6) Unit 1 Task 1 & 2
6
Pre-production is a process of planning all the part elements involved in a film, play and other performances so everything will be organized and there won't be too much fixing needed later on or during the project. There are three stages in production: pre-production, production, and post-production - pre-production ends when the planning is finished and it moves on to the real production.
2D Sidescroller game is a video game where the player looks at it from a side-view camera angle and is mostly allowed to move to the right and left. This is an easy way to create a cheap game which can be fun as well as popular, an easy example could be "Mario".
Type of production: (e.g. film, television, video, radio, audio, interactive media, web, computer game, print, photo-imaging)
There are many various product types. Depending on the chosen type, the requirements will be different for each, that's why it's important to understand those differences and think about them before doing anything else. For example, if we're aiming to create a film, within the pre-production process we'd have to think about the filming equipment that is needed, such as special cameras, the green screen, lights etc. Then the whole script that would need to be checked, discussed and agreed on, the crew and best actors would be hired all depending on the budget we would contain. Also, the locations, places for the actions are just as crucial - there's much more to it but compared to game creation, it's much different. In our case, where we're creating a 2D sidescroller game, we'll need to think about the main idea first, do all the research such as about the copyrights, think through everything in details, all the characters' looks and actions as well as the environments and objects etc. Check if the budget we have is enough, then find the right people to do the right work and there will be several positions such as the main characters, environments modelers; the animators and all other positions. Most of it is so diverse compared to each other, and this counts in all the other productions types such as radio, audio or photo-imaging production.
Finance: (sources of finance; requirements, e.g. equipment, transport, talent, crew, materials, facility hire, clearances)
Once the product type has been chosen, another major step is financing it. For larger productions, in particular, for the more popular ones, such as for filming, they can receive a budget from a special filming financing companies. This will allow them to gain, for example, better filming equipment which will resolve to create a better quality film, or gain more time to create a more successful movie - "time is money". However, if the company isn't as popular or as big such as some radio stations or web productions, it might lead them to "independent funding" because they won't be able to achieve help from the financing companies. The independent funding might be found as a work with public funding or donations which then would allow them to achieve better money for, for example, better equipment and all the other needs depending on the production. Usually, within computer games, especially when it comes to "triple-A games", their funding does come from the financing companies as usually, those type of games are successful and they know, it will be advantageous for them - that's why they usually do have a quite large budget. It is also important, especially for smaller companies, to create a whole pre-production process via a document called "High Concept Document" which then would shortly and clearly outline everything in the production and everything they'll need; this is being examined by the investors and decided whether they'll give the founding or not.
Time (e.g. deadlines, availability of equipment, availability of personnel, timescales for clearances)
Establishing deadlines indeed is crucial in pre-production. Multiple deadlines for smaller individual parts of the production allows us to stay determined and lets us meet the overall deadline without any delays. This way, during those short-term deadlines it's possible to keep an eye on the whole process and notice any problems within the project that could accrue, which then, could easily and quickly be fixed instead of fixing everything at the very end, it'd be much harder this way. In a game development, most likely, there would be many separate deadlines for each category depending on the job - it'll be different for the sketchers, the character or environment creators that it'd be for the 3D as well as the 2D modelers and animators.
Personnel: (size of the team; roles; skills and experience; resourcing; availability; costs; team or crew CVs)
Depending on the production type, there will be a different personnel type, size etc. For example, in a film development, depending on the type of a movie, there will be a certain amount of actors needed but even if there'd be a small amount of them needed, they'd still need a large number of people for the camera, light or side effects operators, not even including all the fashion designers or environment creators. Whilst, to produce a radio station, there's much less personnel needed as there are way fewer roles to take, such as someone who operates the equipment and music, plus someone who hosts the station - not much work to do. In our case, to create a game, there are quite many people needed, such as people for the concept arts, characters and environments creations, 2D modelers, animators, and advertisements. Additionally, the costs for people in different productions will be different because of their qualifications and requirements. For gaming, we would like to have the best animators, modelers etc., their qualifications would be higher - which concludes to a higher paycheck - than to the people in the radio stations who's requirements are to be able to use a recording equipment or have a good communication skill.
Facilities: (e.g. production equipment, post-production equipment, facility houses, outsourcing; availability; costs)
Facilities are just as important to take under the consideration when producing media. An example would be obtaining a photography studio for the photographers where they could work most of the time to create the best photographs, as well as for the wall or TV advertisements where most creations take place. As for the game productions, it's often very useful to contain a green screen studio where it could be used to record movements that can later be used within a 3D game models. Facilities usually already contain additional, more useful equipment which would be much harder and more expensive to obtain on your own.
