Concept art is a bit of a fascination for me. Being a person who has ZERO artistic talent myself I think it is incredible how these artists are capable of listening to other people’s dreams and turning them into a very real image.
All of the games that debuted at the Sony Playstaion 4 unveiling were flat-out stunning graphically but one in particular displayed an art style that will have me lining up at midnight for it’s release.
Today we have an interview with Killzone: Shadow Fall concept artist, Eric Felten, who’s going to tell us a little about concept art and working in the game industry.
Ben SomewhatNerdy [SMWN]: Hi Eric, thanks for taking the time to chat with us.
Eric Felten: Thanks for the invite Ben, great to be here.
SMWN: You are currently working at Guerrilla Games creating art for Killzone: Shadow Fall. How did you end up with Guerrilla and what is it like working in the games industry?
Eric : I was lucky enough to do my internship at Guerrilla Games and have been there for 1.5 years now, give or take a month or two. That includes my internship time as well. Working at Guerrilla [Guerrilla Games developers of the Killzone series and others] is an incredible experience. Being able to make games instead of just playing them has changed my life in an incredibly positive way. Also being surrounded by such incredible people who are so talented and hard-working is an inspiration for me to keep growing as a professional concept artist as well as a person in general.
SMWN: What goes into creating a piece of concept art ?
Eric: Well that’s kind of a tricky question [laughs]. The thing that one needs to understand is that concept art is probably better described as Visual Design. Everything that will be actually seen in the final product ( a game in this case but also applies to the movie industry) needs to be designed by a concept artist. These include things like environments, vehicles, and characters. These are the things most people associate with concept art. However, there’s a lot more to it than just that. Things like lamps, computer consoles, weapons, generators, or inter-dimensional gateways also need to be designed. These things are called props. But wait there’s more. Plant life, rocks, animals, lighting situations (mood), walls, grates, and toilets… yes even toilets need to be visually designed. It all depends on the setting the story takes place. Basically if you see it in the final product it got designed by a concept artist and approved for production by the art director.
SMWN: Where does creating concept art fit into the process of developing a game ?
Eric: Concept art is almost at the very beginning of the pipeline. Before the concept art can start there is a great deal of research done about what actually is going to be the new idea. This is called intellectual property or IP. It’s the concept phase of concept art. From this research the mood boards and the general feel of the game will be born but that will be subjected to countless reiterations.
SMWN: Outside of any instruction given to you what other influences do you believe have had an impact on your own artistic style when creating these concept designs?
Eric: Well I guess that would include a lot of different movies, and cartoons. “Ghost in the Shell” and “Akira” are two titans in my influence book. “Terminator 2”, “Robocop 2”, “Matrix Trilogy”, etc. I think you get the idea. For the science fiction genre my influences have usually been from movies.
SMWN: Can you talk a little bit about Shadow Fall? The game looked absolutely gorgeous at the Playstation 4 unveiling. What kind of direction or what type of style was the team looking for when you began working on the new Killzone title?
Eric : Well Ben, when I started working at Guerrilla, KZSF’s style was already well established. We have to take into consideration that with the previous releases, the world of Kill Zone was already pretty well-defined, with a rich history and culture. I Basically just had to match the existing style in my briefs. Except this story takes place 30 years after the previous release, so my designs had to look more technologically advanced than KZ3 [Killzone 3].
SMWN: The whole gaming world is dying for these new consoles. Does the increased hardware capabilities of next generation systems have any impact on how concept art is created ?
Eric: : Absolutely. Next gen visual design has the chance to take full advantage of the new possibilities afforded by the new consoles. In fact it is our duty to do so. The level of detail that goes into some of these briefs is insane. When combined with the new shaders from the shader department, what you get back is as close to realism as what we can get now in games.
SMWN: You’ve told me you’re a big comic book and video game fan. What are some of your favorite comics and games ?
Eric: [Laughs] Yes indeed. Though i must confess that I don’t really read comics anymore because i never get around to buying them (not into digital comics). Not because of lack of interest, but because the stories just keep going and quite frankly I’m lost [laughs]. But if I had the chance to pick up where i left off I’d go with the “Ultimate X Men”, “Ultimate Galactus”, and “The Amazing Spiderman”. Basically your classics remade. However, there’s nothing like a good ol’ scifi or fantasy book.
When it comes to gaming The last two that I really enjoyed were Metal Gear Solid 4, and Deus Ex Human Revolution. I was basically glued to the screen.
SMWN: Thanks for taking the time to talk with us Eric. Shadow Fall looks ultra shiny and I for one can’t wait to fire up a PS4 and start fragging fools !
Eric: Ha ! same here. Thanks for having me it’s been fun.
Personally I do most of my gaming on Pc but when I saw the trailer for Killzone: Shadow Fall I told myself I needed to track one of these artists down for an interview. I am a sucker for big and shiny sci-fi and this game looks to more than pack that punch. The debut footage pushed me over the edge and I will definitely be buying a Ps4 at launch. If you haven’t seen the official gameplay trailer take a look below, it really is spectacular.
Thanks again for your time and a really insightful interview Eric. Good luck in your future career, we hope you will designing in the industry for many years to come!
[youtube www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUjQ4DJXLzw?rel=0&w=660&h=371%5D
