This week I got several things done. The first thing I focused on was getting the chicken run animation done. After a lot of slow and steady work with 3ds Max I was able to complete this animation as seen here: The other thing I worked on was the cell phone ballet cue in Dead Man's Cell Phone. My director told me after my rough draft that she wanted the cue that she wanted the cue to build into more a a crescendo. To do this I found some detective suspense music and added it into the cue. I also added in real voicemails so I don't have to hear anymore about that dumb 6th sense detective agency. (If you don't get this joke listen to my rough draft of this cue which can be found on my portfolio page.)
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First off let's start with a little introduction to the music I've experienced in my life. When I was in first grade my mom started me with my fist piano lessons. Piano lessons are a fact in my house, not an option. This forced march may not seem to be the best start for a deep love of music but in fact what started as a requirement soon grew on me especially after I discovered a talent for singing and began singing in several choirs. In middle school I again expanded my musical repertoire by beginning the double bass. Truth be told my passion for games may be in part because of the beautiful, exciting, and even emotional songs games use to bring an experience to their players.
Why are sounds and music so important to games though? Well think about it. Your life is filled with sound from before you even open your eyes in the morning to long after you close them at night. Imagine an old soundless movie flick. Without sound emotions are lost, large collisions seem fake, and its hard to truly believe in the action happening right before your eyes. With this kind of weight it's no wonder why games like the Legend of Zelda series, with their iconic sound tracks, do so well and have such a large fan base. Sounds serve many purposes when making games. They help add to the background with music meant to strike emotions into the players' hearts. Collisions, breathing, footsteps, and other actions are accentuated with music helping them pop out. These add clarity and realism to action sequences. After all sounds surround us in normal life so why should they be left out while playing a game. Sounds can even have games based off them as seen in rhythm games. The best part is this; we, in the game design industry, probably haven't even scratched the surface of how we can use sounds. Now tell me that isn't amazing. Last week on Friday as a class we visited the US2020 Stem N' Art Expo. To start we talked to a panel of professionals asking questions on how they got to where they were in life and what inspired them. Then we got to take quick 5 min one on one conversations with other accomplished people who used both Stem and Art for their job or research. After that we played around with some robots during lunch then went in and walked around the displays of several Art and Stem companies that wee showing of their work at the Expo.
As a student is was relatively fun to get to go and look at all the options there were for careers in the Arts and Stem areas. I liked being able to talk one on one with people in those fields but in the "speed mentoring" section of the day I did not end up talking to many people who were actually in the gaming or even design field. One thing I learned while I was at the Expo was how the shape of triangular waves effects the sound of a synthesizer. This knowledge will help me create better music for my games and be able to create better feelings and atmospheres with my music. |
AuthorSamuel Henry is a Senior at DSA in NC. He has 3 years of prior experience in the game design pathway and he's looking forward to becoming a great game designer. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not represent those of Durham School of the Arts or Durham Public Schools Categories
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