ba1bindustryrolesresearch

[ba1bindustryrolesresearch]

Evaluation on How The Presentation Went and How Our Group Worked Together

^ http://www.monumentvalleygame.com/

Despite choosing to have a broad theme and expressing that it would be good to research our own independent 2D productions, our team worked out really well, and there was still apparent cohesion and decisiveness in the group. 

We communicated consistently throughout the project via a messenger group chat, and relayed what we had been researching, the kinds of shared things we should ask potential contacts and when we should meet up to discuss the presentation. Even though we each looked at very different productions, we were able to draw up some conclusive statements about 2D animation specifically within the UK, including that:

There is still value for it and it is not dead yet, 2D is sometimes regarded as a much more expressive and stylised genre that is valued for the painstaking dedication and commitment it takes to produce

A small budget doesn’t always mean small success, and appealing to a smaller demographic is often a good idea

Productions often live on through cult followings and a legacy left behind by their creators/founders, this is apparent with Harry Thompson, co-creator of “Monkey Dust”, and Edd Gould, creator of “Eddsworld”

All of the productions had a similar pipeline of artists/designers, animators, composers, editors and directors, even in small web based projects such as “Eddsworld”

Almost all of the productions we researched were developed in the capital, London, the most noteworthy location for animation as well as several other industries within the UK

In our presentation, we each of course presented our own slides on the productions we researched, but the introductory and conclusion slides were presented by Izaak and myself. The presentation itself went fine, we each presented what we had been looking at and had one or two statements to make about the UK for 2D productions in conclusion, the only issue I have is that we may have gone over slightly, as we were only supposed to present for 10 minutes, but this same issue arose with a number of other groups too! Each of us presented short clips of our chosen productions, with primary research and some facts and figures to back up our findings about them. The outcome was something that I hope was entertaining and informative to the class.

Other group presentations were largely quite interesting and engaging, with the exception of a few that felt repetitive, particularly because several of them were on the same one studio - The Oregon based stop motion studio “Laika” (Coralline, The Boxtrolls)

[ba1bindustryrolesresearch]

My Group’s Presentation Slides

(My Slide is Highlighted with a Red Border)

Recently, my group and I have been meeting up and attending reviews on our presentation to discuss our intentions and what we’ve been researching. Ryan, Izaak and Yvonne each researched three different productions, a web series, a television series and a short film, all 2D and all developed in the UK. I contributed to this by researching the mobile game “Monument Valley” by UsTwo. 

Because each of the productions from the UK that we researched were very diverse and somewhat personal (we each enjoy working independently on something that we’re interested in rather than on one thing that we might not all be as interested in) we crafted our own slides that were more individual and stylised to tailor our specific productions. Many presentations like to maintain consistencies and a house style that is used throughout for professionalism, but ours was to be largely individual for whomever was presenting, with the exception of the intro, overview and conclusion slides.

The presentation itself was created on Google Drive, this way we could each work on it on campus or at home to create our own slides at any time, this worked out very well and we were even able to edit other people’s slides. I made the intro, overview and summary slides, drawing up a basic red white and blue (UK) vignette in PhotoShop to make it look that bit more interesting:

The style of each of the slides also reflects the productions we researched, these are the productions that each of the team members decided to look into:

Me (Andy) - “Monument Valley” A 2014 Mobile/Tablet game by UsTwo

Ryan - “Eddsworld” A web series of animations and comics started in 2003/2004, turned artistic media production company created by Edd Gould, who died of leukimia in 2012, aged 23

Izaak - “Monkey Dust”, a late night British satirical cartoon, notorious for its dark humour, it was broadcast for 3 series between 2003 and 2005

Yvonne - “Sausage”, an animated short film by British Freelance Animation Diector Robert Grieves, it was made in After Effects & Photoshop (the film is shown below)

Notice that Ryan’s slides are cartoony and stylised like flash animation (which Edd was known for), Izaak’s slides are disjointed and dark (like the twisted humour of the show Monkey Dust), Yvonne’s slide is colourful and inviting (like the fun and playful nature of the short film “Sausage”) and my slide looks smooth, organised and graphical (just like the style of the game)

^http://www.sausagefilm.net/index.html

[ba1bindustryrolesresearch]

More Information About UsTwo - A “Digital Product Studio”

https://ustwo.com/

UsTwo’s London studio developed the 2014 Mobile Title “Monument Valley” of which I have been researching, but they are also a much bigger and globally based digital production company whom have been “partners with the biggest, smartest brands – from Google to Sky, Ford, Adidas and DeepMind – to create defining digital products, services and businesses.”

