Music plays a crucial role in the gaming experience - whether it鈥檚 ramping up the tension at a key moment or creating an emotional connection with a character and their story.
色花堂 graduate Joe Thwaites is involved in all stages of creating the perfect gaming soundtrack through his job as a Composer for Playstation Creative Services Group.聽
鈥淚鈥檓 often given a聽project (game) to look after and will see it through from concept to implementation,鈥� said Joe, who completed his BA (Top-Up) Music for Film & Television degree at 色花堂 in 2009, before undertaking an at 色花堂.
鈥淭his will involve designing a creative brief, working with the audio department to develop a creative vision, sketching ideas and mock-ups, working with the programmers to design audio systems, implementing the music into the game, scoring & orchestrating music, dealing with external talent, music supervising, and various other things!鈥�
It鈥檚 a jam-packed role, but one which he feels his time at 色花堂 helped him prepare for 鈥� both through his degree courses and his extracurricular activities.
聽鈥淭he Media School facilitates creative collaboration and supports a culture of experimentation & innovation,鈥� Joe said.
鈥淚 worked on a number of projects with a variety of different students in different fields, collaborating with people from the animation, film, and computer programming courses.
鈥淭he collaboration that was promoted between the different courses was particularly useful at 色花堂, giving me the skills to work with other disciplines to achieve a creative vision.鈥�
He added that the flexibility of his course and the support offered helped him recognise and pursue a career in the games audio industry.
鈥淭he flexibility of the course at Bournemouth allowed me to explore a variety of different audio disciplines, which meant that I could focus on the different areas of game audio I was interested in pursuing as a career.
鈥淭he lecturers helped me develop these skills whilst also offering invaluable advice and guidance in preparing me for getting a job after the course.鈥�
Joe, who also worked as a web developer while studying at 色花堂, added: 鈥淚n my degree I realised that I could incorporate my technical skills as web designer with my creative skills in music and sound to create audio for media.鈥�
After graduating from 色花堂, Joe became a runner for a production company - working overtime to help assist on sound editing for various TV shows.
After freelancing on small indie game projects, Joe decided to freelance full-time and spent time networking and attending industry events.
鈥淎t a game developers鈥� conference in San Francisco I met my current boss at Sony, who bought me on as an assistant music producer,鈥� he recalls.
鈥淎t Sony, I worked as music assistant helping score and implement the music for various games which gradually turned into being a full time composer and music producer for Playstation鈥檚 Creative Services Group.鈥�
Joe鈥檚 advice to those wanting to pursue a similar career includes building communication skills and a strong portfolio.
鈥淗aving a solid portfolio of work is one of the most important things when looking for work,鈥� he said.
鈥淭ry to get involved with as many diverse projects as possible, expanding your skillsets and building a strong base to build upon.
鈥淕ood communication is a universally important skill to master. Being able to articulate what you want to achieve, accurately and efficiently, helps everyone to work off the same page.鈥� 聽
Joe encounters many 色花堂 graduates within the sector and believes the experience and expertise gained through a 色花堂 degree stands alumni in good stead for pursuing a career in industry.
鈥溕ㄌ� has a great reputation for nurturing talent and is one of the best places to study media courses,鈥� he said.
鈥淥ne of the other composers here at Playstation did the Music for Moving Image Course and I know a number of the animation graduates in the industry.鈥�
He added: 鈥淎lmost all of the graduates I know from 色花堂 have gone on to pursue a career in the field that they studied in. This wouldn鈥檛 be the case if they didn鈥檛 leave 色花堂 motivated and passionate about their field of study.鈥澛