The Playing Narratives program, whose first cycle ends in late November, took twenty-three participants on an eight-month journey through video game development, industry introduction and direct encounters with the leading industry experts from Serbia, Germany and France.
The entire process of informal and practical education in the field of video games was intended for young creative professionals or students who would like to get into the world of game development professionally, gain invaluable experience and new knowledge, and make their first steps in the industry.
After an intensive program of lectures and workshops, during the summer they were divided into 5 project teams, and continued their teamwork on their own concepts for diverse video games. They knew from the beginning that they would have to polish, articulate and present these projects in English to an international jury by the end of the Fall. The best project will win the budget for developing a short cinematic trailer, while all projects and the individual processes of their creation will also be presented through short video clips.
When it comes to preparing the pitch, they have already had the opportunity to participate in a workshop led by a representative of the prestigious German gaming accelerator Spielfabrique, but they also presented their project during a visit to Digital Arrow, which is the general sponsor of the program. On both occasions, they received valuable feedback and comments, while now is the time to prepare for their 6-minute presentations, which in such a short period of time should convey the basic idea and sensibility of the games they have developed.
In the development of video games, the basic components are creative writing, visual arts and technical programming. But there are numerous other “hard” and “soft” skills that are necessary with quality work in the industry. Presentation skills – whether it’s an internal presentation at a meeting, lecturing in front of hundreds of people at a conference or talking to one but valuable investor – are one of the essential skills that will help any game creator see their game see the light of day.
Through this special workshop adapted for our program, participants will deal with the content of their presentations, both at narrative and visual levels, but also the delivery and their actual public speaking skills. In the second part of the workshop, the situation of holding a pitch in front of the audience will be simulated, which will at the same time be the general rehearsal for the performance in front of the proper expert jury that awaits them only a week later. Despite the fact that only five of them will deliver the final presentations, all participants, regardless of their field of activity, will have the opportunity to learn a lot about communication and public speaking, from one of our leading young experts in the field!
This program is intended exclusively for participants in the Playing Narratives program, and is not open to the public. Thank you for your understanding.
The eight-month program is an initiative of the French and Goethe Institutes in Serbia and SGA, with the support of the French-German Cultural Fund.The general sponsor of the project is DigitalArrow from Novi Sad, and in addition to the main partners in the realization, local companies Two Desperados and 3lateral (Part of Epic Games) are also participating as prominent sponsors. UbisoftBelgrade is also a sponsor of the project. Renowned organizations from Germany (accelerator Spielfabrique) and France (Higher education institution for Video Games and Interactive Digital Media Cnam-ENJMIN) and their lecturers are also involved in the implementation of the project. Our work-space partner is ImpactHUB.