Their website makes it clear that alongside this they develop their own...

...”AWARD-WINNING OWN PRODUCTS AND GAMES

We invest time, money and passion to learn by doing – creating products for ourselves and the world. Whether our iconic games Monument Valley and Land's End, or innovative technical platform Wayfindr, we create products with passion from conception to launch and beyond.”

^ http://www.creativebloq.com/graphic-design/ustwo-scott-ewings-11135244

UsTwo’s four studios are based in:

1.London

+44 (0) 20 7613 0433

62 Shoreditch High Street

London E1 6JJ

United Kingdom

Google Maps

2.Malmö

+46 (0)40-330 480

Kärleksgatan 2

Malmö211 45

Sweden

Google Maps

3.New York

+1 212-518-4900

26 Broadway, 16th Floor

New York NY 10004

United States

Google Maps

4.Sydney

+61 2 8188 3900

2-12 Foveaux St

Surry Hills NSW 2010

Australia

Google Maps

“We create and bring our own successful products to market. We partner to launch new ventures that disrupt industries. Above all, our experience gives us the edge in building and launching digital products for others. There’s no digital itch we can’t scratch”

^ http://gogetcreative.co.uk/blog/monument-valley-is-out/

In the E-Mail reply from Ken Wong (lead artist and designer on “Monument Valley”, one of UsTwo’s most popular and successful productions to date), Wong made it clear that the actual funding for the game came from the company itself from other projects, not from an outside loan or source such as crowd-funding:

“MV was funded by ustwo itself. Note that ustwo is a much larger group of companies than just the games team. Our wages were pretty good - they kind of have to be, as we were based in a relatively expensive part of London.”

- Ken Wong in response to a question I asked him about the funding and wages of the project

https://ustwo.com/blog/ustwo-thinks-why-products-fail/

In the “Defining Failure and Success” section of Ustwo’s article on “WHY PRODUCTS FAIL” (26th February 2015):

“Being a UK startup... we know we have less funding than our US counterparts, and so the story goes that we spend it smarter, we’re leaner – and there is a grain of truth in that. You can have 330 million, and if your core business model doesn’t make sense, you’ll fritter that away”

“Access to capital alone does not make a good business” - Jules Coleman

Ustwo works “toward success” but also work to “face up to” and “manage” with failure. They evidently withhold the value that with “Careful hiring and a strong belief in feedback and self-criticism are essential [so that they can avoid] the possibility of failure.”

“Pitch your idea. Pitch the problem. Pitch your solution” - George Berkowski

[ba1bindustryrolesresearch]

Final Presentation Video

To present my findings on “Monument Valley” to the class, I edited together my own video of the game and the team that developed it. I was originally going to show just the game trailer, but this did not include footage from the development team, which I feel ruined the object of the display and the presentation as a whole. The behind the scenes video however, was a full 4 minutes long, and we only have 10 minutes to present!

So instead I edited together something on Premiere Pro that was a nice short length of only about 1 minute, consisting of various gameplay clips and development footage from the trailer and behind the scenes videos. Looking back at it, there is a notceably bad cut at 00:37 seconds, where a few frames of another clip can be seen, and it is too late to fix this, but I just hope that it won’t be noticeable.

The music used is taken from the game, and is entitled “The Spire” from the level that it appears in:

[ba1bindustryrolesresearch]

Here’s another example of a great Mobile game development company based in London, UK - Fanstudio

They’re animated website front page is particularly impressive, and is well organised with a continuous scrolling mechanic for each of the sub sections listed on the top navigation bar. They currently have almost 26 million app downloads

“Fan Studio is a certified mobile app & game development company and a verified member of the UK Association for Interactive Entertainment UKIE.org.uk and TIGA.org (the Trade Association representing the UK's game industry).”

^ They also provide a fantastic and useful diagram to express a rough average for the number of hours is takes the team (whom have produced such app titles as “Hosco” and “TrafficVille 3D”) to develop various sized mobile apps laid out by clients. A project such as “Monument Valley” by “UsTwo”, however, would have likely taken much longer to produce than 200 hours, as it was an ambitious project with a small team of only 2-8 people.