While producing an animation or in our case, a game, which could also contain some animations, there might be some materials needed to create in order to complete the game. The raw materials are the ones we can create or collect on our own, such as a creaking of the door. This can be easily done by founding an old door and recording the sound of its movement with a high-quality recorder, this way, we could use such a sound freely throughout the whole game or wherever we please to. However, if we'd need a specific material that for some reason we wouldn't be able to make, it's possible to use an existing material, whether it's found in a "photo-library material" or "sound library material" or just on the internet. Doing so, it's extremely urgent and essential to check the Copyright laws just to make sure that, whatever we're planning to use, isn't protected in any way; otherwise it'd be called stealing, and this would lead to a huge amount of trouble. Yet, if we'd aim to benefit from materials that are copyrighted, we'd have to get a license.
The most common copyright law for online media is called "Creative Commons" - for any more information please see the link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/
Contributors: (type, e.g. specialists, experts, talent, public; contributor biographies)
A contributor is a person who's an expert in a field of a specific production. Such a person can review and give 'feedback' about the progress that's been made but also, he/she is assigned to give the best advice to make sure to improve the quality of the whole production and make sure to have it put on the highest level. Having a contributor during the pre-production as well as the main production process can be highly advantageous because those are the most important moments in creating (in this case) a well-made game. That's why, such an educated person who can give their input on every single part of the production, can be a great help as this will allow the company to make quick, best decisions based on the given information and change in necessary moments, increasing the chances of an overall success. Furthermore, contributors probably will know best in what way to advertise such a 2D side-scroller game for the idea to sell to people.
Locations: (identification; recces; limitations and risks, e.g. distance, access, cost, weather)
Deciding a perfect location during a pre-production process is indeed very necessary,. This can and will save a lot of time, and time is money, in particular, in such productions as filming because, during a movie, there usually are many various places where shots are taken. During the choosing of the location, they too, have to think if the place is perfect for the shot, does it fit the script and then get the filming rights from the council to use the chosen location, furthermore, the location must ensure the health and safety checks so the personnel will be allowed to access it without putting themselves into danger; otherwise it'll be prohibited. In the games production, it varies. The location, for works with a such large number of computers, must be chosen wisely to fulfill all the needs, such as to make sure, there is enough space for everyone to feel comfortable enough, there must be enough multiple electrical sockets in order to fit in all the electrical equipment and make sure, even though, there is so much electricity, it is a safe place to work in - there can be no risk of someone getting electrocuted.
This leads to putting the cost of it under the consideration, making sure it won't take away too much of the budget so most of it would be used in a better way - to create a higher quality game or gain better equipment.
Codes of practice and regulation:
The producer within the specific media industry must ensure that whatever they'll be producing obeys all the codes of practice laws and regulations in place, such as, whether the materials they're using or making, don't infringe copyright laws. Also, this way, everyone will be ensured that workers will stay safe as well as it'll help to ensure everyone if any problems would take place within the working environment. In a game industry, the producer will, of course, have to check if the game doesn't contain any materials that are copyrighted; if they are indeed created by someone else, the producer will need to gain permission from the original creator and possibly obtain a license, which would probably cost a lot of money. This would be very unfortunate for a company with a smaller budget.
Clearances, e.g. Mechanical Copyright Protection Society-Performing Rights Society Alliance (MCPS-PRS), model releases, location permissions
A clearance is having a legal access or permission of a usage of whatever it is that is needed during the process of the production. For example, if there is a certain location we'd like to use, we'd have to gain such a clearance to operate in the place, form the owner or a local council or a government. It is appropriate to consider getting a clearance during the pre-production process as it is impossible to begin working without having a location to work in. This way, we're being more resourceful with the time - there won't be any delays nor problems finding a place in the last minute, in particular, if the clearance wouldn't be able to be granted in the first try.
Legal, e.g. copyright, health, and safety
Legally, it's allowed to use any materials in the production as long as it's not copyrighted and if it is, you must first gain the legal permission and license through a contract with the owner. If the company was to use a copyrighted material without a permission, they could be found guilty for copyright infringement and fall into legal trouble. That's why it's so crucial for the producers to take the highest precautions in what and where the materials are taken from, that's why, in the game production, we aren't allowed to use the exact same designs, characters nor locations is we don't contain a license.
Producer's responsibility is to have a legal assurance that the working places are in the health and safety precautions throughout the whole process of the production as well as ensure that all personnel clearly understands and follows the regulations. The risk assessment documentation must be created and will vary depending on the production type, but it is useful as it outlines all the dangerous risks that might occur. Within the game industry, one of the risks would be having a drink near anything that's electrical, such as cables, as it could fall and cause a short circuit or, in extreme circumstances might even electrocute the nearby person.
