Synoptic Project Risk Assessment, Time Management and Production Process
Risk Assessment
This is the risk assessment sheet we made at the start of production. As this was a game development project and not a vfx one, there was little risk involved. We covered possibilities such as the risk of work being postponed due to Covid-19, as well as risks that come with working with computers, such as fires and electric failures.
Gantt Chart
This is the Gantt Chart we used for time management for the synoptic project. We used it for the first 8 weeks during lockdown. It was useful for laying out the tasks and the time it would take to complete them. We found later that the Gantt chart was not working for us, as we did not know how long tasks would take due to our inexperience with Unreal Engine and game development as a whole. Once lockdown was over we found it more efficient to discuss time management and tasks in person, rather than allocating a specific time period to each task. For a more complex project with a clearer vision from the start, I think a Gantt chart would be more useful.
Production Process
At the start of the project we used a scrum methodology, where we had weekly meetings and completed the work set out in those meetings in cycles and discussed the result. This was useful during lockdown where we could only communicate online and the project was still an early concept. Once we came out of lockdown, however, and the project's specifics and scope were clearer, we adopted a kanban methodology where we worked more loosely, incrementally working on the project and using a 'to-do, doing, done' system on Trello to organize work. We found this to be much more effective as meetings became unnecessary as we communicated constantly while working.