Art Direction

Art Directors...the top o' the food chain.

An Art Director is basically the mother goose of a projects ideas and thought processes. Although they dont pyhsically influence every single aspect of the game they oversee it. Indirectly making sure it falls into place and meets their vision of the games style and look. Although the artists are the ones making the work, if a game is stylised in such a way as Team Fortress 2, its because they want it that way.

But this isnt just no guts and all glory. Its also their task to assemble a skilled team and create the production pipeline. The team has to be kept as a tight knit unit and work in a harmony with each other to ensure things run smoothly, on scheduele and also accurate to his vision. If it doesnt the directors is in big trouble. Because of this it takes years of skill and experience in the industry to be worthy of such a highly ranked place. Even though they might be pencil pushing everything that is made needs the thumbs up from them, meaning they are responsible for all apsects of the game. This needs the ability to communicate fluently with the team as the director must be kept up to scratch with the knows and hows that might hinder or help production. Most of all, it takes a great deal of leadership. Afterall you dont want the man leading the way to be a completely doochebag.

I personally think this is quite a creative post. As previously said, although they arent getting their hands dirty in the world of 3DS Max their instead having people dive into their mind and pick their brains. Afterall it is their vision that is being transformed onto the screen. Which can be quite a tricky task. I like the idea of a team listening to your imagination and turning it into something you can see. But this It involves a lot of thought into how the game should look and why it should look that way, as your imaginative ideas must have meaning. If something isnt meeting their vision, they have to point out what details arent up to scratch and how it needs to be corrected. This kind of role means the ability to nit pick should be in the job ad aswell.