Task 1
Types of production.
TV/Video Game/Film.
Production of media is done in many stages, this includes the story, commissions as well as ideas. Also, sound recording and general recording is included in this. Also, with the production of films, the date of release comes into action. January is when fewer films/games are released because after christmas everyone has spent the money and are unable to see films in cinemas. However, depending on the type of film there are various release dtaes specially made for them. The franchise "saw" has a history of releasing their films either just before/at/after halloween because it fits iwht the horror theme. Most horror films will aim to release on the 6th of a month or the 13th as thye are to dow ith the devil. Deadpool is a god example of a release date for a film, the film was released on Valentines day and this is even mentioned in the film when Deadpool talks about how this isn't a romantic film. As well as this, games usually always have an acquired time slot for the AAA releases, like Call Of Duty releases in November every year because it is near Christmas, meaning it will be bought more for Christmas. Books can be released all year round but if it is a franchise then they release at similar times so people know when to expect the release in the following year.
Financial issues
Sources of finance- Can be from sponsors /Equipment costs/Ongoing expenses
Finances can come from multiple sources depending on what you are producing. Comapnies such as publishers help fund games, an example of this is hello games (an indie company) being funded by Sony for No Man's Sky. Another way to recieve funds is from sites such as kickstarter, being funded by the public, even though sites like this can be used for decieving the public and just taking your moeny. However, if you get funded you already know you have an instant audience who want to play your game or watch your show.
Equipment also comes under finances, you will need a mass amount of equipment if you are running a big company. Like the latest technology, so the game is made up to date and not on old systems. Ongoing expenses can be both good or a bad thing. In a good perspective, with an ongoing expense, you can gain discounts for being a long time customer or receive free gear from certain hardware companies. But in a bad perspective, they are consistent payment of rent each month which could also increase depending on the landlord/lady a could also deduct from the finance you have for the game itself.
Time issues
Deadlines/Actor availability/ Rentals- on going.
Time is a big issue within any form of media, deadlines are massive and usually indicate when the work should be done for to indicate either further work or the release. Deadlines for various media can vary, with writing your deadline will be after an embargo has been lifted so your content can get out to the public quickly. And for films there iwll be various deadlines, depednigjn on your position, the final film will have a later deadline compared to a deadline for gethering set locations. This is the same within games, where you will have a deadline for the final complete game, but you will need the story done towards the beginning so that thingsa such as concept art could progress. In games and films, time with actors is key, you will have to either work around the actor's schedule or get another actor if they are unavailable. Rentals are also a big part, if you are renting a 3D printer for example you have to get everything printed within the time, leading to more crunch time or you have to gather evrything you need to 3D print and do it within a week.
Releasing games in a certain time frame so it avoids big competitors. EA made the mistake of competing with themselves by releasing Titan fall 2 at the same time as Battlefield 1. This then leads for Titanfall 2 to fall behind on sales and fall off the radar in terms of well-released games. As well as this, you see that not many games are released in November due to the release of Call Of Duty each year.
Personal
Size of team- Could either be AAA or indie teams depending on the size of the team./ Talents, skills-/ Celebrity appeal/ Outsourcing/ Reputation.
Teams do vary on finance, most indie games are low on finance so will rely on funding from the public or funding from loans or other work. Most indie companies are small teams which can raneg from 1-20 people (not exactly that but it shows a size of a team) this makes the team more credited if they make a good game. However, AAA companies recieve more finace from publishers because they usualy sign a contract that binds them with the publshers, for example Treyarch and Activision are bind together as developers and publishers. As well as this, AAA companies have more of a reputation with an audience because they have been releasing big games for years usually, however it also puts pressure on the developers to make a good game and not let down the fans.
Talent is needed in the games industry more than anything, companies need people who are able to do multiple aspects of a certain job and be able to do them successfully, this will get you into the more advanced companies. Also, talent can be spotted through people making their own successful games, then bigger developers will want to buy the IP or hire you to work for them. Sometimes, good game ideas mixed with talent can lead you to gain publishers to help fund your game, this is how Hello Games gained help from Sony.
Celebrities can have a big impact on the game's sales, for games like Beyond Two Souls, having Ellen Page and Willem DaFoe would have affected the sales because they are wildly recognised amongst people, and people would know they wouldn't take a job like that if it was a bad game. As well as film celebrities, if a story is written by Stephen King (an example) then people would be more likely to buy the game knowing that it is going to be a great story because Stephen King is a talented writer, this also relates back to my previous paragraph about talent. Finally, voice actors also have a big impact now in the gaming community, if you know Troy Baker is voice acting a character in the game, then people will feel more entilted to buy it; not to hear his voice but because he has a rcord of being in fantastic games.
