changed to a insertion area and small touch-screen-esk buttons. This is to make the console fit the technology advances. People want the sleek designs to fit there (most likely) designer lives. The industry strives off consumerism and audiences wanting the latest, must-have gadgets and they need to look tech-savvy.
    Game interaction is also a key point. Consoles such as the wii have motion sensors in order to provide advanced features to make you feel more “involved” in the game. Another interesting upgrade is the aspect of 3D technology. The large expansion of the need for 3D is rapidly growing, and in order for consoles to stay up to date with technology they now need to start including such elements into there systems. The motion sensors on the wii are impressive and with the majority of the population worrying about weight issues it also allows for exercise with such games as zumba and wii fit. As well as attracting gamers, this now also attracts the health conscious. A wider audience means more sales, and more sales means more money. More money is always good.
    In the future perhaps we could such things like total emersion into games, were we feel the effects of the game. This will be a long way off but it still nice to imagine what the future and technology has to offer us as gamers. Lets hope we don’t get any advancements were we end up in situations like from “Gamer” and “Stay Alive”. Thinking that would be a creepy future, you die in the game you die in real life! Considering the amount of deaths I’ve racked up over the years in games, I wouldn’t stand a chance.