UK OfficeFAN STUDIO LTD Address: 20-22 Wenlock Rd, LONDON N1 7GU E-mail: office@fanstudio.co.uk Phone: +44 (0)203 287 1166

[ba1bindustryrolesresearch]

Job Roles in Mobile Gaming - An example from the kinds of work for hire provided by “On 5″, Lithuania

http://on-5.com/work-for-hire/

Companies like "On 5" sometimes work for hire to develop games (in this case, in mobile) at often any and all stages of production, just like freelance workers, but with the security of a company environment and practice.

"On5 not only develops its own games, but also provides custom software development services.

Our studio has three years of experience in developing mobile social and multiplayer games. We are passionate about the things we do, and attention to detail is our motto...

We are working alone, raising the projects from a concept to the ready solution (like Spice Bandits); for hire to create a game based on defined concept (like We Doodle), or integrated in other companies’ development team (like We Rule with ngmoco"

About On5, a European mobile games company:

"Established in 2009 a by small group of hard working enthusiasts with the goal of creating high quality and innovative games and apps • Main office is located in Vilnius, Lithuania (EU) • Highly skilled team of 30+ professionals"

This list of Work for Hire from the company services gives a great overview of the kinds of job roles and typical practices you can find of someone working in mobile games. They are not dissimilar from other job roles we have looked at more specifically in the animation industry, from pre-production and visual development, to production and programming, to post-development, deployment and marketing

[ba1bindustryrolesresearch]

Artistic/Scientific Inspirations Behind “Monument Valley”

Monument Valley has clear influences from “Penrose” shapes and the illusory works of Dutch graphic designer M.C. Escher (17 June 1898 – 27 March 1972), whose works consist of “mathematical objects and operations including impossible objects, explorations of infinity, reflection, symmetry, perspective, truncated andstellated polyhedra, hyperbolic geometry, and tessellations.”

Some of them obvious, some not so much, Monument Valley uses many examples of famous imagery from Escher’s works that don’t make geometrical or scientific sense, such as that of “Relativity” (1953), famous for it’s ‘crazy stairs’, shown below with some examples from the game...

“Relativity” (1953), M.C. Escher, lithograph, 27.7 cm × 29.2 cm (10.9 in × 11.5 in), depicts a world similar to Monument Valley, in which the laws of gravity do not exist, Escher plays with perspective and dimensions to form imagery that is fascinatingly complex and intricate - forming the foundations for level design and recreations in the 2014 game I am researching...

One of my favourite Escher works, “Waterfall” (1961) is also referenced and taken influence from in Monument Valley, which is evident in several levels. The work toys with the human mind by using planar perspective and relative proportions to create an illusion...

^ “Waterfall” (1961) M.C. Esher, lithograph, 38 cm × 30 cm (15 in × 12 in)

“While most two-dimensional artists use relative proportions to create an illusion of depth, Escher here and elsewhere uses conflicting proportions to create a visual paradox. The watercourse supplying the waterfall (its aqueduct or leat) has the structure of two Penrose triangles. A Penrose triangle is an impossible object designed by Oscar Reutersvärd in 1934, and found independently by Roger Penrose in 1958.”

Notice how the water appears to flow uphill via a continuous stream from  a waterfall and a wheel to turn it, but when we follow the stream in reference to the pillars that hold together the aqueducts, they appear to be on the same level, yet also appear to be going backwards at the same time. This creates an illusion that is impossible, yet possible to represent in two dimensions despite it being an unfathomable occurrence, this is exactly what “Monument Valley” does, it toys with perspective and dimensions in 2D that would not make scientific sense if it were entirely 3D, to create something truly intruiging and visually thought-provoking and engaging...

^ https://lmbernhardt.wordpress.com/2014/12/05/the-professor-at-play-fairy-tales-and-sacred-geometry/ - An example of a level influenced by “Escher’s conflicting perspective illusions”

Other illusions such as that of the Endless staircase, Impossible cube and Penrose triangle all feature somewhat in “Monument Valley”, making it not just into a remarkably beautiful visual experience in style and colour, but in it’s level design and intriguing geometrical and architectural influences.

