Coming Out of My Shell
How Coded Arts gave me the opportunity to see living dinosaurs.
A few months ago, I received the fantastic news that I would be joining the Coded Arts team. I was ecstatic! News travels fast in Trinidad and soon my entire family knew. As true Trini’s they started with macocious questions. (Local term meaning to meddle in other people’s affairs).
“Yuh sure that is a real job?”
“Dat have money in it?”
On our way to see the turtles!
They were astonished that their little girl was building her career in…video games! Yes, that’s right! There is a digital media industry in Trinidad and Tobago. Trinidadians who are passionate about animation and video games are rarely able to find jobs so closely related to their desired career path locally. It is truly unbelievable how Coded Arts provides essential opportunities to establish the birth of a gaming economy in the Caribbean.
Celena, Scott and Joel
The immeasurable talent that the Caribbean has to offer is underrepresented in wider media and content creation. I cannot help but laugh when people imagine our tropical paradise as natives running around in coconut bras and grass loin cloths. Who can tell our stories better than us? We take pride in doing extensive research and development into everything that sweet T&T has to offer, including the visual documentation of endangered Leatherback sea turtles. Having grown up in our tropical paradise, we take for granted our uniquely vibrant flora and fauna-but our home breathes creativity which further fuels my inspiration for designing.
2.5 hour ride!
Coded Arts is not your typical corporate structure. Few people can say that part of their job is going to the beach but recently, the team was able to visit the gorgeous Grand Riviere in order to create an internal visual library of Leatherback sea turtles.
The female Leatherbacks were massive, walking fossils, built like tanks almost (talk about a beach ready body!). The baby turtles in comparison were barely the size of a sand dollar. The adult’s colossal, wrinkly skin and soft shell directly showed their longevity and perseverance as a species. Luckily, our team attended in June, and managed to see six of the gentle giants.
Luke
Unfortunately, the nesting season grows shorter, and the sea turtle population diminishes each year with each turtle having less than a 0.10% survival rate. The team was able to get photos and videos of the turtles, their eggs, and even a few hatchlings. The visual library acts as a small snapshot of their limited existence as lack of local funding and global warming destroys these majestic beasts and their habitats. This once-in-a-lifetime experience is just a drop in the ocean of miraculous things that exist on and around our twin islands.
Coded Arts Famalay
Coded Arts provided the opportunity for a little, brown, queer, island girl to work hard and think big. It’s time for our culture, our home and our people’s unique experiences to creatively reinvigorate the global gaming industry. Now more than ever, Trinidad and Tobago can come out of its shell and venture into new waters.
3D model created by Jevana Mohammed
Written by: Celena Espinoza | Jr. Artist Coded Arts