Outsourcing companies are becoming more and more popular in the gaming industry. These companies will spcialise in a cspecific part of the industry, whether it be art, graphics design or level editing. |tehy are able to be hired by developers to help complete the game. Why would you need an outsourcing company? Because you might be approaching a deadline and need more people to work on certain projects within the game or you might simpily want your company to focus on something bigger i the game and then hire an outsourcin company to build your levels.
Facilities.
Offices/ Location/ Food, toilets/ Transport
Facilities can raneg depedning on the company, most indie companies will work from home and very rarely actually have a studio because all of the funding goes towards the game not a work place. However, AAA comapnies usually have a studio fit with a canteen (and toilets!), as well as this some studios are loated where the majority f the company live. For example, a lot of American companies are based in california. This also creates competition between each of them, because if EA want to hire someone but this person lives in California and wants to work fro Treyarch, then it would be easier to work at Treyarch because they achieve what they want and at the same time also working closer to home. Situating a studio in a busy area will also mean people have acomodation nearby when they want to work for you, also reeling in more potential employees.
Materials.
Stock sound effects/ 3D assets/ Costumes/ Story scripts/ 2D sprites/ Music rights.
Music within games is key to the production, just as much as it is key in films. Stock sound effects can be recognised when you hear a sound consistently repreated throughout the game, while it remains exactly the same. A good example of this is when a character jumps in the majority of games, they make the "huh" sound as they land, showing the impact the landing had. Many stock sounds have been used for years, in TV the laughs you hear on comedy shows have been recorded in the 70's or around that time, and are reused in shows today if they don't have a live audience there. Music rights are always important, if creating your own project as an indie developer and you want to use music, you will either have to create your own, use some royalty free music which is becoming increasingly popular especially with content creators on YouTube. Or you can ask for rights to the music from the producer of it, if you don't do any of these and use the music, you will be done for plagarism which is breaking the law as you have breached the terms of copyright (or possibly trademark depending on the sound you use, an example of a trademark sound would be the jingle for Coca-Cola) and this could result in you being sued, fined or possibly having all of your work taken off you.
Materials can vary other than sound, 3D assets can be used frequently on engines like Unity. These have many presets for 3D assets, such as characters where your character can is preset with all the animations so it stops the developers having to waste time doing the animated at the start of the game. Unity is a great example for 3D assets as you can download assets packages which will include environments like trees. This is great for indie developers, as they don't need to put the time and effort into 3D modelling because it is all readily available for them. Another reason 3D assets are great is that it shows how characters can react against an environment, whether they bounce or just stop when hitting a tree.
Contributors.
Specialists/ Public support/ Investment/ AdvertisersSponsorships/Endorsments/
Contributors are a big help for developers of games and films, as well as books. In games, you will see many projects on kickstarter and indie gogo, on these sites the public help fund the game and will receive rewards depending on how much they donate, these are called reward tiers. The best part of kickstarter is you already have fans before thre release of the project because they are willing to give money based on the idea. Some films use kicktstarter as well, a good example of this is Bokeh, the film was funded by kickstarter and it is amazing and has the same quality of a top production film.
Contributors can also involve publishers, where you develop the game for them, and they help with the marketing of the game. This is a type of investemnt as well, where sometimes the publisher will buy out the developers so that they won the company. This happens between all of the Call Of Duty developers and Activison, thats why all of the developers are known as sister companies now. Activison had invested into the company, uually investemnts is where you put money into a project and iy can be a lot of money for the project but you expect to make more from the project than the money you put inot it. There is an entire TV Show based upon investemnts, this is Dragon's Den.
You can also earn money from the game from advertisements, this is why games like Anry Birds are free because each time you see/clicks an advertisement, then the develpers earn money from it by promoting another product. As well as this sponsor ships can earn you moeny, in eSports, you can earn money from having a sponsor (like GFuel) on your jersey and the company pay you because it is promoting their product while at the events.
Locations.
Finding a location/ Reece report/ Transport/ Parking/ Access/Availabilty/ Opening times
Locations matter a lot, you would want your offcie to be put into a city to attract more meplyees and customers. Also, some companies allow tours, so opening times liek 9-5 for tours would be great because it can attract many cutosmrs of your game if you are more personal with them. these tours are usually done by smaller companies who have worked on AAA games or made great indie games.