Insurance, e.g. public liability, completion insurance
Insurance is one of the most major protections a producer should have in possession. For example, if the production is being taken place near the public, the producer is taking the whole responsibility for the people around, which means if, in a case where a member of the public gets hurt, the insurance will then protect the company against any claims the person may make. Another insurance that could be good to take under the consideration is the "completion insurance", which ensures that the producers will complete the production no matter what. In such a situation, often the production financed by the completion insurance company. An example of this is the Whinney Insurance Brokers group that focuses on the game developers insurances. ( https://www.whinneyinsurance.co.uk/games-developers-insurance/ )
Regulatory bodies, e.g. Ofcom, Press Complaints Commission (PCC), Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), Pan European Game Information (PEGI), Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), British Board of Film Classification (BBFC)
A regulatory body organization or a government agency that is set up to oversee certain industries and the regulatory functions. This involves imposing requirements, conditions or restrictions, setting the standard for activities, and enforcing in these areas or obtaining compliance. Regulatory bodies cover a wide variety of professions, such as the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) which is an independent self-regulatory body which deals with complaints to do with editorial content of newspapers and magazines; or an Office of Communications (Ofcom) which regulates television and radio, fixed line telecoms and mobiles as well as the airwaves over which wireless devices operate.
Trade unions, e.g. Producers’ Alliance for Cinema and Television (PACT), National Union of Journalists (NUJ), Broadcasting Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union (BECTU)
A trade union is a group of workers within a trade or profession, that is designed to protect the rights of employees. Whenever, an employee in the production process, feels or suspects that their rights are being violated, they then know who they can contact and ask for assistance while resolving their issue - that's why it is important to make all the employees be aware of the trade unions as this might be a right help.
Trade associations, e.g. The Independent Games Developers’ Association (TIGA), Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers’ Association (ELSPA), British Interactive Media Association (BIMA)
Unit 1 Task 1
Pre-production is a process of planning all the part elements involved in a film, play and other performances so everything will be organized and there won't be too much fixing needed later on or during the project. There are three stages in production: pre-production, production, and post-production - pre-production ends when the planning is finished and it moves on to the real production.
2D Sidescroller game is a video game where the player looks at it from a side-view camera angle and is mostly allowed to move to the right and left. This is an easy way to create a cheap game which can be fun as well as popular, an easy example could be "Mario".
Type of production: (e.g. film, television, video, radio, audio, interactive media, web, computer game, print, photo-imaging)
There are many various product types. Depending on the chosen type, the requirements will be different for each, that's why it's important to understand those differences and think about them before doing anything else. For example, if we're aiming to create a film, within the pre-production process we'd have to think about the filming equipment that is needed, such as special cameras, the green screen, lights etc. Then the whole script that would need to be checked, discussed and agreed on, the crew and best actors would be hired all depending on the budget we would contain. Also, the locations, places for the actions are just as crucial - there's much more to it but compared to game creation, it's much different. In our case, where we're creating a 2D sidescroller game, we'll need to think about the main idea first, do all the research such as about the copyrights, think through everything in details, all the characters' looks and actions as well as the environments and objects etc. Check if the budget we have is enough, then find the right people to do the right work and there will be several positions such as the main characters, environments modelers; the animators and all other positions. Most of it is so diverse compared to each other, and this counts in all the other productions types such as radio, audio or photo-imaging production.
Finance: (sources of finance; requirements, e.g. equipment, transport, talent, crew, materials, facility hire, clearances)
Once the product type has been chosen, another major step is financing it. For larger productions, in particular, for the more popular ones, such as for filming, they can receive a budget from a special filming financing companies. This will allow them to gain, for example, better filming equipment which will resolve to create a better quality film, or gain more time to create a more successful movie - "time is money". However, if the company isn't as popular or as big such as some radio stations or web productions, it might lead them to "independent funding" because they won't be able to achieve help from the financing companies. The independent funding might be found as a work with public funding or donations which then would allow them to achieve better money for, for example, better equipment and all the other needs depending on the production. Usually, within computer games, especially when it comes to "triple-A games", their funding does come from the financing companies as usually, those type of games are successful and they know, it will be advantageous for them - that's why they usually do have a quite large budget. It is also important, especially for smaller companies, to create a whole pre-production process via a document called "High Concept Document" which then would shortly and clearly outline everything in the production and everything they'll need; this is being examined by the investors and decided whether they'll give the founding or not.
Time (e.g. deadlines, availability of equipment, availability of personnel, timescales for clearances)
Establishing deadlines indeed is crucial in pre-production. Multiple deadlines for smaller individual parts of the production allows us to stay determined and lets us meet the overall deadline without any delays. This way, during those short-term deadlines it's possible to keep an eye on the whole process and notice any problems within the project that could accrue, which then, could easily and quickly be fixed instead of fixing everything at the very end, it'd be much harder this way. In a game development, most likely, there would be many separate deadlines for each category depending on the job - it'll be different for the sketchers, the character or environment creators that it'd be for the 3D as well as the 2D modelers and animators.
