Personal and Professional Practice 3: 'Research' Studio Brief - Bradford Animation Festival

Kaye Elling - 100 Things Game Students Should Know
Today I went to Bradford Animation Festival to listen to the talk by Kaye Elling who is a lecturer at Bradford University. What she aimed to talk to us about was her opinions on being a students and how to get into the industry the correct way and not the way that most universities advise upon. She has created a list of 100 things that game students should know and these are really helpful. In the talk we only went through a few but she has a website with them all on so that you can look on their too.

The problem that we face as students is that the industry is big and complicated and you don't know everything that there is to know, or whats happening. At the moment, students that come into university can fall under something called HUBRIS which is defined as having excessive pride or too much self confident. This in her opinion should be kicked out of you at university level. You need to earn the respect of the industry and the people in it, not go in thinking you know everything, because chances are you definitely do not. You also need to know the standard terminology and the regional differences in words as to avoid saying completely the wrong thing.

A team player attitude is necessary and when coming up with ideas you shouldn't hog it and wait for the limelight to fall on you, share your ideas, it will make them better. The team doesn't need friction, it already needs that from the consumers and media, try work with other ideas and don't work alone and definitely do not break the fourth wall when it comes to essays or in an interview. Academic study is about learning to communicate and your degree should be something your passionate about especially as you go through each year. 1st year should be tough, while you learn the basic principle of the entire course, before moving into 2nd year and learning the majorities of skills for your chosen discipline. Then 3rd year is about putting all that together and producing your portfolio. If 3rd year isn't breaking, your not working hard enough, and if uni wasn't hard enough, the industry is tougher. You need to get organised, always have a pen handy and think about the bigger picture in every project regardless of the size.

With visuals in a portfolio you should always stick to these three rules:
1. Do not upload anything on an angle
2. Use a scanner, not a phone to upload pictures or notes
3. Do not use clip art

Finally, remember the office is not the internet, no matter how relaxed the office is, and you should never assume who your audience is for a game your making. You should always think about having a good email address and nothing that is going to offend anyone and remember, your portfolio is only as good as your worst piece of work and if your not passionate about your studies and you think it's tedious and boring after all, pick a new industry immediately. Over all this was a really good talk and I really learnt some important information from it, like what the industry actually expects from us as students, and it's interesting to here from her point as a former industry professional and how she is trying to help people even younger to get into the industry as well, and teach them the best way.