Chia Chin Lee

Half-Life

Current role:
I'm responsible for conceiving and providing audio direction/content for gameplay.

Academic Info

College: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Degree: BA, Communication Arts/Film

Were there any particular projects or areas of study that you pursued?
Like most people, I switched majors about 5 times… Comp Sci, English Lit, Business, Sociology, and finally Film. I focused on film, because it was a good springboard for a variety of my interests. During my film theory classes, I became fascinated with sound design. I respected the work of Walter Murch in particular. David Lynch's film, Eraserhead, also "spoke" to me. I've heard those hollow drones in my head before I saw the film! The idea of emotional sounds, with external aural reality reflecting internal conditions, really hit home. In addition to film sound, I also started getting into musique conrete/tape loop manipulation. My perception of music and sound design started blending into one.

Did you do any internships?
I spent a summer at an audio sweetening postproduction house for commercials.

Career Info

Tell us about your first job in the industry. How did you get the job? What was it like? What were your responsibilities?
In college, I networked like crazy, helping out local filmmakers, flying out to LA to visit postproduction houses, and contacted UW graduates who were working in media. I met a student filmmaker, Scott Rice, who was working on his thesis film. I helped him out with audio. We enjoyed working together and kept in touch. Right after I graduated, I got a phone call from Scott, who had become the Art Director at Raven Software. At that time, Raven was in the middle of 3 projects (Hexen 2, Take No Prisoners, and Mageslayer), with an audio staff of one (who doubled as the Creative Director for one of the projects). Scott asked me to interview for a position at Raven. I've always been an avid gamer, so I took the job. Immediately, I experienced severe crunch mode… Nothing like sink or swim to make you learn fast!

What jobs have you held in the games industry thus far? Briefly describe the career path you took to get where you are today.
Valve Software is my second job in the game industry. I worked at Raven for about 3 years before moving to Seattle.

Advice

What fields of study, specific courses, or life experiences would you recommend to students interested in your field?
Look beyond games and audio… A big part of creativity is being able to draw connections between seemingly disjointed subjects. The more subjects you have to draw from, the more imaginative you will become.

Is there anything you wish someone had told you before you got into the games industry? Is there anything you would have done differently?
When I was getting into the game industry, I was fortunate enough to connect with an experienced sound designer who patiently answered my questions about the profession. My advice is to find a mentor who will guide you.

As games increase in complexity, what are the various kinds of jobs that you foresee development companies needing in the next five years?
As games increase in complexity, specialization will occur in all areas of production.

Do you have any other advice or recommendations to share with students who are interested in doing what you do?
There isn't a set career path to any jobs in the game industry. Make your own path, and have fun with it!