See these articles for other works in this post by Escher:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascending_and_Descending

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necker_cube

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penrose_triangle

[ba1bindustryrolesresearch]

E-Mail Reply from Ken Wong - Lead Artist & Designer on UsTwo’s “Monument Valley”

^ http://blog.teamtreehouse.com/designer-profile-ken-wong-monument-valley

I e-mailed Ken Wong with a formal manner to ask a few questions about the production. Alongside my group we all agreed on a selection of questions we’d share (some questions we’d all ask anyone we contacted), so I asked these and some extra questions. Some were a bit personal and touchy, such as that of money and salary, but Ken still answered them. 

Ken is a very busy man, and of all the people I contacted he was the only one that replied (I also contacted Neil Macfarland, creative director at UsTwo - http://www.parishair.com/as well as  Spanish video game artist and illustrator David Fernandez Heurta based in London, although he may not have replied due to difficulties with language - http://davidfernandezhuerta.com/)

Ken’s answers to some of my questions were quite short and not too informative, but good enough to work from and I am glad to have gotten a reply at all considering his busy schedule. The reply repeats most of the questions I asked, so I won’t bother posting my outgoing message, but the intro of that e-mail went something like this...

Dear Mr.Wong

First of all I would just like to thank you for taking some time to read and reply to this e mail, I really appreciate it. My name is Andy, I am a first year animation studentat Norwich University of the Arts. Currently, I'm working on a project that researches the wide range of industries in animation, from pre-production to post-productionin feature films, video games, mobile gaming, television and many more fields, with heavy focus on primary research by asking questions of talented workers in the industry such as yourself. I've been looking at your designs and illustrations in particular for "Monument Valley", which I understand you worked on with UsTwo, and I must say it is fantastic! I just hada few questions about your role in the development of the game, your opinions on it and what it was like working for a small studio such as UsTwo.

^ http://www.interactive.org/news/hit_list_ken_wong.asp

The Reply:

ken wong <helloken@kenart.net>

To

Andrew Angel

Mar 7 at 6:49 AM

Hi Andrew,

 Happy to help.

 1. How many people exactly were generally working on the team for Monument Valley at any one time? Did you find the size of the team made the project more challenging  or

did it have the opposite effect?

 Between 2 to 8, it fluctuated during the project's lifespan. I'm not sure how to answer the second part of your question. The team size was pretty much ideal for a project of this scope and complexity.

 2. What was it like working in the mobile gaming industry in London? Have you worked there before?

 I had not worked in London before. Overall I really enjoyed the experience.

 3. If you're happy to answer this, how was Monument Valley funded, and what sort of wages does someone in your field in particular earn on a project such as this?

 MV was funded by ustwo itself. Note that ustwo is a much larger group of companies than just the games team. Our wages were pretty good - they kind of have to be, as we were based in a relatively expensive part of London.

4. Would you make any comparisons to the visual design of Monument Valley with Polytron's "Fez"?

 Nope

5. In my opinion, the visual aspects of Monument Valley combine the best of 2D and 3D design, would you agree?

 I'd say MV focuses more on 2D, and rarely makes much use of 3D.

 6. I've heard mentioned before that Monument Valley's style and design was influenced by minimalism, why do you think this works so well and was this very different to

other projects you've worked on?

It depends what you are asking works well - minimalism, or our implementation of it? Minimalism is an aesthetic, or a way of thinking. I don't think it necessarily works better or worse than other aesthetics. I guess for MV it helps because we're trying to pull of illusions. The stronger an effect you can produce with a minimum of perceived effort or content, the closer the feeling is to magic. Yes, I'd say the other games I've designed and art directed are different.

7. Finally, what are the main differences you have found when working on a mobile game to working on games for larger scale platforms like PS3 & Xbox, such as in your workfor "Alice: Madness Returns", if any? 

Everything? Pretty much everything was different.

  -Ken

Designer of Monument Valley http://www.monumentvalleygame.com

Portfolio: http://www.kenart.net

In hindsight, asking some of these questions was slightly silly, such as asking to make comparisons to another competitor title as well as questions that weren’t worded well, but overall I gathered a few odd pieces of useful information regarding things like the size of the team at different stages and the focus of 2D over 3D...

