Students feature in NextGen Class of 2020

Hartlepool Sixth Form students’ talent and hard work has been recognised by the NextGen Academy in their annual showcase.

The NextGen Class of 2020 gives graduating students the opportunity to show off their impressive portfolios they have developed over the past two years studying animation, games design and visual effects courses at colleges throughout the country.

Carter Taggart, 3D Artist:

“I have been a fan of video games basically since I could wrap my hands around a controller. The main aspiration I have is to work on racing games as I grew up with games like Need for Speed and love them. My future goals are to work at a reputable game development studio as either an environment artist or vehicle artist as this is where I feel I can be most creative. My main passion would be 3D modelling, but I also enjoy doing concept art alongside 3D modelling.”

> View Carter’s portfolio

Matt Hall, NextGen lecturer: “Carter is an awesome student that has continuously pushed the quality of his work. He throws himself headfirst into group projects and is always a key to the success of those projects. I can’t wait to see what epic worlds he crafts in the future!”

Taylor Morton, 3D Artist:

“I have always enjoyed games and art and having the ability to combine them is great, over the past two years I have greatly improved my skills in 3D modelling and I am hoping going to go on to study game art at university. I hope to eventually work as a 3D artist in the games industry working on major titles.”

Matt Hall: “Taylor is a highly engaged and passionate student who always looks to improve his work and understand more about the industry. His growth of skills have been exceptional over his 2 years of NextGen and he has a very bright future ahead of him!”

Matthew Kiely, VFX Artist:

I would love to one day work in the film or games industry as a VFX artist as I have always been passionate about movies and games since I was young.”

Matt Hall: “Matthew is an absolute work horse! He has a clear vision of what he wants to achieve and where he wants his career to head and works tirelessly to achieve this. His skills have massively progressed to show confidence over his 2 years on the NextGen course. It’s going to be great to see how this continues throughout the rest of his career!”

> View Matthew’s portfolio

Sam Waldock, 3D Artist:

“I am a student who has studied with NextGen for the past two years. In that time, I have found that I enjoy making 3D art for games. In the future I would like to study 3D art at Teesside University to improve my skills as a 3D artist and eventually lead to a job in the industry. As a job I would like to be an 3D environment artist and work on games and possibly films.”

Matt Hall: “Sam is a very respectable young man who has shown the ability to improve his work project after project – pushing closer and closer to professional standards which are always in his sights. He has great passion and desire to succeed and I have no doubt that he will as his career develops.”

Henry Watt, Animator:

I’ve been doing animation as a hobby for a good couple of years. I entered the NextGen course in hopes of improving my hobby and turning animation into a future career choice. The course as a whole has definitely helped me get the best out of my animations and has given me a great understanding of Maya as a program. In the future I am hoping to enter university to continue to better refine my techniques and I am hoping to enter the bigger companies in the animation/games industry.”

Matt Hall: “Henry is an epic Animator! His love for film and animation were clear from day 1 and he has shown he has the patience and skill to produce engaging and comical animations. His work already shows a strong grasp of the animation principles as well as a clear understanding of cinematography. He has a very bright future ahead of him and we wish him all the best!”

Matthew Dodd, Games Designer:

I have a strong passion for video games, music, film, 2D and 3D art, as well as design overall. The creation of video games has always intrigued me from a young age, and I hope that some day I can be part of the industry to help create experiences like those that have inspired me from childhood. I am a lover of all forms of art; I always strive to keep an open mind at all times.”

> View Matthew’s portfolio

Matt Hall: “Matthew is an incredibly contentious student who has given his absolute all to the course over the past 2 years. His projects show a high level of skill and always feature his own quirky creativity that makes them a joy to review. Matthew loves what he does, and his projects show that clearly! We have no doubt that his future endeavours will be just as successful!”

Daniel Lewis Chapman, Games Programmer:

“During my time at NextGen, I have enjoyed using Unity and C# to program games. I particularly enjoy the problem solving aspect of programming, as I enjoy the satisfaction of getting a certain mechanic to work. My main career goal is to become lead programmer at a game development company.”

> View Daniel’s portfolio

Matt Hall: “Daniel is a code-wizard! From the first day we met him his showed his passion for producing games from a technical perspective. His submissions show so much dedication and desire to be the best they can possibly be. He is always focused on improving work through seeking feedback on his games from staff and his peers, always resulting in well thought through products. We have no doubt that all his future projects will build on the success he has already had with us.”