Personnel: (size of the team; roles; skills and experience; resourcing; availability; costs; team or crew CVs)
Depending on the production type, there will be a different personnel type, size etc. For example, in a film development, depending on the type of a movie, there will be a certain amount of actors needed but even if there'd be a small amount of them needed, they'd still need a large number of people for the camera, light or side effects operators, not even including all the fashion designers or environment creators. Whilst, to produce a radio station, there's much less personnel needed as there are way fewer roles to take, such as someone who operates the equipment and music, plus someone who hosts the station - not much work to do. In our case, to create a game, there are quite many people needed, such as people for the concept arts, characters and environments creations, 2D modelers, animators, and advertisements. Additionally, the costs for people in different productions will be different because of their qualifications and requirements. For gaming, we would like to have the best animators, modelers etc., their qualifications would be higher - which concludes to a higher paycheck - than to the people in the radio stations who's requirements are to be able to use a recording equipment or have a good communication skill.
Facilities: (e.g. production equipment, post-production equipment, facility houses, outsourcing; availability; costs)
Facilities are just as important to take under the consideration when producing media. An example would be obtaining a photography studio for the photographers where they could work most of the time to create the best photographs, as well as for the wall or TV advertisements where most creations take place. As for the game productions, it's often very useful to contain a green screen studio where it could be used to record movements that can later be used within a 3D game models. Facilities usually already contain additional, more useful equipment which would be much harder and more expensive to obtain on your own.
Materials: (type, eg original materials, archive and library materials, photo-library materials, sound library materials, internet, assets, audio, script, animatics, graphics, interviews, costumes,
properties, recorded music; sources; costs; clearances)
While producing an animation or in our case, a game, which could also contain some animations, there might be some materials needed to create in order to complete the game. The raw materials are the ones we can create or collect on our own, such as a creaking of the door. This can be easily done by founding an old door and recording the sound of its movement with a high-quality recorder, this way, we could use such a sound freely throughout the whole game or wherever we please to. However, if we'd need a specific material that for some reason we wouldn't be able to make, it's possible to use an existing material, whether it's found in a "photo-library material" or "sound library material" or just on the internet. Doing so, it's extremely urgent and essential to check the Copyright laws just to make sure that, whatever we're planning to use, isn't protected in any way; otherwise it'd be called stealing, and this would lead to a huge amount of trouble. Yet, if we'd aim to benefit from materials that are copyrighted, we'd have to get a license.
The most common copyright law for online media is called "Creative Commons" - for any more information please see the link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/
Contributors: (type, e.g. specialists, experts, talent, public; contributor biographies)
A contributor is a person who's an expert in a field of a specific production. Such a person can review and give 'feedback' about the progress that's been made but also, he/she is assigned to give the best advice to make sure to improve the quality of the whole production and make sure to have it put on the highest level. Having a contributor during the pre-production as well as the main production process can be highly advantageous because those are the most important moments in creating (in this case) a well-made game. That's why, such an educated person who can give their input on every single part of the production, can be a great help as this will allow the company to make quick, best decisions based on the given information and change in necessary moments, increasing the chances of an overall success. Furthermore, contributors probably will know best in what way to advertise such a 2D side-scroller game for the idea to sell to people.
Locations: (identification; recces; limitations and risks, e.g. distance, access, cost, weather)
Deciding a perfect location during a pre-production process is indeed very necessary,. This can and will save a lot of time, and time is money, in particular, in such productions as filming because, during a movie, there usually are many various places where shots are taken. During the choosing of the location, they too, have to think if the place is perfect for the shot, does it fit the script and then get the filming rights from the council to use the chosen location, furthermore, the location must ensure the health and safety checks so the personnel will be allowed to access it without putting themselves into danger; otherwise it'll be prohibited. In the games production, it varies. The location, for works with a such large number of computers, must be chosen wisely to fulfill all the needs, such as to make sure, there is enough space for everyone to feel comfortable enough, there must be enough multiple electrical sockets in order to fit in all the electrical equipment and make sure, even though, there is so much electricity, it is a safe place to work in - there can be no risk of someone getting electrocuted.
This leads to putting the cost of it under the consideration, making sure it won't take away too much of the budget so most of it would be used in a better way - to create a higher quality game or gain better equipment.
Codes of practice and regulation:
The producer within the specific media industry must ensure that whatever they'll be producing obeys all the codes of practice laws and regulations in place, such as, whether the materials they're using or making, don't infringe copyright laws. Also, this way, everyone will be ensured that workers will stay safe as well as it'll help to ensure everyone if any problems would take place within the working environment. In a game industry, the producer will, of course, have to check if the game doesn't contain any materials that are copyrighted; if they are indeed created by someone else, the producer will need to gain permission from the original creator and possibly obtain a license, which would probably cost a lot of money. This would be very unfortunate for a company with a smaller budget.
Clearances, e.g. Mechanical Copyright Protection Society-Performing Rights Society Alliance (MCPS-PRS), model releases, location permissions
A clearance is having a legal access or permission of a usage of whatever it is that is needed during the process of the production. For example, if there is a certain location we'd like to use, we'd have to gain such a clearance to operate in the place, form the owner or a local council or a government. It is appropriate to consider getting a clearance during the pre-production process as it is impossible to begin working without having a location to work in. This way, we're being more resourceful with the time - there won't be any delays nor problems finding a place in the last minute, in particular, if the clearance wouldn't be able to be granted in the first try.
