SEGA, Midway, Interviewing Tips, Ringling, VR, and Immersion Therapy

Summary:

-Hear about early game dev art programs like Dazzle Draw, Deluxe Paint, and later Softimage

-Regret about how he approached learning to program.

-What the working environment was like in SEGA and Midway Games.

-Hear advice on how to land your first job.

-The three things he looks for when hiring.

-Learn about what kind of art jobs are in high demand.

-The importance of following instructions.

-Who some of the largest employers of his students are.

-How art and design can do more than entertain.

-Uses for VR outside of gaming, like immersion therapy.

-Some funny game industry stories.

-His favorite part at being part of Midway Games.

-Regrets about valuing results more than valuing relationships.

-Hear about E3 game competitions.

-Learn about a new game from Richard Rouse III called "Church in the Darkness" in Alpha, on Steam.

 

Quotes:

-“I started by replicating Judas Priest album covers.”

-”Family friend introduced me to an art director friend at Mindscape.”

-”I worked on this little movie called Jurassic Park.”

-”Took as these high-end graphics and pushed them down to Deluxe Paint.”

-"The chip that's in the Genesis is the same chip that's in, maybe your sons' too, their graphic calculator."

-Getting frustrated at SEGA as they were transitioning to Dreamcast at the time.”

-”When I realized real-time graphics is going to be the way to go.”

-”At times I really regret the decision going from college to Hollywood, maybe I would have been best served just going back to Chicago.”

-”I just had the great confidence with all the people there, all the designers, just living legends.”

-”One of the benefits of being here is we have close to 100 recruiters come to the college campus so you hear a thing or two.”

-”As a hiring manager I’ve hired 70 artists in games.”

-”Resumes aren’t reliable, referrals aren’t reliable.”

-"Demonstrate your skill, demonstrate your value."

-”But you used to be so mean!”

-"The art test if done well...I remember a few times where it helped a person get better compensation."

-”He showed Andy Warhol how to use Deluxe Paint.”

 

About My Guest:

Martin Murphy has twenty years of experience in the entertainment industry. He’s contributed his talents to feature films, numerous broadcast design packages and commercials, and to the creation of more than twenty games ranging from the arcade and SEGA Genesis era to the current console systems and mobile devices.

He was Midway's company wide Director of Art, shepherding the transition of almost three hundred artists to new console technologies and fostering collaboration across five development studios.

He was also an adjunct professor at Columbia College in Chicago where he taught computer animation and portfolio development prior to taking a full-time faculty position at Ringling College of Art and Design's inaugural Game Art and Design program.

Heads up - you’ll hear a little noise in the background, but it doesn’t last long.

 

Resources:

-Apple IIc

-”D’Paint” a.k.a. Deluxe Paint

-Virtua Fighter

-Martin’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/tokkentakker

-Ringling College of Art and Design

-Magic Leap

-Arcade game: Carnevil

-Andy Warhol

-The Church of Darkness

-Art Director Ryan Blake

-Hotline: [phone]

-Email: [e-mail]

-Website: Game Dev Advice

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