To gather feedback on these positions I've referred to asking elsewhere for concepts and ideas such as through linkd in I found a senior artist for infinity ward posting about a scheme whereby him and other senior artists are giving feedback free of charge. I immediately sent him a email with some of my work, proof below.
Other than this I am looking around for other jobs closely relating to the work of Splash Damage so that if I was to have the job opening that I want I can go and find it.
My primary goal is to get into a junior role if this isn't an option, the best place for these sorts of roles are normally posted about on linkd in but in some cases otherwise just to apply and see if any position can be filled without them promoting the job outward. After having people in from CGI (Cloud Imperial Games) they told us that mostly in their company they go into Universities, give talks and then employ through that method in terms of outsourcing juniors. This means I will have to be extra intuitive when looking for jobs as they may not be advertised.
After noticing that one of the Environment artists are Splash Damage is a big enthusiast of young and upcoming artists I decided to message him on Linkedin introducing myself and showcasing some of my work and my enthusiasm for working for Splash Damage. He immediately replied saying he would send me a email that he believes would help me in my beginnings of the career ahead. He emailed me back with very insightful and open thoughts of the games industry and how I should start off and how he got to where he is today. The image below is his full email where I took many notes and learnt new things from which I will discuss.
The environment artist John Barnard was someone who I had looked up to in terms of work on Art-station and many other traits as he has worked at Splash Damage previous and moved away and returned. The immediate thought was to message him and ask how he managed to get the job he wanted at such an amazing company. Although his thoughts here are distinct in terms of how he ended up here it shows his steps towards the goal. This allowed me to understand that maybe I wont start up at this company, I will have to do the same to in order to get the job of my dreams. He mentions within this email the good and bad points of the job and then the overall idea of how to go about getting the job that I want.
The awful but good news is that he told me he started at a internship, although this is good the bad part is he mentions that some internships don't pay well or even at all and treat you slightly under par. This started to throw me off the horse but I wont get anywhere doing that meaning my research will need to be deeper if I am to get the role and job I want. The lack of junior roles if any at Splash Damage show that I need to be around mid-level if I was to even think about applying, this means I need to start looking at companies around the same art style that have either internships or junior roles so that way I can develop my skills into that area and make my way up the 'chain' so to speak. Feedback I think personally is key here, if I am to apply for such a place then feedback on my work and feedback on my career as a whole will be needed, I will be asking my Lecturer Mark today for advice on how I should lay out my scene in accordance to this art style. This will be under another blog post this one is primarily for Job searching and Employ-ability in relation to the games industry.
After reviewing my options I decided to reach out to people who had worked for the company or currently working within Splash Damage for feedback, I didn't want to bug John anymore than I already had so I decided to go elsewhere. The recommendation from my tutor Mark pointed me in the direction of a Tech artist called Andy Davis. He had been head hunted by Splash Damage prior to working at Facebook, not only this he works with a lot of Universities and students to help them achieve their goals. I asked for feedback on both my portfolio and also what/where I should be heading in terms of getting where I need to be.
The feedback given here showcases exactly what I've been trying to get my head around, the overall ideas of where I want to be, how I wish to get there and where I should be applying my skills. The feedback given helped me with deciding what I want to do for my next scene a few weeks into the scene as I wasn't sure on what I wanted to do. Andy's feedback helped me reassure myself I was on the right path and given a lot of guidance on how to get where I want to be. Reaching out to people has easily been the best part of this project as it's given me an insight on where I want to be and how to get there.
After realising that the roles here are near and far out of my reach in terms of level of where I need to be I decided my final idea to get into this company was just like John had mentioned through either an internship or even free work for a while and just getting the basics under way. I found they have a open application and it allows you to talk to the recruiters within the company giving you a better understanding of what you need so applying to this was my first start.
My second choice was to start looking at other companies around the same skill level and looking to see if they have anything in terms of internships or junior roles. I decided to look at Foundry 42 and their open junior roles they have at the moment, some of them are interesting but nothing in terms of art or game design, I then went ahead and looked at some of their mid-level roles and what they require, looking and researching these things doesn't hurt and even applying for some roles and just getting feedback from it helps entirely.
The next step was looking into companies that offer real internships and advertise them, such as Dice a company that I know uses photogrammetry in their games and makes it work to the point of realism. To apply for one of these I would need my degree and also a good looking portfolio so taking time to amend and create a good looking portfolio is definitely on the cards for the end of year project.
I will continue to look for roles in other companies and I'll stay looking at LinkedIn constantly as it seems they're the first place for jobs to be posted and getting a early application is always better than late. My understanding is once you get your foot into the industry it all grows from there, making the first jump the most important.
I then decided to Email John again and tell him my final result, I wanted to become a Environmental artist. This was a tough decision, one that would shape my career. After talking with my lecturer Chris he recommended that I should stick to environment art and once I have a job I can switch then if needs be. The lighting artist role will forever be a backup if needs be as it's something I understand to a good enough deal and know how to budget myself.
I asked about job roles and applications and where to place myself in the industry as a whole and his reply ensured me of where I need to be and what to achieve again. He also offered to check out my portfolio so I decided to send him my most up to date portfolio, once replied he will offer feedback and ideas on what to do with my latest scene.
My next application after looking into more trainee roles would be to creative assembly as they provide the exact thing that the people at Digital Extremes had mentioned. I want to go for the environment art role as I've touched upon it but never properly taught how to go about doing this role entirely. I understand the basics of asset creation as well as most forms of environment art but there is always new and improved tricks to the trade and the industry is forever growing. You never know that the people teaching us could be teaching us outdated ways making this role perfect for me.
I will be applying ASAP when I manage to tailor my CV, Personal statement, Portfolio & list of questions to Creative Assembly.
Applying for roles has been on my mind for a while, keeping my eye closely on new jobs and opportunities. As this blog clearly states, I'm looking at getting a environment role at Splash Damage. The job has appeared thus I applied, the aim here is to mainly get feedback but also in hopes that I can go ahead and get at least an interview if they like/appreciate my work. The amazing thing about this is I have the ability to track my job application and understand where I'm at rather than leaving me anxiously waiting for 2 weeks. My application included my CV, Cover letter & portfolio. I applied through their website rather than Linkd in because the hyperlink on Linkd in was to their site. Even if I was to apply through Linkd in it wouldn't matter.
I've been also applying for other companies as a back up as I imagine someone like Splash Damage will be looking for a more experienced person in terms of role knowledge.
Splash Damage managed to get back to me after a minor period of time, it's upsetting to not get the role as I presumed they'd want a more experienced person but here they didn't mention much to do with art but more to do with the experience I needed. This entails that my experience overall needs to be increased in comparison to the actual level of art. I'm only presuming this by the wording but then again they may be just being polite. I'll reach out to some more of their environment artists to ask for any details referring to this.
Below are some more job applications that I've applied for, these are higher end roles that I'm applying for in hopes that they give me feedback instead of the role. I've heard Ubisoft and Electric Square are really formative and give you the exact feedback needed to get the role for the next application.
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