Legal, e.g. copyright, health, and safety
Legally, it's allowed to use any materials in the production as long as it's not copyrighted and if it is, you must first gain the legal permission and license through a contract with the owner. If the company was to use a copyrighted material without a permission, they could be found guilty for copyright infringement and fall into legal trouble. That's why it's so crucial for the producers to take the highest precautions in what and where the materials are taken from, that's why, in the game production, we aren't allowed to use the exact same designs, characters nor locations is we don't contain a license.
Producer's responsibility is to have a legal assurance that the working places are in the health and safety precautions throughout the whole process of the production as well as ensure that all personnel clearly understands and follows the regulations. The risk assessment documentation must be created and will vary depending on the production type, but it is useful as it outlines all the dangerous risks that might occur. Within the game industry, one of the risks would be having a drink near anything that's electrical, such as cables, as it could fall and cause a short circuit or, in extreme circumstances might even electrocute the nearby person.
Insurance, e.g. public liability, completion insurance
Insurance is one of the most major protections a producer should have in possession. For example, if the production is being taken place near the public, the producer is taking the whole responsibility for the people around, which means if, in a case where a member of the public gets hurt, the insurance will then protect the company against any claims the person may make. Another insurance that could be good to take under the consideration is the "completion insurance", which ensures that the producers will complete the production no matter what. In such a situation, often the production financed by the completion insurance company. An example of this is the Whinney Insurance Brokers group that focuses on the game developers insurances. ( https://www.whinneyinsurance.co.uk/games-developers-insurance/ )
Regulatory bodies, e.g. Ofcom, Press Complaints Commission (PCC), Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), Pan European Game Information (PEGI), Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), British Board of Film Classification (BBFC)
A regulatory body organization or a government agency that is set up to oversee certain industries and the regulatory functions. This involves imposing requirements, conditions or restrictions, setting the standard for activities, and enforcing in these areas or obtaining compliance. Regulatory bodies cover a wide variety of professions, such as the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) which is an independent self-regulatory body which deals with complaints to do with editorial content of newspapers and magazines; or an Office of Communications (Ofcom) which regulates television and radio, fixed line telecoms and mobiles as well as the airwaves over which wireless devices operate.
Trade unions, e.g. Producers’ Alliance for Cinema and Television (PACT), National Union of Journalists (NUJ), Broadcasting Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union (BECTU)
A trade union is a group of workers within a trade or profession, that is designed to protect the rights of employees. Whenever, an employee in the production process, feels or suspects that their rights are being violated, they then know who they can contact and ask for assistance while resolving their issue - that's why it is important to make all the employees be aware of the trade unions as this might be a right help.
Trade associations, e.g. The Independent Games Developers’ Association (TIGA), Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers’ Association (ELSPA), British Interactive Media Association (BIMA)
Trade associations are organizations that are established and financed by specific businesses in specific industries and their focus is to collaborate between companies, however, they also take part in activities related to the public, such as advertising, education, lobbying and more. Most associations are non-profit organizations as they are funded by the businesses. For example, the British Interactive Media Association (BIMA) are one of the very important associations as they represent the interactive media as well as the digital sector in the UK. They, too, are a non-profit industry body formed in 1985, mostly created of the digital agencies and its main aims are to promote British digital industry, share knowledge as well as their best practices and then support the next generation of the digital professionals - that is why they are indeed important for the game industries.
To be able to prepare my pre-production documentation for, the 2D side stroller, gaming media production, I will have to identify some of the procedures as well as the documentations.
Procedure
I'll start with identifying:
*Finance availability - At the moment there won't be any finance needed as for now, we won't be having much needs.
*Needed personnel - For the beginning, I will be building this project by myself, using my own skills, with a little bit of help from my adviser.
*Personnels availability - There won't be any problems with having the personnel available as I mentioned before it'll be just me, and in case I'll be needing some help, I always have the contact with my adviser at all times.
*Needed resources - There are only a few main resources that I'll be needing, to create my digital work, which are, the computer, including a keyboard and a mouse, a software like Adobe Illustrator and the Photoshop. Other, 'side' resources could be things like a notebook, sketchbook, drawing kit, eraser and the sharpener, for my drawing and literal ideas, concept arts and/or notes.
*Resources available - The resources are available for me in both of my working places, at home and at school, as it is very easy to organize everything with the help of "OneDrive", all of my works and projects. Additionally, it is quite easy to get hold on to the needed softwares which also mean, there won't be any complications.
*Prepare budget - It is always useful to prepare some budget beforehand. This time, it's not really necessary as everything was prepared sooner however, it still is better to have some money ready in a case of the urgent situation; and in general, usually it is prepared for all those stuff to get purchased such as the softwares or books etc. They all can be costly.
*Personnel contract - Contract personnel is something very useful in a job as this way you can be assured of your rights, possibilities and the job, for how long will you be working and what is being expected from you. This time, we won't be needing that as for this project there'll be no one working for me, nor I'll be working for anyone else.