When picking a location you have to perform a race report, this is where you identify the risks of where you are filming, if it is for a film, or where you create a project, You then take pictures of the risks and fill out a table of how it can resolve, who by and if it wasn't resolved what is the danger it poses. After filling out the table you then proceed to eliminate the risk, to stop injury.
Transport can be key fi you're in a city, or if you are filming outside of one. In the city you could have a special buss s erviec to pick up employees and rop them off, Odeon cinemas do this as it prevents employees travelling alone during the night or early morning. If you are filming outside of a city for afilm, then you could do the same thing or could have an "expenses paid" scheme where you pay for their travel on a train, this will also increase your employees in the long term because they know you take care of them rather than expecting them to pay to travel to do work for you.
Parking can be a big issue ina city. You will want a car park so that your employees can drive to work, in a city not having a car park will reduce your amount of employees because they will have no place to park. However, this is where you could introduce the transport system for employees but with a car park, it could also help when people come to visit for the tours. Many office blocks will come with a car park in the middle of a city because it stops people parking on the roads.
Codes of practice.
PEGI/TIGA/ Able gamers/ UKIE/ British law/ OFCOM.
In both the game and film industry, the product is given an age rating so it prevents people who aren't of age viewing it or purchasing it because the content isn't suitable for them.
TV/Video Game/Film.
Production of media is done in many stages, this includes the story, commissions as well as ideas. Also, sound recording and general recording is included in this. Also, with the production of films, the date of release comes into action. January is when fewer films/games are released because after christmas everyone has spent the money and are unable to see films in cinemas. However, depending on the type of film there are various release dtaes specially made for them. The franchise "saw" has a history of releasing their films either just before/at/after halloween because it fits iwht the horror theme. Most horror films will aim to release on the 6th of a month or the 13th as thye are to dow ith the devil. Deadpool is a god example of a release date for a film, the film was released on Valentines day and this is even mentioned in the film when Deadpool talks about how this isn't a romantic film. As well as this, games usually always have an acquired time slot for the AAA releases, like Call Of Duty releases in November every year because it is near Christmas, meaning it will be bought more for Christmas. Books can be released all year round but if it is a franchise then they release at similar times so people know when to expect the release in the following year.
Financial issues
Sources of finance- Can be from sponsors /Equipment costs/Ongoing expenses
Finances can come from multiple sources depending on what you are producing. Comapnies such as publishers help fund games, an example of this is hello games (an indie company) being funded by Sony for No Man's Sky. Another way to recieve funds is from sites such as kickstarter, being funded by the public, even though sites like this can be used for decieving the public and just taking your moeny. However, if you get funded you already know you have an instant audience who want to play your game or watch your show.
Equipment also comes under finances, you will need a mass amount of equipment if you are running a big company. Like the latest technology, so the game is made up to date and not on old systems. Ongoing expenses can be both good or a bad thing. In a good perspective, with an ongoing expense, you can gain discounts for being a long time customer or receive free gear from certain hardware companies. But in a bad perspective, they are consistent payment of rent each month which could also increase depending on the landlord/lady a could also deduct from the finance you have for the game itself.
Time issues
Deadlines/Actor availability/ Rentals- on going.
Time is a big issue within any form of media, deadlines are massive and usually indicate when the work should be done for to indicate either further work or the release. Deadlines for various media can vary, with writing your deadline will be after an embargo has been lifted so your content can get out to the public quickly. And for films there iwll be various deadlines, depednigjn on your position, the final film will have a later deadline compared to a deadline for gethering set locations. This is the same within games, where you will have a deadline for the final complete game, but you will need the story done towards the beginning so that thingsa such as concept art could progress. In games and films, time with actors is key, you will have to either work around the actor's schedule or get another actor if they are unavailable. Rentals are also a big part, if you are renting a 3D printer for example you have to get everything printed within the time, leading to more crunch time or you have to gather evrything you need to 3D print and do it within a week.
Releasing games in a certain time frame so it avoids big competitors. EA made the mistake of competing with themselves by releasing Titan fall 2 at the same time as Battlefield 1. This then leads for Titanfall 2 to fall behind on sales and fall off the radar in terms of well-released games. As well as this, you see that not many games are released in November due to the release of Call Of Duty each year.
Personal
Size of team- Could either be AAA or indie teams depending on the size of the team./ Talents, skills-/ Celebrity appeal/ Outsourcing/ Reputation.
