Unit 11 - Preparation for Progression in Creative Media

13/11/2019

Research into Universities and other options

University for the Creative Arts (Farnham)

Games Art

Internet (Google search)

Professional and successful Teacher, Welcoming atmosphere, not too intimidating, great success stories and professional looking student work, Uni is specialised in Art, good industry ties

De Montford University

Game Art

Internet (UCAS Search)

Focus on many useful technical skills relevant to the games art industry, latest technology

University of Northampton

Games Art

College Fair

Academic partner of Unreal engine, Students are given a Laptop, very even focus on 2D and 3D, very new and updated campus, high funding, working with games programming students

University of Worcester

Game Art

Internet (UCAS search)

Annual student game jam with mentors from industry, lively programme of guest lectures, up to date equipment, Industry links

Coventry University
Games Art
Internet (UCAS search)
Taught by industry professionals, emphasis on idea generation and concept development, help define signature style, work with computing students

King London talk 
King studios London, the creators of wildly popular mobile games such as Candy Crush and Bubble Witch Saga, were incredibly generous in giving us the opportunity of an Industry talk, telling us about their experience in a major mobile game company, how they got there, and what progression routes they recommend. Ella and I had written down some questions to ask beforehand, and so I was able to address some of those to the speakers.

For the first question, all 3 of the speakers remarked that they had gone to university, some even for an extended time. This is in line with my personal beliefs on the importance of higher education and so I was quite pleased with this answer.

Regarding what to do after, once again the three of them said that they all took part in the Internships that King provides, and that they highly recommend it not only as a way into the King company, but other companies too. They also highly recommended taking part in Game Jams, and one of them even suggested getting a Masters degree.

Then, lastly, for portfolio advice, they suggested putting all our work into appropriate sections and putting our CV up as well. They also said to add a section describing yourself so that anyone looking at your portfolio can get to know you better.

I think this talk was really very useful, as it gave us some insight into how some actual industry professionals got their jobs, and what they found most useful. I am glad I was given the opportunity to attend and hoe to receive other opportunities such as this in the future.

13/11/2019

University course requirements

University for the Creative Arts (Farnham)

UCAS Tariff: 112 points

GCSE's: Four GCSE passes or above

Portfolio
Interview
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The majority of our courses require a portfolio and we consider the strength of our applicants’ portfolios, as well as their grades.

This means that whilst we have a standard entry criteria of 112 UCAS tariff points (64 UCAS points for 4 year courses) and a minimum of four GCSE passes (or equivalent) at grade A*-C and/or 4-9 including English, this should be used as a guide to what we accept.

The average tariff that our students achieve is significantly higher than this standard entry criteria but we also occasionally make offers which are lower to students with a strong portfolio, and those who have faced difficulties that have affected their performance and who were expected to achieve higher results."

We welcome applicants who are currently studying or have completed A-Levels, Extended Diplomas (BTEC and UAL), Foundation Diploma in Art and Design, Access to Higher Education, Scottish Highers, and IB Diploma. We will consider other Level 3 qualifications on an individual basis and we are happy to accept applicants with a combination of Level 3 qualifications."

"We require evidence of your English language ability to meet the requirements for your course. If you're a Home student and studied in the UK, we require GCSE English at a minimum grade C/4 (or Functional Skills English/Key Skills Communication Level 2). If you’re an EU student and studied a European qualification, we may accept the English Language score from your main qualification - we accept the following English language qualifications: IELTS (overall score 6.0), TOEFL ibt (overall score 88), PEARSON PTE Academic (overall 55), Cambridge Proficiency Exam (overall score 169), Cambridge Advanced Exam (overall score 169). If you need a Tier 4 student visa to study in the UK, you will need to take an IELTS test, and achieve an overall score of 6.0 and a minimum score of 5.5 for each element (Listening, Reading, Speaking, Writing)."

∼UCA UCAS Website

De Montford University

UCAS Tariff: 120 points 

GCSE's: Five GCSE's 9-4

Portfolio
Interview
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"- from at least 2 A-Levels including A-Level Art and Design at B or above Five GCSEs 9-4 including English Language or Literature or equivalent." 

