establishing a creative vision
DESCRIPTION
Establishing a creative vision. Alexandre Mandryka gamewhispering.com. Who’s this guy?. Born in Paris 12 years as a designer/creative director Ubisoft , Relic, consulting. What is a creative vision?. Have you asked yourself these questions?. Is it fun? Is it good? Is it beautiful? - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Establishing a creative vision
Alexandre Mandrykagamewhispering.com
Who’s this guy?
• Born in Paris• 12 years as a designer/creative director• Ubisoft, Relic, consulting
WHAT IS A CREATIVE VISION?
Have you asked yourself these questions?
• Is it fun?• Is it good?• Is it beautiful?
Questions so vague they are dangerous
What is a creative vision?
• It is a process
• It is thinking of what you want for your audience
• It is also inspiring your team with a clear target
Thinking before acting
Game
Meaning
Mandate
Player Experience
Clear rationale Rallying target
Focus creative effort
It can be very concrete
“The people’s car”A car for every family
The specs followed1 000 Reichsmarks maxEconomical usage5L/100Km100Km/h600Kg maximumFits 4 to 5 people
Mandate
A message to the world
“Dad, thank you for showing me that there is honor in looking back and respecting the past.”
Meaning
Private Ryan: It doesn't make any sense, sir. Why? Why do I deserve to go?
Private Reiben: Hey asshole! Two of our guys died trying to find you all right?
Captain Miller: Earn this.
Old James Ryan: Tell me I have led a good life. Ryan's Wife: What? Old James Ryan: Tell me I'm a good man. Ryan's Wife: You *are*.
It is our responsibility to be worthy of the sacrifice of our elders
Meaning
“Need for speed, but at night”
• How do you represent speed at night?
Use lightsBunched to create contrastReflection is neededGround has to be wet
Helps find the right questions and make decisions
Player Experience
Meaning
Mandate
Player Experience
Abstraction
Time
TOP DOWN PROCESS
Define your projectCommunicate your vision
- Features- Systems- Rules... ?
Doing things in the right order
Execution Reflection
Consumption
Heading straight for execution leaves results to chance,which is a largely unacceptable process at industrial level
Doing things in the right order
ExecutionReflection
Consumption
It then helps direct execution and becomes a rationale evaluation metric
First establish your vision
We start wrong for different reasons
Mainly because we don’t know better
It reassures us, we need concrete progress
I’ve seen it at all levels
Also because we use the player perspective
Understand your material
MandateMake a Mario Kart like
Analysis takes time
MandateRomeo and Juliet + Modern times
Over 300 years
Ubisoft’s long process
• Core team• Research for 3-4
months• 3-4 days workshop– Offsite– In a castle– With the CCO
Communication:Not an exact science
Avoid misinterpretations
MandateMake a movie about WWII
Team
Implementation
Creative
Business
Communicate through different layers
Meaning
Mandate
Player Experience
Rational flow Creating a unified vision Not what individuals ‘like’
Establishing Player Experience
Professional Gamer
An audience is mesmerized
Technique is at the service of intention
• Shaky camera • Slightly out of focus• Sound is distorted• Looks into camera
TEAM DYNAMIC &BOTTOM UP PROCESS
Engage your team membersSupport creativity
Being creative
Malsow’s hierarchy of needs
Abraham Maslow
Intrinsic needs
Competency Autonomy Purpose
Respect competencies
Competency
Autonomy
Purpose
Give a problem Let me find a solution
If you don’t ...
Strong vision No team engagement
Vision must be rationale
Let the team member find their solutions
Supporting Bottom-Up
Process
Vision
Game
FeaturesFeatures Features
Coding DesignArt
• Engage your team disciplines
• Do the team specialists understand and share it?
• They deliver the features
• They are specialists, They know best
The Sands of Time
Creativity VS Management
• Finding the creative core takes times• It can fail• Creativity is about finding something hidden• Management is about limiting uncertainty
What is needed is Creative Management
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4
Gold
Ideas
Understand creative process (vision, brainstorm ...)
Take away
• You are a creator, not a gamer anymore
• Understand creativity and respect it
• Establish a clear objective and work as a team