Teams do vary on finance, most indie games are low on finance so will rely on funding from the public or funding from loans or other work. Most indie companies are small teams which can raneg from 1-20 people (not exactly that but it shows a size of a team) this makes the team more credited if they make a good game. However, AAA companies recieve more finace from publishers because they usualy sign a contract that binds them with the publshers, for example Treyarch and Activision are bind together as developers and publishers. As well as this, AAA companies have more of a reputation with an audience because they have been releasing big games for years usually, however it also puts pressure on the developers to make a good game and not let down the fans.
Talent is needed in the games industry more than anything, companies need people who are able to do multiple aspects of a certain job and be able to do them successfully, this will get you into the more advanced companies. Also, talent can be spotted through people making their own successful games, then bigger developers will want to buy the IP or hire you to work for them. Sometimes, good game ideas mixed with talent can lead you to gain publishers to help fund your game, this is how Hello Games gained help from Sony.
Celebrities can have a big impact on the game's sales, for games like Beyond Two Souls, having Ellen Page and Willem DaFoe would have affected the sales because they are wildly recognised amongst people, and people would know they wouldn't take a job like that if it was a bad game. As well as film celebrities, if a story is written by Stephen King (an example) then people would be more likely to buy the game knowing that it is going to be a great story because Stephen King is a talented writer, this also relates back to my previous paragraph about talent. Finally, voice actors also have a big impact now in the gaming community, if you know Troy Baker is voice acting a character in the game, then people will feel more entilted to buy it; not to hear his voice but because he has a rcord of being in fantastic games.
Outsourcing companies are becoming more and more popular in the gaming industry. These companies will spcialise in a cspecific part of the industry, whether it be art, graphics design or level editing. |tehy are able to be hired by developers to help complete the game. Why would you need an outsourcing company? Because you might be approaching a deadline and need more people to work on certain projects within the game or you might simpily want your company to focus on something bigger i the game and then hire an outsourcin company to build your levels.
Facilities.
Offices/ Location/ Food, toilets/ Transport
Facilities can raneg depedning on the company, most indie companies will work from home and very rarely actually have a studio because all of the funding goes towards the game not a work place. However, AAA comapnies usually have a studio fit with a canteen (and toilets!), as well as this some studios are loated where the majority f the company live. For example, a lot of American companies are based in california. This also creates competition between each of them, because if EA want to hire someone but this person lives in California and wants to work fro Treyarch, then it would be easier to work at Treyarch because they achieve what they want and at the same time also working closer to home. Situating a studio in a busy area will also mean people have acomodation nearby when they want to work for you, also reeling in more potential employees.
Materials.
Stock sound effects/ 3D assets/ Costumes/ Story scripts/ 2D sprites/ Music rights.
Music within games is key to the production, just as much as it is key in films. Stock sound effects can be recognised when you hear a sound consistently repreated throughout the game, while it remains exactly the same. A good example of this is when a character jumps in the majority of games, they make the "huh" sound as they land, showing the impact the landing had. Many stock sounds have been used for years, in TV the laughs you hear on comedy shows have been recorded in the 70's or around that time, and are reused in shows today if they don't have a live audience there. Music rights are always important, if creating your own project as an indie developer and you want to use music, you will either have to create your own, use some royalty free music which is becoming increasingly popular especially with content creators on YouTube. Or you can ask for rights to the music from the producer of it, if you don't do any of these and use the music, you will be done for plagarism which is breaking the law as you have breached the terms of copyright (or possibly trademark depending on the sound you use, an example of a trademark sound would be the jingle for Coca-Cola) and this could result in you being sued, fined or possibly having all of your work taken off you.
Materials can vary other than sound, 3D assets can be used frequently on engines like Unity. These have many presets for 3D assets, such as characters where your character can is preset with all the animations so it stops the developers having to waste time doing the animated at the start of the game. Unity is a great example for 3D assets as you can download assets packages which will include environments like trees. This is great for indie developers, as they don't need to put the time and effort into 3D modelling because it is all readily available for them. Another reason 3D assets are great is that it shows how characters can react against an environment, whether they bounce or just stop when hitting a tree.
Contributors.
Specialists/ Public support/ Investment/ AdvertisersSponsorships/Endorsments/
Contributors are a big help for developers of games and films, as well as books. In games, you will see many projects on kickstarter and indie gogo, on these sites the public help fund the game and will receive rewards depending on how much they donate, these are called reward tiers. The best part of kickstarter is you already have fans before thre release of the project because they are willing to give money based on the idea. Some films use kicktstarter as well, a good example of this is Bokeh, the film was funded by kickstarter and it is amazing and has the same quality of a top production film.
