INTERVIEW WITH JEREMIAH O' FLAHERTY (ART DIRECTOR)

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XGC Brittany

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What role did you play in the Gears project?

I was the Art Director on Gears of War.

Give the readers an idea about your day-to-day tasks.

Day-to-day is crazy for the Art Director. i tend to get into the office pretty early (i.e. 5-8 a.m. depending on crunch or not) so that I can take care of emails, feedbaack, cinematic work, and any tasks that require uninterruped focus. By 10 a.m., many other floks are are beginning to arrive at the office and I start working with specific people to give them the direct feedback they need, looking over thier sholder, or us reviewing it on my computer, stc. My role is very much about the beginning (the concepts) and the end (all the pieces coming together), so depending on the stage of the project, I spend more time focused on one ot the other. Organized meeting are a huge part of the daily "core hours" time spent. We have Leads meetings, animation meetings, UI meetings, level meetings, monster meetings, etc. Staying on the same page in super important and so is participation in the way things are done, so meetings are a fast way to facilitate those things. Between meeting, I manage emails and walk around talking to other folks on the team about what they are working on.

What was your favorite aspect of the project?

Working on a new franchise with the expectations of Gears has been a blast. From the very early days, the Gears team has bee striving to create a really fun visually amazing experience, and maintaining that throughout the developement has been the goal. from the animation system, to the post-processing, to the cinematics, we tried to push well beyond where we had been befor and make something people will really have a good time playing and viewing.

After the complete the game, what so you expect (or hope) players will say?

That it really looks like you are playing in a "movie" environment

What was the trickiest task assigned to you and how did you solve it?

In general: Working with Cliff to bring his crazy ideas to solid form in the game was tricky at times. I trust his design sense but there are a lot of bad ways to make a chainsaw gun, for example, taking the time to iterate with the concept artist wntil we believed in the idea as much as cliff ment we has found a soulution. Keeping the HUD in Gears as simple as it is was an exercise in persistence. There are only so may ways to indicate things to the player, and most games depend on color in the HUD to do that, by limiting the gameplay guys to only using black, white, and red, we had to be really creative to make sure the player gets the necessary feedback without betraying the minimalist HUD design.

What did the Unreal Engine 3 allow you to achieve in Gears that you couldn't have accomplished without it?

It allowed us to make the game look like a feature film. From the subtitles in the shaders, to the lighting, to the post-processing, the engine allowed us to really tailor the look around the filmic style we had set out to create from the very beginning.

What are you most proud of concerning the game?

The overall look and feel turned out great in Gears. We achieved a cinematic style in the visual quality, filtering, and motion. The in-game, hand-held camera look of Gears that carries through to the cinematics really helps underline that film look that we were after. Add to the fundamental art of the game the weights feeling of the animation and the physics-blended motion, and we were able to create and finally layer on the coolest blood and gore that I've ever seen pushed into a game. The visuals from the top to bottom make me smile with joy everytime I play the game.

What originally attracted you to the video game industry, and how did you get your start?

As a blend of technical, art, and film, the game industry has worked out really well for me. When I was 12, I was programming and designing my own games on the first home computers that came on the market back in the '80s. As computers progressed, my brothers, and i wouls split up the tasks of programming and art, and I gravitated toward the art side of thing. At 18, the first game for whick I had helped to design and create the art, was published for the Amiga. While continuing to create games full-time, I also went to art school and film school to bone up on some of the fundamentals that I have continued to use to this day. i started making games because it was fun and challenged me in all the right ways. I continue to make games because, after 18 years, it still continues to challenge me and keep me on my toes visually and technically.

What keeps you in the game industry?

The Women! Seriously, a wife and daughter eith expensive taste. What? Were you thinking I ment "women" like a guy in a band would say it?

What titles have you worked on?

More interesting are companies I've worked for. I was one of the founders of Ion Storm. I did 2 years in the desert working at Westwood, and now I'm working at the best game company in the industry. Along the way, I worked on a bunch of Amiga titles, PC titles, and a few console titles.

What can we look forward to in the future with the Gears franchise?

Oooh/ If I told you, then it wouldn't be as much fun to watch the forums (http://forums.epicgames.com) to see what people are guessing.

Do you have a pet tactics or any tips you'd like to share with the readers?

Use cpver amd curb-stomp as often as you can. We put the gore in there for a reason, so have fun watching you character's skull get crushed and have fun crushing a few yourself.

Favorite movie?

Righ now Guy Ritchie's Snatch

Favorite food to snack on while gaming?

Chocolate Chips straight out of the bag.

Current gaming obsession (aside from Gears)?

With our focus on makeing sure we get Greas into the hand of gamers as soon as possible. I haven't had anything but this project on my mind.

Favorite All-Time game?

Looks to be Gears of Was (formerly Unreal Chanpionship 2)

Stranded-on-a-desert-island CD?

What, no MP3 players allowed? Beatles Sgt. Pepper's

Favorite Magazine?

Rolling Stone

Favorite Book?

Slaughterhouse 5

Hobby?

Oil painting

Secret?

I killed a man in reno just to watch him die!
 
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