[ba1bindustryrolesresearch]

Monument Valley Awards, Acolades & Statistics - Monument Valley is by far one of the most popular and highly acclaimed mobile/tablet titles of 2014

http://callmedixieflatline.com/blog/monument-valley/

http://blog.monumentvalleygame.com/blog/2015/1/15/monument-valley-in-numbers 

In a post from the Monument Valley game development blog, Dan Gray posted an update in January 2015 of the game’s success in numbers at that time. The game had accumulated massive and largely unexpected worldwide success, the statistics for which can be seen in the extra long second image posted above. Since January 2015, when the update was posted, the game has sold even more, but intentions for a sequel are currently out the window!

[ba1bindustryrolesresearch]

Monument Valley - Behind the Scenes

This behind the scenes video from the UsTwo team based in London details some of the fundamental concepts and production work put into the development of this experimental and intrinsically art and science influenced title. Here are some of the most fascinating and useful quotes and images taken from the video...

"We're very lucky to have people on the team that are programmers with knowledge of art and artists who have an interest in programming, and that really makes it so that, everything in the game both works in both a mechanical sense, but also looks visually amazing" - Ken Wong, lead Artist and Designer

"We're about 8 people at the moment, which is still a tiny thing. Some of which are from Ustwo originally, but quite a few have actually started in about January or February of last year, and that breeds a new sort of environment to try and create new things from, you know we're all thrown into one big mixing pot" - Dan Gray, Producer

Some of the levels apparently took even "a couple of months to try and breathe out" because they wanted every level to feel bespoke in its nature.

"There was this idea at the start of the project that every screen would be a work of art in itself...I think it's a different way of approaching making a game where the aesthetic is really driving the experience, every screenshot could be printed out and hung on a wall." - Ken Wong

Some of which are from Ustwo originally, but quite a few have actually started in about January or February of last year, and that breeds a new sort of environment to try and create new things from, you know we're all thrown into one big mixing pot

Dan Gray describes the game as being like nothing they've ever made before, it’s nothing like “Whale Trail” or “Blip Blup”

The art style, Ken Wong (the lead artist and designer) describes is very minimalist and simple, and even after trying many different styles, working with adding more detail, they always found themselves going back to something that was very simple and clean

What’s interesting is how the game is designed in 3D space but looks and plays like a 2D game on screen, it’s animated in a 3D space with 2D perspective, which is remarkably effective in the same way as Phil Fish’s “Fez” (2012 - I researched this in a much earlier post). I may ask Ken, whom I intend to E-Mail, about his thoughts on this combination of 2D and 3D Animation and Perspective. 

http://www.kenart.net/ - Ken Wong’s Art & Design portfolio with contact links

http://www.interactive.org/news/hit_list_ken_wong.asp

^ “Ken Wong served as lead designer on ustwo’s recent mobile hit Monument Valley. An Australian living in London, his previous work also includes the art direction of Alice: Madness Returns at Spicy Horse and his solo indie project Hackycat.

Wong will be presenting at the upcoming D.I.C.E. Europe conference in a session titled, “Games without gamers.”  He will discuss how core gamers have supported the games industry and pushed it into new territory for decades, but fresh opportunities and challenges await if designers try to attract new audiences. In creating Monument Valley ustwo sought to create a meaningful, rich experience for audiences beyond the ‘gamer’ by replacing tropes and overused patterns with a focus on user experience.”

[ba1bindustryrolesresearch]

Mobile Games Market

“With $25 billion in worldwide revenues last year, mobile games have become the most important digital platform for gamers and publishers alike. Today, it is the largest games platform by market share in the world.

But the mobile games market today has changed dramatically from what it was only a few years ago. With a largely ‘frozen’ list of top titles and game companies, only a handful firms manage to claim the lion’s share of revenues. Companies like King, Supercell, Zynga and Activision have doubled down on their mobile games strategies, looking both for a continued stream of innovative content and a strategic advantage to outmaneuver smaller competitors.”

- https://www.superdataresearch.com/market-data/mobile-games-market/

"According to EEDAR's new report, Deconstructing Mobile & Tablet Gaming 2015, the global market for mobile gaming is worth about $25 billion [roughly £17.6 million] by the end of this year [2015]" - http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2015-11-12-mobile-games-market-worth-usd25bn-eedar

With some of the top games (listed below for recent times) being released for mobile and tablet platforms, it’s important to think about how they make revenue from their budget spent on the production...

