I want to be in game scriptwriters! How to be?

I want to be in game scriptwriters! How to be?

Everyone who at least once searched for the work of the screenwriter in a gaming project knows that this is not at all the case when you can go to a popular site with ads, choose an interesting vacancy, respond to it, perfectly prove yourself at an interview and quickly start work. Everything is very different here.

To begin with, the vacancy of the scriptwriter of the game in the public domain is a rarity. There are very few specialists in this narrow field, and the studios are well familiar with them. It is always more risky to take a person from the outside than to entrust additional work to the internal employee (game designer, for example). Game studios sometimes do not understand why they have a screenwriter, or remember him when the game is almost ready and you need to fasten any plot to it. Applicants are also different: someone does not understand what the essence of the scenario skill is, and someone does not play video games at all.

As in many other areas, the problem can be solved by being in the right place at the right time and with the right people. Find the answer to the question of how to become a game screenwriter, we were helped by people who managed to achieve certain successes in domestic game scenarism, in narrative and game design.

Instructions for use were prepared by Sergey Volkov and Daria Burashnikova from the Spice Recruitment recruiting agency.

Participants in the discussion:

Maria Kochakova – Screenwriter Social Quantum, worked on SkyForge, Tanat Online , Social and mobile games Mail.ru.

Alina Brazdeykene – Narrant designer in Signus Labs, Rhapsody Games, "New Media".

Dmitry Tikhonov – Screenwriter in Panzar Studio.

Bogdan Sereda – blogger, narrative designer Empathy Box.

Yaroslav Singaevsky – Gam- and narrative designer Red Beat.

Anton Mikhailov – Leading game designer Tortuga Team.

What to start?

Before going to the goal, you need to understand whether you are going to that goal, that is, to figure out what the game screenwriters actually do. You can start with terminology. On the Internet, a lot of useful information in the format of podcasts and notes of reports from specialized conferences – it is not only useful to get acquainted with them, but also interesting. All the history scriptwriters have different: someone was lucky to find a vacancy, someone came from television, someone from literature. Everyone united interest in the industry.

Maria:

“It is worth starting by studying the industry. If you systematically do not play games, but you want to be a game screenwriter, immediately start playing, read Gamasutra, Habr, DTF, listen to the podcasts “How Games Make Games” and Radioflazm. You need to know how it all works. What means of the game tell stories, how do developers create these funds. If you have long been in the subject, play differently, read, listen and dream about how to get into the industry in the role of a screenwriter-look for vacancies and arrange. That's right right away! You can do modifications or indie at your leisure, drive role -playing games. And – op! – You are already a game screenwriter ".

Dmitry:

“I got into the script in the most common way – I saw on one of the specialized sites (it seems to be gamedev.ru, although I could be mistaken) Announcement that a computer game screenwriter is required. Compiled a resume and sent, after which he completed a test task and was safely accepted. No adventure, no mysticism ".

Yaroslav:

“I participated in the very first literary competition of stories based on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. The best competitive work was from a separate present paper volume. My story was not included in it, but he caught the eye of the head of the only emerging studio, who was just looking for a screenwriter and a gaming designer. So I became a scriptwriter ".

► #GAMESNIGHTSPB: opening and round table "MMO-games scripts".

What talents should I have initially, and what should be learned additionally?

The ability to write a lot and a sense of text play a very important role. As a rule, the presence or absence of talent to put thoughts in words can be identified even at the stage of school works, but it must be developed constantly. You have to study a lot, you can't do without self -discipline.

Scenarism always implies work in the team, you need to be flexible and adequately perceive criticism – if these skills are in its infancy, you will have to develop them. The ability to write high -quality texts also needs training: read a lot of good books and good periodicals – in Russian and English.

Maria:

“It is difficult to be a screenwriter, this is a frontier. No one will do anything for you, and you yourself will have to master techniques, develop techniques. Moreover, for each project – its own. This profession is not for the lazy. From the game to the game everything will change, even the form of recording – there is no scenario format. You will have to master skills that are very far from “writing” – to understand game mechanics and at least in theory to know how they are created by programmers, to master physics and mathematics, to know the subtleties of artists and composers, the nuances of voice acting, animization, localization. You will need to test games yourself and be friends with testers checking your work for strength. It is necessary to understand marketing, not only the psychology of characters, but also the psychology of the audience, the laws of the market. And this is not counting the knowledge of history, natural sciences, art that you need as a scriptwriter. This profession, as well as the rest of the professions of Gamdev, is a synthetic. It is difficult to be a narrow specialist here, you must be a little "encyclopedist".

Anton:

“First you need to understand what kind of project it is, what role the plot plays in it, characters, and general environment. After all, the screenwriter can not only write an exciting story, but also help invent unusual scenes or bright characters. Having determined the role of scriptwinding in the project, you should think about how to improve the game from the point of view of the narrative. State your vision in the document and provide a team or project manager. Any game can be enriched not only by the plot, but also by interesting approaches to the presentation of the gameplay. If the implementation of such ideas fits into the budget, the project manager will not refuse you. And here you will get unlimited power into your hands! (laughs ominously) ".

Where to get a specialized education and where to get an internship?

Most often, game scriptwriters are talented self -taught. Universities do not prepare them and hardly start soon. However, some training centers – for example, a computer graphics school Scream School -organize master classes of professionals in this field. There are foreign training programs, and those who are not ready to afford it will help " Narratorika " – experimental school of game screenwriters. It is still based in Kaliningrad, but most of the activities are online, and anyone can participate in them.