∼DMU UCAS Website

University of Northampton

UCAS Tariff: 112 points

GCSE's: Maths 4 or above

Portfolio
Interview
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"GCSE Mathematics at grade 4 (or C) or an equivalent qualification required. Please note Key Skills or Functional Skills qualifications and their equivalents are not accepted. Applicants are also expected to have studied an Art or design related subject" 

∼ UoN UCAS Website

University of Worcester

UCAS Tariff: 104 points

Portfolio

Interview

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The University of Worcester accepts all qualifications within the Tariff, and normally looks for the equivalent of 3 A levels."

∼UoW UCAS Website

Coventry University

Looking at all these requirements, I feel confident that I will be able to get in to all of them based on the UCAS tariff points, as I earned a distinction last year and am aiming for the same this year. I am however worried that my lack of GCSE's will be a problem, as all of these University have certain requirements regarding them. I quite like that UCA Farnham states that they consider accepting students who don't meet the requirements, based on the reasons and the strength of their portfolios. This gives me hope and is one of the many reasons it is my current top choice. I have not been very keen on worcester in general, however I did think it was quite a valid choice. However seeing how low their requirements are, has put me off a bit, as I feel like Universities with higher requirements will challenge me more and I don't want to go to a University that I feel will accept anyone.

UCAS forms

Personal strengths and weaknesses

13/11/2019

CV writing

12/9/19

Personal statement first draft

Ever since I was little, the two things I have enjoyed most in the world have been Video Games and Art. So when I started to work towards a job in the Games industry as a Concept artist, it felt like pieces of a puzzle coming together. The time I have spent studying this topic has been some of the most fun time of my life and it truly feels like something I am good at. I know that completing this course would help me take the next step towards this dream and help me get closer to my true potential. I am already looking forward to spending the next few years further learning more about the industry and improving upon my art.

I have been drawing for as long as I can remember and have completed a few art courses throughout my life as well. Video games are also a big part of my life and I am constantly taking note of them and using them to help me create new Ideas in my head. In addition I also watch a lot of Tv and film as well as anime and read a lot of manga, which once again aids in my ability to come up with new Ideas. I am an extremely creative person that is always making up new stories and imagining what games I could create in the future. I have also taken a 2 year course at Stanmore college for Animation and games design where I have completed various projects and improved substantially upon both my art and the needed technical skills. I am also a very independent and responsible person, but work very well in a team environment nonetheless. Adding to that, I am a fast learner and am quick to adapt to new programs, people or environments as needed.

When I was around 5 years old I moved from England to Switzerland where my Mother's side of the family is from. I lived there for 11 years and then moved back to England after completing my secondary school education, where I then proceeded to attend college. Because of this I am Bilingual and speak both English and Swiss-German, as well as German, which is the formal language in Switzerland, fluently. Switzerland also has a very good education system that I believe I have very much benefited from, even though it has resulted in a lack of GCSE’s.

I believe all of these skills make me a very good choice for this course and I hope you will give me the opportunity to grow and develop in this course, the way I believe I will be able to. 

Personal statement final draft

Ever since I was little, the two things I have enjoyed most in the world have been Video Games and Art. When I started to work towards a job in the games industry as a concept artist, it felt like pieces of a puzzle coming together. The time I have spent studying this topic has been some of the most enjoyable of my life and it truly feels like something I am good at. I know that completing this course would help me take the next step towards this dream and help me get closer to my true potential. I am already looking forward to spending the next few years learning more about the industry and improving my art.

I have been drawing for as long as I can remember and have completed a few art courses. Video games are also a big part of my life and I am constantly taking note of them and using them to help me create new ideas in my head. In addition, I also watch a lot of TV and film as well as anime and read a lot of manga, which once again aids in my ability to come up with new ideas. I am an extremely creative person that is always making up new stories and imagining what games I could create in the future. I have also taken a two year course at Stanmore College for animation and games design where I have completed various projects and improved substantially upon both my art and the needed technical skills. I am an independent and responsible person and also work very well in a team environment. Adding to that, I am a fast learner and I am quick to adapt to new programs, people or environments as needed.

