3DTotal: With reference to particular examples, could you elaborate on this theory and explain how your narrative has dictated your choice of lighting?
Craig: In cases where a concept is intended to strictly illustrate a design, the lighting tends to be designed primarily to showcase the environment, object or character so it can be built. But in more story-driven illustrations or pre-production paintings, lighting is carefully staged to illicit a mood or an emotional response.

Examples of this could be strong, high-contrast lighting with sharp, angular patterns of light and shadow thrown about the environment. From a visual language stand point, these strong angular shapes can evoke chaos or imply a dangerous or foreboding situation. Another example of a lighting design scenario is the use of light over dark, or dark over light. Specifically, this is used in staging the scene of the robot in the detective’s office. I imagined that in this scene the man and woman in the foreground are at a pivotal moment and their intentions toward the robot and his companion are unclear. To illustrate this I threw them into shadow and they become silhouetted against the light wall behind them. They are not clearly visible, nor are their intentions.

3DTotal: It is common to find a number of concept artists in the entertainment sector who have a background in Industrial Design. Why do you think this is and what benefit has it been to your present career?
Craig: I think a background or even an understanding of Industrial Design is a huge asset for a concept artist in the entertainment biz. Because an Industrial Designer has an understanding of how things in the real world are constructed, it lends an extra level of believability to a design - which is something I think is lacking in some games. Even when dealing with sci-fi or fantasy, a solid understanding of how things would be constructed or how they work can make the difference between a design that feels solid, strong and convincing, and one that seems arbitrary and vague.		    
    3DTotal: What game examples do you feel demonstrate some of the most interesting and plausible design concepts with respect to the environments and characters alike?
Craig: Lost Planet and Half Life2 are both good examples of this, but I think Mass Effect is the best recent example. Not only do the visuals have a distinct and cohesive style, but more specifically, a lot of the designs look like they could work; they make sense. They may still be a bit fantastic, but they look believable and convincing. You can really tell that someone sat down and thought about what the functions of these objects or environments were and how they would work.

However, there are also games where the design is unrealistic and not plausible, such as God of War, but in this case it is an exaggerated stylistic thing which, if all aspects of the design follow true to this, also works really well.

3DTotal: In what ways does working in film differ to the games industry, in terms of being a concept artist?
Craig: In film there is a real established
structure to the concept design process. The Art Director and/or Production Designer are really in tune with the story early on and all of the visual design is created to serve the narrative first and foremost. In games development, visual design in particular tends to be an iterative process. That is by no means meant to say that things don’t change in film, but the nature of game development, in my experience, requires a lot of trial and error. Concepts often change to accommodate that.

3DTotal: Do you find that the amount of revision required when developing a game can become a limiting factor, in terms of imposed technical restrictions during the design process? Or is it in fact the opposite case?
    
 
 


Craig: It can work both ways. There are definitely times that an overall design of a character or environment is compromised due to an unforeseen technical limitation. There are other times when foreseen technical limitations, such as the way an environment must be constructed in a modular fashion, can lead you to a unique design you may not have come up with otherwise. I think the key is recognizing limitations early and planning for them.

3DTotal: If you had the choice, what kind of film or game would be your ideal project and why?
Craig: I would love to work on a period piece - maybe a film noir project or a western. Something like that would be interesting because the visual language or iconography of these genres are already so established and understood that, as an artist, you could spend most of your time manipulating and playing with these ideas to create an real emotional impact.
    
     
 
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