LO2: Task 3 Understand Skills Needed to Carry Out a Chosen Media Production Role

Unit 22 Task 3 Understand Skills Needed to Carry Out a Chosen Media Production Role

My suitability to be a production designer

I have always been interested in designing and creating ideas in media products, and games design is one of the most expressive ones. Therefore it is a role that greatly interests me. To carry out the role of production designer, I feel I would be moderately successful, as I have an array of skills that would be useful, however I lack in certain areas too. 

Written Communication

A production designer needs to be able to communicate through writing  as they must submit pieces that inform the project participants what the game is about and how it shall be played. They also need to be able to email to talk to members of the team. My written communication is usually excellent, this is helped as I study English at A level. This has been proved in many projects. In Unit 46: Audio Visual Promos, I sent an email to Kobalt music, for a music request for a trailer. 

Verbal Communication

A production designer must be able to communicate verbally with a group so that they can hold meetings and make crucial decisions to do with the game. This is vital when making changes and discussing the best options. My verbal communication skills are also good, this has been shown in presentations I have give, even if the feedback from the idea was not great, I am frequently told that the information was well presented and easy to understand. 

Practical Production

A production designer must have good practical skills on an array of programmes such as mudbox, photoshop and unreal. They do not need to know everything but should know enough to be able to contribute when working with a particular group of people, like artists. My practical production has been shown in Unit 31: Photography for Media Products as I had to take, select and edit a large number of photos, which I did fairly well to the best of my ability. Also in Unit 32, I demonstrated decent photoshop skills, having never used the software before. Showing I am a quick learner.

Creativity

The key skill to a production designer is creativity, they must be able to bring new ideas to the table that are good and will be able to sell. They must be able to picture a variety of characters, levels and a great deal of other things that will be used in a game. My creativity has come into good use when writing the script for introductions to Unit 43, as they have to be original and able to draw in the viewers. 

Areas for Further Assessment

A gap in my skills is in my technical abilities when it comes to drawing on both paper and on computer. My photoshop skills are decent but not up to the standard that they need to be if creating levels and characters on a game. Also my skills on professional gaming software, like on the autodesk suite are not up to the standards needed to do a professional job. I would also need to improve my practical skills on games engines like unreal, as it is a key skill when helping the programmers make the physics of the game work. TO learn these skills I would have to study a games design course at either college or university. Sheffield Hallam University do a course on this subject, so would be a place to look at going for skills development.