When I was around 5 years old I moved from England to Switzerland. I lived there for 11 years and then moved back to England after completing my secondary school education, where I then proceeded to attend college. Because of this I am bilingual and speak both English and Swiss-German, as well as German, which is the formal language in Switzerland, fluently. Switzerland also has a very good education system that I believe I have benefited from.

I did some work experience at a graphic design company where I was able to gain some experience using Photoshop and also worked at an interior design company as a secretary for a week, where I learnt valuable organisation and independence skills.

I believe all of these skills make me a very good choice for this course and I hope you will give me the opportunity to grow and develop in this course, the way I believe I will be able to. 

13/11/19

Online Portfolio
I have created an online Portfolio on Weebly, which showcases my projects as well as traditional and digital art.

https://josiehoodportfolio.weebly.com/

20/11/19

Interview practice

Today we held some mock interviews with our classmates to get some initial, but less stressful and more comfortable interview practice. According to my feedback I appeared confident and was good at improvising on the spot, but am struggling to keep eye contact. This is an ongoing problem I will do my best to improve upon. I also apparently answered questions well and very detailed, and was good at naming my strengths. I am quite happy with this feedback and will do my best to do better the next time.

I do believe, however, that the first feedback sheet I received is more accurate as that was my best performance. The second time I had forgotten most of my points and therefore did not have as much to say. I think having notes of what I'd like to say would help, even if I can't actually predict the interview questions. 

27/11/19

Mock Interviews

Today we had our mock interviews with teachers from the college, and despite how nervous I was going into it, I think I actually managed to do it really well. I was able to answer all the questions and felt like I had a lot to say about all of them. My feedback also confirmed, that I had very good answers and was always able to elaborate with specific examples. It also said that I was able to provide a very good backstory on my love for the subject and that I have a very clear understanding of the difference of the Indie/Mainstream industries and what path I want to take. As a bonus, it says that I had nervous enthusiasm and that that is a good approach, as well as that I was dressed respectfully for the occasion and have a pleasant personality. For improvement, it stated that my Portfolio needed to be completed, which I am currently working on.

22/1/2020

UCAS choices
As of right now, I have received 2 conditional offers from my top and my bottom choice.

I received Worcesters acceptance almost immediately without having to send in my certificates or even going to an interview. This has further supported my view on that University.

I received my acceptance from UCA after sending in my certificates and attending an interview. However when I sent in my certificates, I received no notice on whether my Swiss grades had been approved, and so now after sending them an email enquiring about this, I have been asked to send in an official translation which I am currently working on doing. The Interview was much more relaxed than I had anticipated. I wasn't asked many questions, as he was much more interested in my portfolio. He did speak very positively about my art and me afterwards though so I believe it spoke for itself. UCA has remained my top choice through all of this.


I have withdrawn my application from Northampton and will not be attending  my interview there, as I still do not wish to go there and as it has the same entry requirements as UCA, it wouldn't be useful as a safety option either. I am planning to do the same with Coventry once I have heard back from UCA after sending my translation. I will be however continuing my effort to get in to De Montford, my second choice.

Open days

University for the Creative Arts

Last year I went to the open day for the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham, where I got a little insight into the classes and accommodation at the campus. Unfortunately I do not have any pictures from the day and I did not receive anything from the University so I have nothing to show, however I did like the University a lot. The classroom was very impressive and had a lot of great equipment. The staff also seemed really friendly and I was very impressed by the Students past work. I was worried that going to University open days would be very intimidating, however UCA had a very welcoming and comfortable atmosphere that made it easy for me to imagine myself going there. I also really like the industry ties they have, the professionalism of some of the teachers and the fact that out of all my choices, UCA is the only Art-focused Uni. It also has the highest entry requirements which makes me confident that if I could go there, I would be sufficiently challenged and would manage to improve significantly. However, despite their high entry requirements, they were also very clear, that depending on how strong your portfolio is and what grades you were expected to get, even if you didn't due to certain circumstances, they will consider accepting you nonetheless. I like this a lot, not only because I feel that this shows how important the actual art is to them, but also because it gives me confidence that my lack of GCSE's won't be a problem. The accommodations there are quite humbl and not ideal, however they are something I can definitely live with and UCA remains my top choice as of now.

