Game Art students and graduates captivated visitors at the GREAT Festival of Creativity in Shanghai with virtual tours of Medieval London.
Third year Game Art student Katie Hallaron and graduate Megan Rice travelled to China with principal lecturer and course leader Michael Powell.
The team led international audiences through cutting-edge game art creations, which included a stunning 3D virtual walk-through of Medieval London, called Pudding Lane, created by DMU’s Game Art students.
The walk-through was named winner of the 2013 British Library Off-the-Map competition, helping to put history into the spotlight and sponsored by Crytek, a leading international games company.
Every day visitors to the festival were able to explore the historic streets of London via a special headset known as an Oculus Rift virtual reality headset.
Megan, now working for Bossa studio in London, Britain’s largest independent game studio, said: “Being my first work trip away, I was a bit apprehensive, but I didn’t need to be because the team around me were so great.
“It was like a family away from home and that really made it something special. Everyone was working towards the same goal as each other – representing Britain’s great creativity. It was an honour to be a part of it.
“If anyone was to have an opportunity like this, I would say wholeheartedly ‘go for it’ as it was a truly rewarding experience for everyone on the trip in different ways. Ten out of ten, would do it again!”
Katie said: “I was really grateful to be invited to represent Game Art Design at such a prestigious event. The opportunities I got out of it are going to be really beneficial to my future career.
“I also didn’t expect to see as much of Shanghai as I did, so it was really nice to experience a new culture and spend time with other DMU representatives outside of my course.”
Interested in the work by Game Art students, Ian Livingstone OBE, Britain’s leading game art expert and a delegate at the festival, is now asking Michael to contribute a chapter to his future report.
Michael said: “I was proud to be able to showcase the diversity of talent in game art from Katie’s VFX to Megan representing the British indie game sector.
“They represent the best in the creative industries: young, dynamic and talented, a testament to the quality of education in De Montfort University.
“It was also good to be able to take strong female role models, hoping to encourage other young women to consider studying and working in this sector,”
Vice-Mayor of Liverpool, Gary Millar, was so impressed with the showcase that he has subsequently invited DMU’s Game Art course to the International Business Festival in his city in 2016.
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Other visitors drawn to the Game Art showcase included television producers, art directors and fellow partners at the festival, including from the British Airways team and production house Framestore.
DMU is at the frontier of creative industry courses and was the first university to establish a Game Art degree in England, supplying students to top firms including Ubisoft, Rockstar Games, BMW and Fosters+Partners.
Posted on Friday 6 March 2015