Pre-production techniques for Creative Media industries - Procedure

Pre-Production techniques for Creative Media Industries

 Procedure

Identify Finance:
The client (College Tutor) has given me £1000, which can be used at any stage of the game.
 
Prepare Budget:
As a high spec PC, GameMaker and Adobe Photoshop is already available, I do not have to spend any money from the budget buying these. I can therefore use the available money to hire specialists to work on my project, such as artists for graphic design, and musicians for any sounds.
 
Resources:
Adobe Photoshop and GameMaker are the primary programs I will use throughout. Photoshop to design any backgrounds, sprites and objects. Photoshop is a high quality program, with plenty of tools at the users disposal to create highly detailed sprites etc. GameMaker is game development software, in which I can import sprites/objects from photoshop, and design levels for 2D games, making it ideal for a simple game.
 
Personnel:
As I have a budget of £1000 to play with, I can consider hiring other people to create work for the game. For example, as I am not artistic, I can hire someone who is to create concept designs, which I can use. I can also hire a musician to record music and sounds, which I can use when creating the game. I expect the hire of a specialist to be around £150 per day.
 
Contracts:
If I hire an artist, or a musician to work on my game, I should draw up a written agreement, protecting both myself and any hired help. A contract will state what the contractor will produce to the client, and that the client will compensate the contractor, and a date the contractor must produce the work. The contract must be signed by both the contractor and the client.
 
Schedule:
I will have 4 weeks to complete this game. For the 1^st week, I will conduct research, brainstorm ideas, and produce concept designs, whether myself or with hired help. For the 2^nd week, I will create any sprites, objects and backgrounds I will need, using Adobe Photoshop. Week 3, I will create the levels in GameMaker, and import any Photoshop sprites, objects etc I wish to use. Week 4 will be used to add sound, whether taken from a free website, or recorded by myself or hired help. I will also test the game, to ensure it works correctly, fixing any issues if there are some.
 
Health and Safety Assessment:
We have health and safety assessments to ensure that everyone is working in a safe environment. When working in a computer environment, never take food or drink near the computer. In the event of an accident, the food/drink will damage the computer, and work will be lost.
 
Legal Aspects:
I must ensure that none of the sprites, backgrounds, objects, music and sound I use in my game does not violate any existing Copyright laws. I must make sure any characters that have been inspired by existing characters have clear differences, and are products of my own work.