An internship is a good opportunity to get useful skills in practice, but getting on it is a difficult task. Requests for interns from companies come quite rarely, and you need to carefully monitor the industry news and public publics in order not to miss the moment.

Alina:

“I graduated from the faculty of international relations – I really liked the story. While studying, my husband and I began to shoot short cinema on our own. I "trained", injecting twelve hours on television, parallel at home wrote a script for a full -length film. After that I was taken to my first great work in Gamdev. Now everything is simpler – young scriptwriters have the opportunity to internship in gaming companies that do not have a budget for the scriptwriter. ".

► #GAMESNIGHTSPB, Round Table "Instrumentation: Bible, Redists of Dialogues, Vicki".

Is there a chance to make games with pure humanities who can write well?

It is important to stop dreaming and start working. Here everything decides the portfolio: non -profit projects can also effectively work for your image if they are executed efficiently.

The portfolio can have not only scenarios, but also modifications for games, examples of work as a game designer. And of course – your literary works. The main thing is to take texts shorter, in different genres and forms.

Sergey:

“I was one of the first science fiction writers who started working with the game industry. I was invited to one project ( Timezero), who by that time had been working out a working content for three years. I had to rewrite most of the finished materials, create biographies of characters, new territories, etc.D. And all the full -scale novelization ended ".

Bogdan:

“The development of games implies many classes, and everyone has a chance. "Pure" humanities cease to be such after a collision with the development process. That is why you need to face him quickly.

Write excellent stories? Find a team of enthusiasts and check it. Make a small project, and even better – modification for your favorite game. The ability to work in a team is very important. It won't work – compose news for game communities. News are also small stories. You know how to draw a little? Take 3D modeling.

Read the profile articles in parallel until the letters go from the mouth. Try yourself in case from all sides. In a few years you will understand that you are doing well and where to move on. For real examples, you should go to the podcast Sergey Galleykin. They tell them in every issue ".

What books to read, track resources, visit parties?

The more information you get, the more people find out, the better. As soon as you meet an interesting public on the topic – subscribe; As soon as it becomes possible to visit or perform a volunteer at the conference – forward!

Maria:

“Gamasutra, DTF, Habrahabr, blogs David Gider, Alina Brazdeykene, mine, many interesting and useful materials are published in the“ Narratorics ”group in VKontakte.

Party – yes at least for everything! Meet where you can only. Of the specific events, I can name the Devgamm and Cree, Devmeet and PiterartDays conferences in St. Petersburg, open lectures by ScreamSchool in Moscow, Gamesnight and Devnight, which are held in different cities. It is now very convenient to learn about the next events here ".

Alina:

You can read books on dramaturgy, film scenarios (for example, “save a cat”) and on the game design. The materiel with different recommendations appeared in the scriptwriters community "Narratorika". The world of Russian screenwriters itself is very unfriendly, but when you overcome the difficult threshold of the entrance, it turns out that the guys are actually cute and sincere.

How high the demand for screenwriters is? Does the studii have an understanding of how important the screenwriter is?

The demand for functionality is high, but rarely goes beyond the studio itself and its nearest circle of contacts. Not all studios are aware of the need to attract the screenwriter to the project, and some teams cannot afford to hire an individual employee for these tasks.

In recent years, however, the situation is changing for the better, many adopt Western experience and pay more attention to scripts and screenwriters. On domestic TV, for example, the status of a screenwriter is very high. There, script for many years has developed, and good experience has accumulated – it remains to take and apply.

Maria:

“Demand, unfortunately, is low, but the quality of the sentence is so low that I don't even know. Usually the vacancy happens once every couple of months, a pile of answers immediately falls on it, of which 99% terrible slag. So if you have a head on your shoulders, you will break through.

Not all studios have an understanding of how important the screenwriter is. But not all scriptwriters have an understanding of how important the scriptwriter is not important. Some studios and screenwriters have such an understanding-try to get into this team ".

► #GAMESNIGHTSPB, round table "Scripts Single-Player Games".

What errors on the way to the scriptwriters should avoid?

No matter how complicated and the thorny is the “samurai path”, you can go through it, especially if you manage to enlist the support of the “adult” scriptwriter who will share experience and will help evaluate the portfolio and test task, will tell you how to avoid obvious mistakes.

Alina:

"My main mistake is to succumb to persuasion, redrawing the plot to the gameplay, and rewrite the plot more than three times".

Maria:

“I thought you could work as a screenwriter and not play games. Cured at the first work in the studio. This is not even a matter of taste or there are beliefs. You just can't write for games without playing them. In any case, I can't.

I thought that you can work as a screenwriter and not know the industry. Cured when she wanted to make her own game.

I thought that I could pull any genre and a spectrum of work, if you have a little more effort. I found out that I can't. MMO is not mine. Super Nova sister sites Do not go to genres that you do not like, which you do not understand.

I thought that there is enough theory to successfully move on to practice. She broke off that she suffered a fiasco with practice, even well understanding the theory. This is how to understand the principle of playing the piano, but to sit down for it and not play a single melody, although I heard them hundreds of times. ".

* * *

Of course, it is very difficult to be exclusively a scriptwriter in the domestic Gamdawa. Unless you are an attended writer with many publications. So it is very desirable to be able to be able to.

However, the trends are constantly changing: the market is growing, the industry is also, and everything can change soon. In the meantime, just adhere to the rules set forth in the article, and your path to glory will become a little easier.