Big Fish Casino

Bingo Bash

Bingo Blitz

Boom Beach

Bubble Witch 2 Saga

Bubble Witch Saga

Caesar’s Slots

Candy Crush Saga

Candy Crush Soda Saga

Castle Clash

Clash of Clans

Clumsy Ninja

Contract Killer: Sniper

CSR Racing

Deer Hunter: 2014

Diamond Digger Saga

DoubleDown Casino – Slots and Video Poker

DoubleU Casino

Dragon City

DragonVale

Empires and Allies

Farm Heroes Saga

FarmVille 2: Country Escape

Farmville: Harvest Swap

Frontline Commando: WW2

Game of War: Fire Age

Gold Fish Casino

GSN Casino

Hay Day

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft

Hit it Rich! Casino Slots

House of Fun

Jackpot Party Casino – Slots

Jackpot Slots

Kim Kardashian: Hollywood

Kingdoms of Camelot

Madden NFL Mobile

Minecraft: Pocket Edition

Monopoly Slots

Monster Strike

Papa Pear Saga

Pet Rescue Saga

Plants vs Zombies 2

Poker by Zynga / Zynga Poker

Puzzle & Dragons

Pyramid Solitaire Saga

Racing Rivals

Rage of Bahamut

Real Slots – High 5 Casino

Slot City – slot machines

Slotomania

Slots – myVegas

Slots – Pharaoh’s Way

Summoners War

Tap Sports: Baseball 2015

Texas Poker

The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth

The Simpsons: Tapped Out

Wizard of Oz Slots Free Casino

World Series of Poker – WSOP Texas Holdem Free Casino

"Micro-Transactions" and the "freemium" pricing strategy for proprietary features in Mobile games are among the most popular forms of generating revenue. DLC (Downloadable Content), which is additional features for games available often for paid download are also very popular in the games industy. 

^ Despite the freemium pricing strategy and business model being increasingly common, it is also negatively received and criticised by players and critics alike for commonly giving advantage to players who pay for in game content over players who play for free, for an unfair loss of large amounts of game content, and because it is a misleading model that makes turns “free” games into profit

Although consistent and largely unavoidable in many free to play games online, freemium pricing is a staple of the mobile market. An example of this is the purchasing of "gems" in "Clash of Clans" , which are the primary source of income for the developers "Supercell”. 

“Monument Valley” and it’s DLC “Forgotten Shores” do not make use of the “freemium” pricing strategy and micro-transactions however, because it in fact charges one outright payment for the game and/or the DLC, which (as traditional in video games sales) grants the user full access to all levels and features of the title. The ios app store actually filters paid and free games and other mobile applications, which in turn gives users an idea of how the game will be making revenue.

^ As traditional, Ustwo’s “Monument Valley” generates it’s sales revenue through exactly that, sales, in place of a business model based upon the foundations of micro-transactions and a critical “pay to win” ‘freemium’ pricing strategy. The game costs £2.99 in the UK, with the “Forgotten Shores” Add on content being an additional £1.49

[ba1bindustryrolesresearch]

http://ukie.org.uk/press

UKIE (UK Interactive Entertainment), a supporter and trade body of the UK Games and Interactive Entertainment industries, puts data into statistics, graphs and facts to visualise and tell the story of the UK games industry in numbers. Here are some important and useful notes and images from the article and it’s links, that I may be able to select and present in relation to the production (Monument Valley) I have chosen, during our presentation...

> A very useful and well presented guide to the market value of the games industry in 2015, the total is up 7.4% since 2014! Notice the mobile gaming section, the most relatable to the production I’m looking at, which is up a massive 21.2% since 2014 (a total of £664 Million)

^ Physical and boxed media is down, digital media is up massively in the games industry, significantly due to marketplaces like the Playstation Store and Steam

Dr. Joe Twist, Chief Executive at "Ukie" (UK Interactive Entertainment, "the only trade body for the UK's games and wider interactive entertainment industry" Links the success and importance of the UK games industry to our nation's "quirkiness and sense of humour" in its cultural identity - video at the start of the webpage

·         There are 1,902 video game companies in the UK. 

·         Between 2011 and 2013, the number of games companies grew yearly by 22%.

