GAME JAMS.
Material from my 2021, 2022 and 2024 Global Game Jams.
Global Game Jam.
Game art and animation
I was first introduced to the concept of game jams by Paolo Borsellino, a game and level designer and also my partner. I participated to a couple, one in 2021, one the following year and one in January 2024, They were both very fun experiences, albeit pretty intense, and they prompted me to approach an animation jam in March 2023.
The game jams themselves introduced me to the game production pipeline in a protected environment and allowed me to understand what's needed in the art department.
My role in the jam
This was me and Paolo's first duo experience, and it went great! We were, of course, able to be a lot more flexible both with the time and the expectations of the project, and I had full control on the artistic side of it. I had a lot of fun playing with the characters and their very exaggerated expressions.
My role in the jam
For this jam, I wanted to do some more serious animation work, but there was only one other artist working with me (my friend Laura Artuso). I ended up doing some basic cutscenes in rotoscoping for the three different endings you could get, and the time I had leftover, I helped with the technical artistic issues.
My role in the jam
At this point in time, I still hadn't mastered the animation process, hadn't been taught about the pipeline and I didn't even know how to use any animation program. Still, I studied the walk cycle from Richard Williams and used Clip Studio Paint's onion skin function, and gave it a go!
Even though I can now see the limitations of the animation, I'm still very proud that I managed to do all of this in the span of a weekend and the communication we had between artists (Sofia Smiderle and Helena Turri).
© 2024 by Anna Xiccato