Contributors can also involve publishers, where you develop the game for them, and they help with the marketing of the game. This is a type of investemnt as well, where sometimes the publisher will buy out the developers so that they won the company. This happens between all of the Call Of Duty developers and Activison, thats why all of the developers are known as sister companies now. Activison had invested into the company, uually investemnts is where you put money into a project and iy can be a lot of money for the project but you expect to make more from the project than the money you put inot it. There is an entire TV Show based upon investemnts, this is Dragon's Den.
You can also earn money from the game from advertisements, this is why games like Anry Birds are free because each time you see/clicks an advertisement, then the develpers earn money from it by promoting another product. As well as this sponsor ships can earn you moeny, in eSports, you can earn money from having a sponsor (like GFuel) on your jersey and the company pay you because it is promoting their product while at the events.
Locations.
Finding a location/ Reece report/ Transport/ Parking/ Access/Availabilty/ Opening times
Locations matter a lot, you would want your offcie to be put into a city to attract more meplyees and customers. Also, some companies allow tours, so opening times liek 9-5 for tours would be great because it can attract many cutosmrs of your game if you are more personal with them. these tours are usually done by smaller companies who have worked on AAA games or made great indie games.
When picking a location you have to perform a race report, this is where you identify the risks of where you are filming, if it is for a film, or where you create a project, You then take pictures of the risks and fill out a table of how it can resolve, who by and if it wasn't resolved what is the danger it poses. After filling out the table you then proceed to eliminate the risk, to stop injury.
Transport can be key fi you're in a city, or if you are filming outside of one. In the city you could have a special buss s erviec to pick up employees and rop them off, Odeon cinemas do this as it prevents employees travelling alone during the night or early morning. If you are filming outside of a city for afilm, then you could do the same thing or could have an "expenses paid" scheme where you pay for their travel on a train, this will also increase your employees in the long term because they know you take care of them rather than expecting them to pay to travel to do work for you.
Parking can be a big issue ina city. You will want a car park so that your employees can drive to work, in a city not having a car park will reduce your amount of employees because they will have no place to park. However, this is where you could introduce the transport system for employees but with a car park, it could also help when people come to visit for the tours. Many office blocks will come with a car park in the middle of a city because it stops people parking on the roads.
Codes of practice.
PEGI/TIGA/ Able gamers/ UKIE/ British law/ OFCOM.
In both the game and film industry, the product is given an age rating so it prevents people who aren't of age viewing it or purchasing it because the content isn't suitable for them.
PEGI is a European age rating system for games, it rates the games on the use of language, gore and other things which may be offensive. They age rate any games, for example, some games are rated 18 and require strong parental guidance. However, the game rating isn't just how it defines who can buy the game. So if it is an 18 game it is against the law to sell it to anyone below the age of 18. The reason for the age rating is so that you aren't introducing young children into strong violence, also because many people blame games for violence then games can't be blamed for violence in schools and other places from video games. Even though the age rating also symbolises the amount of parental guidance is needed for the game.
UKIE (UK Interactive Entertainment) is a non-profit organisation and they represent multiple businesses of any sizes, from indie to AAA companies, as well as publishers and developers. Furthermore, they also support many Esports companies as well as supporting VR/AR in the industry which is rare from a company. Why is this rare? Because VR and AR aren't fully in the industry yet, it is still starting out the technology. This shows that UKIE support anyone and any idea, whether or not it has grown yet in the industry itself, sort of like a Kickstarter product you invest in. You don't know whether it will take off but you put your trust and hope into it.
IDGA stands for International Games Developers Association is a US-based non-profit organisation, it has a network across the world of collaborative projects and communities; joined together by individuals from a variety of fields across the industry. They also aim to create the next generation of game developers, no matter where in the world you are.
Able Gamers is an organisation, which does not run for profits based helping disabled gamers gain more access to gaming. This charity is appearing more in gaming expos like EGX over the years and is becoming more popular because they are aiming for gaming to be available for everyone to try. This is also showing the power of the community because people are funding the charity to help disabled gamers play as much as they want.
Able Gamers is an organisation, which does not run for profits based helping disabled gamers gain more access to gaming. This charity is appearing more in gaming expos like EGX over the years and is becoming more popular because they are aiming for gaming to be available for everyone to try. This is also showing the power of the community because people are funding the charity to help disabled gamers play as much as they want.
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