·         95% of UK video games companies are micro or small businesses. The mean number of employees is 120 and the median 49. 

·         The industry is mostly concentrated in London and the south of England (54.6% of all companies). However the Midlands and the North of England (with respectively 20.1% and 17% of all companies) have a higher presence of video games companies than other creative industries. 

·         Amongst 18 travel to work areas (TTWA) were identified as having a critical mass of more than 20 games companies; 12 of these were further identified as having high levels of games concentration (in employment or company number): Brighton, Cambridge, Cardiff, Guildford and Aldershot, Edinburgh, Dundee, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Oxford, Sheffield and Rotherham, and Warwick and Stratford-upon-Avon. 

>From the Nesta-Ukie Map

"Devices (for all 6-64 year olds): 25% (11.8m) play on consoles, 25% (11.7m) on computers, 22% (10.3m) on smartphones, 17% (8.2m) on tablets and 10% on handhelds (4.6m) in Q2 2015. (GameTrack Q2 2015)"

[ba1bindustryrolesresearch]

http://tombraiders.net/stella/timeline.html - Lara Croft, born in Wimbledon, London, England

“Creativity, ingenuity and global triumph

The global video games industry is estimated to be worth £80bn. While America and Japan dominate the market, the UK video games sector employs over 12,000 people, generating an annual revenue of £2.5bn.

From a handful of hobbyists coding in their spare time to big teams, big budgets and million dollar profits, the story of British video games is one of fantastical imagination, irreverent humour and the coding skills of some standout personalities.”

- Games Entrepreneur Ian Livingstone presents his take on a timeline of the success of the games industry, particularly in the UK

from tabletop games and revolutionary arcade titles to GTA V breaking game sales records, Ian records the breakthroughs and achievements of the UK games industry, such as Media Molecule’s incredibly unique and beautiful console plat-former/level builder “Littlebigplanet” (2008) for the PS3...

Ian recognizes “Monument Valley” by Ustwo as setting “new standards”...

"The game is a set of stages – each featuring a seemingly impossible puzzle within a self-contained mini-world. The worlds are based on the optical illusions of Dutch graphic artist MC Escher, as well as a huge range of other influences. The ones you will immediately be struck by is South Asian and Middle Eastern architecture. The makers Ustwo have said that they looked at temples palaces and mosques from South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. Certainly some of the levels were strongly reminiscent  of the Chand Baori step well in Rajasthan."

- http://www.funoon.co.uk/monument-valley/

[ba1bindustryrolesresearch]

Trailer for “Monument Valley” - Demonstrating several of the central characteristics and mechanics in the game

- https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/monument-valley/id728293409?mt=8https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/monument-valley/id728293409?mt=8

http://monumentfriends.tumblr.com/

[ba1bindustryrolesresearch]

My Production Focus for 2D Animation in the UK - “Monument Valley” by UsTwo

The UK is famous for such triple A titles as “Grand Theft Auto”, but we are increasingly gaining recognition, infact Europe as a whole, in mobile/tablet gaming, which is now one of the biggest forms of gaming in the world. “Monument Valley” is a great example of a mobile/tablet game developed in the UK, and is a piece of art in itself. It is a game that involves having to reach the top of structures, and was developed by the London based studio of a digital product company called “UsTwo”...

https://ustwo.com/

Ustwo is a digital product studio based in London, New York, Malmo & Sydney. "Ustwo was founded by Mills and Sinx back in 2004. The mission was to build a studio where like-minded, passionate people could work under one roof, share unique ideas and bring them to life. What’s made ustwo unique from the start is the simple notion that building a company isn’t all about work, but also about life, passion and play... There are almost 300 of us, from over 30 countries – collectively we stand for something different. We listen, we’re open to all and we believe in what we do. And the most exciting thing? We’re just getting started."

http://www.officelovin.com/2015/03/14/a-look-inside-ustwos-chic-london-office/

“Occupying three floors of The Tea Building in Shoreditch, our UK studio has over 120 talented and driven people. We're dedicated to delivering stand-out work for clients including Barclays, Harvey Nichols and Sky, as well as as our own products including Monument Valley and Moodnotes.”

