Essay Draft (UNFINISHED)

This is a draft, which means it is up for altering!

Media Industries by Anastasia Selby

In this essay, the two career choices that are to be analyzed are Games Designer and Concept Artist. In particular, this essay will look into the requirements for each career, what each career requires you to do as well as hours and payments. This is to give me an idea about what to expect in a future career as what is to be expected of me.

Game Designers are in charge of the game being created from start to finish. In order to start, they must convince others to work on their idea for a game. Those who are working on the game are often kept in check by the designers so as they do not detour away from the setting and the story of the game. For example, if the setting of the game was based in New York, the setting would have to be that in New York, so there couldn't be anything that said otherwise like Pyramids or Big Ben, the story itself would have to make sense and tie in all knots (unless a sequel was to be planned in which the remaining loops were filled).
The rules are also supervised: if a character is able to swim, then they should be able to come into contact with water without dying, leaving the level or falling through the game. Also if they encounter an enemy or a boss, there must be a pattern or method in order to get rid of them with some sort of ease yet challenge.
If there are to be weapons or means of transport they must fit into the game - you can't have a Ford Fiesta in a game based in the wild west or a train station in a fantasy inspired game! Sticking to the style of the game is crucial if the game is to capture the target audience and sell successfully.

Game Designers are required to be creative and original and have a broad understanding of numerous pieces of software, most likely so they can help out team members working on the game should they get stumped. More often than ever, having a great skill with 3D art and traditional art is a favoured factor of a Game Designer and being able to adapt to any change or challenge that should happen while working on the game.
Most Game Designers are ones who find playing games and working with computers a joy and depending on experience, a Game Designer can earn anything between nineteen and fifty five thousand pounds per year (£19,000 - £55,000). These people are normally working in an office or having important meetings.

Training a Game Designer is different - learning on the job is the primary way of teaching and by keeping up to date on programs and the consumer market is a sure way to have a higher chance of success.
Normally, there is no definite path to promotion in this career choice, but the more skilled a Game Designer is, the more of a chance of working overseas and being paid a larger sum of money.

The other option this essay is to look into is the role of Concept Artist. The job description is pretty much in the title - creating concept art for the game in question - more often than ever creating and setting the style for it with traditional work. Normally, if any part becomes digital it's not until the final stages of completing. Programs such as Adobe Photoshop are used at this point. 

Having a brilliant talent for illustrating and communicating is a sure way of being looked at for a possible slot as well as being able to see what others can't by visualizing 3D space and perspective. You'll find that most Concept Artists have an interest in film, design and architecture and can often interpret others' ideas with superior skill. Working effectively as a team is a big must for one of this career which also often calls for and adaption to change.

Similar to that of Game Designer, there is absolutely no firm route that leads directly to one and the most likely thing to do to becoming one is to take on free work to get noticed. A Concept Artist can earn around forty two thousand dollars ($42,000) - around twenty six thousand pounds (£26,000) per year.

In a nutshell, while both careers of my choice have differed greatly, there are small similarities that join them together and either would prove to be a great choice of a future in The Games Industry.

Bibliography

Information from
http://creativepool.co.uk/articles/jobdescriptions/games-designer-job-description
http://www.skillset.org/film/jobs/productiondesign/article_4680_1.asp

Word count (excluding bibliography) : 762
No way near the 10% margin required, just like the last one.
*sigh* essays just aren't my thing