I took the time this last week to put together a reel of my work on Mass Effect 2, done between late 2008 and early 2010. Look below for a full shot breakdown, and, because you’re gonna ask, the music is Invaders Must Die by The Prodigy.
Below is a breakdown of what I was responsible for in each scene. The terms used are as follows: Continue Reading…
2010 was not a good year. I don’t usually write end-of-year reviews, and I’m a wee bit late given that we’re nearly mid-January already, but this is mostly an exercise to exorcise a year fairly consistent in its misery – something I’m extra disappointed in because I was looking forward to 2010 as the first year where in my opinion, much more plausibly than 2001 or 1984, the numbers actually read like the future. Additionally, beyond marking 5 years of this site, it was also the year I celebrated my first decade in the industry.
A few people at work have pointed me towards this audio interview I gave after the MIGS talk at the end of last year (a summary of which is still forthcoming, but you can see the slides here if you have a magnifying glass). If you can put up with the dodgy accent there may be something of use in there.
Montreal International Game Summit 09 – Blogcritics Interview
It covers a few points I missed out of the talk and some thoughts on ME2′s romance custscenes. Having a long enough break from the project I’m now playing through the game with fresh eyes, and seeing everything in context I’m most happy with the Thane romance but can only see the green guy on Youtube as I’m not playing female.
Today in North America – Friday in Europe. Go pick it up for Xbox or PC!
This is the launch trailer, and I count some 75% of the shots here were done by the Montreal Cinematics team. So far the reviews have been overwhelmingly positive, but I still nervously await the ultimate litmus test – the ever-critical girlfriend…
Another work-related post – three in a row! In a break from the norm, I’m not involved at all in the in-game animations for the sequel – so it’s cool to see several shots from one of my romance scenes ahead of the game’s realease. Not long to go now until this project is done and out the door!
Today marks my first year back at BioWare, and therefore (in my head anyway) the 1st anniversary of BioWare Montreal. No longer the youngest kid on the block, we had our very first ever studio photo earlier this month to commemorate the occasion, courtesy of Bartek.
Note the cool Mass Effect 2 N7 shirts I and a few others are sporting – just a shame it looks like such a sausage party…
This week is all about E3, and this time it’s going back to the way it should be – all loud noises, special announcements and awesome presentations on a world stage. We released a preview video some weeks ago which will forever be known internally as “the one with Parrish’s moustache”, but I wanted to wait until the real deal to throw it up here.
Virtually all of the cutscenes in both videos were done by our team here in Montreal, so a special shout out to the hard work of the guys both here and in Edmonton, and Parrish’s moustache.
The keen-eyed among you may have noticed the description on the left has been somewhat cryptic for some time now, referring to my secret location… The fact is I’ve been working on a new and exciting project and team inception for the last 6 months, and with both being officially announced I can finally reveal them respectively as Mass Effect 2 and BioWare Montreal.
Housed within the downtown EA Montreal studio, a slowly growing team of highly talented animators and I are creating animations and cinematic cutscenes for the sequel to our 2007 project. This is a new kind of game development where we are working remotely while connected directly to the Edmonton servers and are in daily contact with the team there. This is all made possible with the help of the fantastic folks at EA Montreal with whom we share a studio space, and a dedicated support team on the Edmonton side.
Additionally, over half of the Montreal outfit is made up of other former Mass Effect team members having worked in the Edmonton head studio before – helping to ensure that rather than just a random selection of folks under the BioWare banner, we are maintaining BioWare’s culture as well as the same high standards to which we are held. This percentage is only set to increase as more and more make the transition from the main studio to this new team.
Now to the important part – we are currently looking for one final exceptional animator to join the team, as well as environment artists and level designers. If you believe you are up to the challenge of helping create one of the most focussed and ambitious RPG sequels of all time and are looking for a new and interesting take on game development, please visit the BioWare website at careers@bioware.com.
Jonathan Cooper is Animation Art Director at Ubisoft Montreal. His games include Assassin's Creed III, Mass Effect 1 & 2, and more...