*Book resources - Book resources won't be as necessary because, nowadays we contain the Internet where we can gain most knowledge from as well as ideas and encouragement; however, books are still very useful for concept arts, for the art techniques and inspirations - that's why we could use some books that we posses already, but it's not crucial.
*Schedules preparation - I surely will prepare myself for a solid, productive work with a 100% of encouragement and organization along with right amount of breaks, getting proper amount of nutritions to my body and having enough, between 6 to 8 hours, sleep - all to keep my body ready and strong for work. I will use my time wisely; I'll use all of my time at college to learn and gain as much as I can, and then, my free time productively and profitably for the project.
Health & safety implications - As I mentioned before, I will make sure to not 'suffocate' myself, my body, I'll make sure to eat regularly and healthy along with the right amount of sleep. More importantly, I'll ensure, the working space is safe, for example, by not keeping any open drinks on the table, or anywhere near the electricity such as computers, keyboard etc. as if in a case of wetting them, a very harmful situation could occur - just like all the companies should take care of these type of safety rules and their employees, I will stick to the guidelines too.
*Legal implications - I will crucially unsure that all of my creations won't be able to identify with any of the real games, animations or anything that could be considered as violating the copyrights. It is very important to take all the rules, copyright etc. under the consideration - otherwise, I could get sued, which would be very disadvantageous. Of course, it is helpful and alright to take reference from real games however, we do not want to just copy anything, nor that be presentable for us as it wouldn't be original.
*Projects risks - All the projects often have some risks to them such as, loss of work through an accident, accidental deletion, computer crash, damage without having the work saved and/or copied somewhere else. An another risk, could be not gaining anything profitable from it - could be considered a waste of time; you'll never be assured everything will go well, we need to be ready for the mistakes and downs.
Documentation
There are a few production documentations:
*Scripts - To start creating a game, firstly I'll have to know what I want the story to be all about, do I want it to communicate a message, or would I like to just tell a story through a game with or without any real reason, maybe just for a pure entertainment. To do so, I'll write a script telling and roughly explaining the whole storyline as well as the storytelling situations.
*Mood-boards - Once my script will be done and I'll know what kind of story this should be, I then will do some research for my ideas and inspirations, creating mood-boards and then using them to create my own characters, environments, objects etc. This way I'll be building up my own mood-board of my own ideas and concept arts; this could also help me shape up the story I thought of before, if it would be needed, or if it'd just give me more, better ideas.
*Thumbnails - Thumbnail storyboards are the first sketches of the storyboard for a scene. This way, we'll be able to see what the story will roughly look like once put into a real digital, or more detailed work - then we can decide whether we like it or not and should we change it or leave it as is. (Usually, thumbnail storyboards are very small, sometimes no bigger than a thumbnail, that's why they're called like this. Amazing, isn't it?)
*Storyboards - After the thumbnails are ready, I'll then convert them into more detailed works constructing a storyboard out of them. This will allow me to have finished scenes for my game and animations within, as well as allow me to finally develop those ideas into the digital works, building the environments and other models within the Adobe Illustrator and other programs if needed.
*Properties - Everything is already prepared as all we'll need is a computer with the programs and some drawing art stuff, such as paper and a pencils - for the concept arts and/or storyboards. This is all I'll need for creating the game however, if I'd have to create a movie or an CGI animation, I'd surely need much more equipments and preparations for things such as cameras, (green screen) background, lightnings and more.
*Location recce - As I mentioned before, I'll be doing most of my work digitally, in one place, which could be either in school are at home, those are the places that don't need to be reserved and I can use them as much as I want, making my job much easier. On the other hand, if I'd be creating a film, I most likely would have to look for a location I'd recce (a production term which refers to visiting a location, determining its suitability for shooting and the access to necessary facilities etc.) - and then reserve the chosen one, this includes more finance needed for such actions.
*Contact lists - Creating a contact list is very important as this will allow me to contact other personnel much quicker in need of something, in particular, in the stressful moments. In this case, it won't be very necessary as I'll be creating the game by myself, however, I still might need help from other people, such as my teacher/adviser or a friend, that's why I will make sure to have their contacts written down somewhere near me and always ready to use at any moment.
Production schedules - They will help me see how much time I have for each production part of the game that I have to fit in, with my jobs, within the given time. My deadlines will be given to me by my advisor - no matter what happens, I must finish them by the time, otherwise, I'll fail my job.
Budget - Documenting the budget is very important as this way, I'll know how much money will be needed to create a specific game, or what kind of a game I'll be able to create with the budget I already have but, just as I said before, I'll be creating a simple game by myself. This means, I won't be needing money to pay the personnel that would work with me (as no-one is working with me), nor there won't be any additional equipments required, as if it would in the filming industry. I'll only need the computer I already possess, and the drawing equipments - clearly, not much budget necessary but, I surely still will be recording it.