The development team at each stage of the production of "Monument Valley" worked in the London studio, and ranged from 2-8 people "during the project's lifespan". The pipeline of the development of any product fluctuates, as a product typically shifts through its development stages several times, at times even calling for a "return to the drawing board" as a game currently in production may have to revert to pre-production as a result of a complete redesigning of the game itself

http://idealstudio.represent.uk.com/studios/7

The London studio are actually looking for a variety of talented individuals right now, including a design director, games artist and lead visual designer. Requirements listed for the "Games Artist" job role include:

·         Expert in Maya, 3DS Max or Blender

·         Expert in Photoshop

·         Experience with at least one popular game engine, preferably Unity.

·         Ability to sketch ideas

- https://ustwo.com/join-us

http://kotaku.com/monument-valley-is-the-perfect-hour-1561462576

“Monument Valley” (2014) is their most popular title to date:

“In Monument Valley, the player leads the player-character princess Ida through mazes of optical illusions and impossible objects, which are referred to as "sacred geometry" in-game, as she journeys to be forgiven for something. The game is presented in isometric view, and the player interacts with the environment to find hidden passages as Ida progresses to the map's exit.”

The game costs £2.99 on the app store and is an amazingly beautiful atmospheric game which won several acolades including...

 ** Apple Game of the Year 2014 ** ** Winner of Apple Design Award 2014 **

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/monument-valley/id728293409?mt=8https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/monument-valley/id728293409?mt=8

Itunes describe it as:

BEAUTIFUL Inspired by minimalist 3D design, optical illusions and palaces and temples from around the world, every monument is a unique, hand-crafted world to explore. EASY TO USE Twist and drag to reshape the world and help Ida to explore. Designed to be easy for everyone to pick up, enjoy and complete. SOUND Audio reacts to your manipulation of the world to provide a surreal and beautiful soundscape. Best experienced with headphones.

[ba1bindustryrolesresearch]

Group Assigning for Project Presentation

For our next session on this project we were each asked to complete a sheet that detailed our preferred areas of animation and reasons why. This was so we could be put into groups with people of similar interests in animation,whether it be 2D, 3D, stop motion, VFX, Character design, storyboarding, anything. This was my sheet:

I chose Studio Runner, 2D freelance and stop motion model maker, as these are all roles and areas that I’m interested in pursuing after graduation, except model making, which was something I knew very little about and wanted to know more.

^ Helen Piercy (left) and sections from her book “Animation Studio” (right)

Whilst the groups were assigned, we had a presentation given to us by Helen Piercy, an NUA graduate who set up her own business doing animation workshops for children, she is now working full time at NUA to help on the animation course. Helen was never really sure what area of animation she wanted to pursue as she liked them all, so ended up creating “Helen animate”, and a published book known as “Animation Studio” to teach animation to people from a young age.

https://helenanimate.com/ - Helen’s website created on WordPress

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Helen-Piercy/e/B00EZMOR0I/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1 - Helen’s author page for amazon.co.uk, her book “Animation Studio” is well received by buyers

^ Helen’s website banner

Once the groups were assigned, I found out that I was to be in a group with Ryan, Izaak & Yvonne, whom all shared a liking alongside me with 2D animation, however our actual interests in this area seemed different, we each liked different kinds of productions from movies to games to online web series’. 

We were asked to come up with a title, something from which we could each go out and begin gathering research and sending off e-mails, questionnaires etc for primary source gathering. After chatting with Ryan, Izaak and Yvonne, of whom I got along with well, we agreed our best bet was to pick a common theme that was broad, and each work independently looking at a production or person ourselves under that theme within 2D animation. So what we decided was that, because we are more likely to find potential employers or contacts in the future, we should make the umbrella “2D animation within the UK only”, and each look at different types of production and personnel within that.

The idea was that, in doing this, we would easily be able to compare and contrast our findings by revenue, salary, size of team, time spent on production etc, whilst still being able to work independently - we would be able to work as team but also with a sense of freedom and passion, because we hoped we’d each be looking at something we like personally! Helen Schroeder liked the idea, so long as we were able to work as a team and produce something that combined our efforts, which is why we picked a broad umbrella topic

^ http://www.animationmagazine.net/events/animation-u-k-welcomes-new-u-k-tax-credits/

[ba1bindustryrolesresearch]

PARANORMAN Set Visit Video Blog from ColliderVideos on Vimeo.