University of Worcester

Not too long ago I visited the University of Worcester.

I did not have the highest hopes for this University, as it was a University I simply picked so I would have more options, and I liked it better than the others I had researched. However it actually surprised me when I got there. The facilities were much nicer than I had expected and the student work was fairly impressive. The course work did seem to focus an awful lot on 3D and not too much on 2D, however I did like that they hold annual Game Jams.

The course there though is very new, to the point where they've only just recently had their first year of graduates and this put me off slightly, as it now felt like all their job security and student happiness stats, were not that reliable. I also did not personally like their specific industry ties that much, although they only had few. Their accommodation was actually quite nice and they had many price options. Another thing, however that frustrated me about the Uni, was that it was a City Campus. Although I understand that I would get used to it if I went there, I did not like how confusing it was to have buildings scattered all throughout the city.

And lastly, their entry requirements are very low, the lowest of all my choices and I'm not a big fan of the idea of going to a Uni that will not challenge me or that I got into too easily. So although this open day changed my mind about Worcester slightly, it is still one of my bottom choices.

University of Northampton

Northampton's Open day was the most disappointing one by far. This University was initially one of my top choices, however upon visiting it, I realised that I do not want to go there at all. Although the idea of a free laptop and their very nice accommodation is still appealing, the course put me off completely. 

The course talk was very small, as not many visitors had come and so it was held in a small group which allowed him to address each of us quite personally. He asked the potential students questions and tried to appeal to each of them individually. However I felt that after hearing what Ella and I's current course was, he was quite dismissive. He seemed to assume that because we weren't doing an art specific course, we did not know much about art or what an art job in the industry would be like. Any answers to questions he asked us, were shot down immediately and he seemed much more interested in another potential student who was doing a concept art course. He also asked her if she had any 3D modelling experience, and then immediately seemed to direct a statement about not having any modelling experience at us, without asking us if we did. Even when we talked to him privately, adressing some of our concerns, he immediately shot us down and repeated what he had stated before. To add to that, I did not agree with a lot of what he was saying during the talk in the first place, and so Northampton has become one of my last choices. 

26/2/2020

1 year progression plan
After receiving all my offers, and withdrawing from Northampton and Coventry University, I was left with 3 options: University of Worcester, De Montford University and University of the Creative arts. Worcester has remained a bottom choice throughout the whole process and so this did not make it into my replies, however although UCA was my first choice, I was still open to De Montford changing my mind. But after going to the interview there, and getting a very good look at the course, although I am thoroughly impressed by the facilities and the course, it is much more 3D focused than I had anticipated or wanted. Therefore I have made UCA my firm choice, but kept De Montford as my insurance choice.

UCA has continued to impress me with not only their hospitality, but also impressive student work, interesting course plan and exciting equipment. It is also the only Arts university on my list, which really shows in their passion and understanding of the arts. They also have a facility called the "incubator" where they help promising students develop their ideas into fully fledged games, ready to be released on the market, which shows not only their belief in their students, but also their understanding of the rising popularity of the Indie industry, a field I myself am interested in pursuing.

I am very excited to hopefully attend UCA where I am sure I will be able to massively improve upon my skills in character design and creation, as well as many more digital and traditional skills, in both 2D and 3D, and also environment and object design. I am most hoping that I will be able to greatly improve upon my anatomy and posing skills in the first year, as this would greatly benefit me in the work of the remaining 2 years.

I am also hoping that I will eventually be able to create a game in the incubator as this would be an amazing achievement for me and a great opportunity. I am beside that also thinking of doing some freelance work, if I have the skills and time required, as this would not only help with funds, but also encourage me to draw more and improve my art. I am hoping that attending this course will lead me to joining a great company which will hopefully eventually lead to me being able to make my own games in the future.