Clearances - In order for me to be able to distribute my game, I'll have to either, obtain the official permission to use content that appears in my game, or make sure that I'm not accidentally stealing anything from an another game, film, etc. There are a few clearances, such as: the script clearances, content or the music clearances; there are even more for the filming industries, such as the additional actor's/ contributor's clearances or the location agreements.
Plans:
*Location plans - My plan of a location is either the school, or home. Those two locations are the most effective and organized as they contain everything I need to build my ideas and a game, as well as those are the places I can best concentrate.
*Studio plans - I won't be creating, for example, any of the CGI animations nor photographs for my game, so I won't be needing any studios unless, I will decide to create some special sound effects that will require a sound studio.
Health and safety assessments - I'll make sure to keep my working area at a very high level of health and safety. For example, I won't be keeping any open liquids anywhere near the electronics such as the devices and cables, as well as I'll make sure, the working hours are well organized for my body, in particular the eyes, to have enough of the resting time.
Risk assessments - Throughout my whole project, I'll be assessing any risks that could occur and try to prevent them from happening; for example, there is always a risk of loosing the work, to make sure it won't happen, I'll be saving it constantly and duplicating it as well as copying to another disk, just to be 100% sure my hard work won't go to waste, in particular, by an accident.
Contingency plan - During the work, some kind of problems might always occur, that's why we need to have the contingency plan. Within the gaming projects, usually, there aren't many issues; as I mentioned before, there could be a human error, when someone doesn't save the work, or the computer crashes or the liquid spills - in such cases, we just need to always have to work copied to other devices too - but, there also could be problems in very rare cases. For example, when the weather is so bad, the electricity cuts off, in a moment like that, it'd be perfect to have a fully charged laptop on which we could still continue working.
Unit 1, Task 2
To be able to prepare my pre-production documentation for, the 2D side stroller, gaming media production, I will have to identify some of the procedures as well as the documentations.
Procedure
I'll start with identifying:
*Finance availability - At the moment there won't be any finance needed as for now, we won't be having much needs.
*Needed personnel - For the beginning, I will be building this project by myself, using my own skills, with a little bit of help from my adviser.
*Personnels availability - There won't be any problems with having the personnel available as I mentioned before it'll be just me, and in case I'll be needing some help, I always have the contact with my adviser at all times.
*Needed resources - There are only a few main resources that I'll be needing, to create my digital work, which are, the computer, including a keyboard and a mouse, a software like Adobe Illustrator and the Photoshop. Other, 'side' resources could be things like a notebook, sketchbook, drawing kit, eraser and the sharpener, for my drawing and literal ideas, concept arts and/or notes.
*Resources available - The resources are available for me in both of my working places, at home and at school, as it is very easy to organize everything with the help of "OneDrive", all of my works and projects. Additionally, it is quite easy to get hold on to the needed softwares which also mean, there won't be any complications.
*Prepare budget - It is always useful to prepare some budget beforehand. This time, it's not really necessary as everything was prepared sooner however, it still is better to have some money ready in a case of the urgent situation; and in general, usually it is prepared for all those stuff to get purchased such as the softwares or books etc. They all can be costly.
*Personnel contract - Contract personnel is something very useful in a job as this way you can be assured of your rights, possibilities and the job, for how long will you be working and what is being expected from you. This time, we won't be needing that as for this project there'll be no one working for me, nor I'll be working for anyone else.
*Book resources - Book resources won't be as necessary because, nowadays we contain the Internet where we can gain most knowledge from as well as ideas and encouragement; however, books are still very useful for concept arts, for the art techniques and inspirations - that's why we could use some books that we posses already, but it's not crucial.
*Schedules preparation - I surely will prepare myself for a solid, productive work with a 100% of encouragement and organization along with right amount of breaks, getting proper amount of nutritions to my body and having enough, between 6 to 8 hours, sleep - all to keep my body ready and strong for work. I will use my time wisely; I'll use all of my time at college to learn and gain as much as I can, and then, my free time productively and profitably for the project.
Health & safety implications - As I mentioned before, I will make sure to not 'suffocate' myself, my body, I'll make sure to eat regularly and healthy along with the right amount of sleep. More importantly, I'll ensure, the working space is safe, for example, by not keeping any open drinks on the table, or anywhere near the electricity such as computers, keyboard etc. as if in a case of wetting them, a very harmful situation could occur - just like all the companies should take care of these type of safety rules and their employees, I will stick to the guidelines too.
*Legal implications - I will crucially unsure that all of my creations won't be able to identify with any of the real games, animations or anything that could be considered as violating the copyrights. It is very important to take all the rules, copyright etc. under the consideration - otherwise, I could get sued, which would be very disadvantageous. Of course, it is helpful and alright to take reference from real games however, we do not want to just copy anything, nor that be presentable for us as it wouldn't be original.
*Projects risks - All the projects often have some risks to them such as, loss of work through an accident, accidental deletion, computer crash, damage without having the work saved and/or copied somewhere else. An another risk, could be not gaining anything profitable from it - could be considered a waste of time; you'll never be assured everything will go well, we need to be ready for the mistakes and downs.
Documentation
There are a few production documentations:
*Scripts - To start creating a game, firstly I'll have to know what I want the story to be all about, do I want it to communicate a message, or would I like to just tell a story through a game with or without any real reason, maybe just for a pure entertainment. To do so, I'll write a script telling and roughly explaining the whole storyline as well as the storytelling situations.
*Mood-boards - Once my script will be done and I'll know what kind of story this should be, I then will do some research for my ideas and inspirations, creating mood-boards and then using them to create my own characters, environments, objects etc. This way I'll be building up my own mood-board of my own ideas and concept arts; this could also help me shape up the story I thought of before, if it would be needed, or if it'd just give me more, better ideas.
*Thumbnails - Thumbnail storyboards are the first sketches of the storyboard for a scene. This way, we'll be able to see what the story will roughly look like once put into a real digital, or more detailed work - then we can decide whether we like it or not and should we change it or leave it as is. (Usually, thumbnail storyboards are very small, sometimes no bigger than a thumbnail, that's why they're called like this. Amazing, isn't it?)
*Storyboards - After the thumbnails are ready, I'll then convert them into more detailed works constructing a storyboard out of them. This will allow me to have finished scenes for my game and animations within, as well as allow me to finally develop those ideas into the digital works, building the environments and other models within the Adobe Illustrator and other programs if needed.
*Properties - Everything is already prepared as all we'll need is a computer with the programs and some drawing art stuff, such as paper and a pencils - for the concept arts and/or storyboards. This is all I'll need for creating the game however, if I'd have to create a movie or an CGI animation, I'd surely need much more equipments and preparations for things such as cameras, (green screen) background, lightnings and more.
*Location recce - As I mentioned before, I'll be doing most of my work digitally, in one place, which could be either in school are at home, those are the places that don't need to be reserved and I can use them as much as I want, making my job much easier. On the other hand, if I'd be creating a film, I most likely would have to look for a location I'd recce (a production term which refers to visiting a location, determining its suitability for shooting and the access to necessary facilities etc.) - and then reserve the chosen one, this includes more finance needed for such actions.
*Contact lists - Creating a contact list is very important as this will allow me to contact other personnel much quicker in need of something, in particular, in the stressful moments. In this case, it won't be very necessary as I'll be creating the game by myself, however, I still might need help from other people, such as my teacher/adviser or a friend, that's why I will make sure to have their contacts written down somewhere near me and always ready to use at any moment.
Production schedules - They will help me see how much time I have for each production part of the game that I have to fit in, with my jobs, within the given time. My deadlines will be given to me by my advisor - no matter what happens, I must finish them by the time, otherwise, I'll fail my job.
Budget - Documenting the budget is very important as this way, I'll know how much money will be needed to create a specific game, or what kind of a game I'll be able to create with the budget I already have but, just as I said before, I'll be creating a simple game by myself. This means, I won't be needing money to pay the personnel that would work with me (as no-one is working with me), nor there won't be any additional equipments required, as if it would in the filming industry. I'll only need the computer I already possess, and the drawing equipments - clearly, not much budget necessary but, I surely still will be recording it.
Clearances - In order for me to be able to distribute my game, I'll have to either, obtain the official permission to use content that appears in my game, or make sure that I'm not accidentally stealing anything from an another game, film, etc. There are a few clearances, such as: the script clearances, content or the music clearances; there are even more for the filming industries, such as the additional actor's/ contributor's clearances or the location agreements.
Plans:
*Location plans - My plan of a location is either the school, or home. Those two locations are the most effective and organized as they contain everything I need to build my ideas and a game, as well as those are the places I can best concentrate.
*Studio plans - I won't be creating, for example, any of the CGI animations nor photographs for my game, so I won't be needing any studios unless, I will decide to create some special sound effects that will require a sound studio.
Health and safety assessments - I'll make sure to keep my working area at a very high level of health and safety. For example, I won't be keeping any open liquids anywhere near the electronics such as the devices and cables, as well as I'll make sure, the working hours are well organized for my body, in particular the eyes, to have enough of the resting time.
Risk assessments - Throughout my whole project, I'll be assessing any risks that could occur and try to prevent them from happening; for example, there is always a risk of loosing the work, to make sure it won't happen, I'll be saving it constantly and duplicating it as well as copying to another disk, just to be 100% sure my hard work won't go to waste, in particular, by an accident.
Contingency plan - During the work, some kind of problems might always occur, that's why we need to have the contingency plan. Within the gaming projects, usually, there aren't many issues; as I mentioned before, there could be a human error, when someone doesn't save the work, or the computer crashes or the liquid spills - in such cases, we just need to always have to work copied to other devices too - but, there also could be problems in very rare cases. For example, when the weather is so bad, the electricity cuts off, in a moment like that, it'd be perfect to have a fully charged laptop on which we could still continue working.
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