Polygon 2

! Warning ! Table of Contents
Reading this whole document could cause an irversable urge to hire
the author. Those not looking to hire additional staff should not read.
Introduction..............................................3
Getting Started.......................................................................................3
College.....................................................................................................5
After School............................................................................................6
Why Polygon..........................................................................................7
Games in my life.........................................8
Gaming History......................................................................................8
Profiles...................................................................................................12
tools of the trade..................................13
Equipment............................................................................................13
Software................................................................................................15
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Introduction
My name is Thomas Boyd; I am 23 years old with a degree
in Mass Communications and minor in Leadership. I was
born in Orlando and now live in Kissimmee, Fla. I have
been a gamer since my parents bought me a Nintendo 64
for my fifth birthday.
Getting started
I have been a content creator my entire life. I grew close
to the advertising industry since my father was a creative
director at various ad firms. I spent my childhood in a
studio or on a set and learned from an early age the value of
high quality content that is delivered quickly.
In high school, I joined the nationally recognized
yearbook at my school. During the four years I was on
staff, the book received four Columbia Scholastic Press
Associations Gold Crown awards and a National Scholastic
Press Association Gold Crown. I worked as the photo
editor for the book with more than 130 photos, several of
which won a national award.
I became the founder and the Webmaster for the
school paper’s website. As a webmaster, I proofread content
for AP style, formatted, and published online. I developed
a myriad of skills, including AP Style, copy writing, and
Adobe certification in Photoshop/InDesign.
When I was selecting a college, I knew that a shift
in journalism was coming. The world was going to become
more and more focused on a “backpack journalist” or
someone who can be sent to cover a story, shoot photos
and video of it write a story and edit all three to be posted
to the web quickly and accurately. That is when I found the
University of South Florida St. Petersburg, which offered
a proximity to the Tampa Bay Times. A majority of the
professors in the Journalism and Media Studies department
are either current or former editors of the paper, offering
13 4

5
old school fundamentals that are crucial to any journalist.
College
During my time at USFSP, I worked as the photo editor of
the campus paper, the Crow’s Nest, and the president and
founder of another campus media organization, known as
USFSP Connect. With the new media, our website became
comparable to popular milennial blogs Buzz Feed or Elite
Daily catered to students of the campus. We create articles
and videos in addition to covering campus events to shoot
and share photos.
I worked as the Creative Director of the Digital
Media Team (DMT). The DMT is a team of the best
photographers, videographers, graphic designers, writers,
marketers and coders on the campus. We were the
premier marketing force for the campus. The professional
staff member that was overseeing the team departed,
and during the absence period, I was promoted to the
Interim Multimedia Coordinator for the university. This
meant taking on more responsibilities, such as hiring new
students, managing projects from administration and
assisting with digital signage around the university.
I also worked part time at the nonprofit
organization, Eckerd Youth Alternatives. Eckerd is a
national nonprofit focused in the child welfare system. At
Eckerd, I produced content for social media, including
videos, photos, and newsletters. Other responsibilities
included where managing mass email and survey clients.
after school
Once I left school I began working part-time as a sports
photographer for Walt Disney World at ESPN’s Wide
World of sports. During that time I also started a Youtube
channel. After a year I have garnered nearly 7k subscribers
and a total view count of 1 million views.
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Why polygon
Games in my life
Polygon is one of the world’s premier video game news
sites. A video game journalist at a place like Polygon has
always been a dream job, like an astronaut to an eight year
old; it’s a job that has always fascinated me since finding
out its existence. At first you think “play video games all
day? Sweet!” But as I have learned from my previous jobs
creating content for websites is hard work and a challenge.
It’s a challenge that I love. The other reason I wan to work
for Polygon is the community around it. The community
around Polygon is top notch. Being able to become apart of
it would a massive honor. In addition Polygon is one of the
few game publications that do longform content.
Games have always played an important role in my life.
They have been where I have made some of my best friends.
Gaming History
In order to be a game journalist you must have a storied
past that encompasses a wide swath of games. These are
the consoles I have owned and my favorite game on each of
them in 140 characters or less.
7
1996
Sega
Game Gear
The Lost
World
Jurassic
Park
A game that fuses a lifelong love of dinosaurs
with side scrolling platforming. It was a perfect
starter game with memorable boss battles.
8

1997 Star fox There is something special about flying an
nintendo
Arwing and defeating Andross. So much so
64
that I go back to speed run the game four
times a year.
Sony
PlayStation
2
2002 Jurassic
park
operation
genisis
Zoo Tycoon + Dinosaurs. It’s about as good
of an idea as filling an island with genetically
created monsters.
1999
Nintendo
Gameboy
Pokémon
Yellow
The first game I got for my Gameboy, it was
the only game where you got all three of the
starters… Oh, and Pikachu followed you
around.
2004
Nintendo
DS
Advanced
Wars
Dual
Strike
A compelling turn based strategy game that
taught me how fun it can be to not be the
smartest one playing.
Sony
PlayStation
2000 Gran
Turismo
2
It was a game that jump-started my love of
cars and racing. It taught me the importance of
technique in racing if I want to win
2007 Mass
Microsoft
Xbox
360
effect
trilogy
This trilogy showed me how powerful stories
can be told in games. The adventure I had with
my Commander Shepard will always stay with
me.
2001
Nintendo
Gameboy
Advanced
9
Pokémon
ruby
I will always have the memory of getting this
game with a GBA SP and going on a long
train trip to New Orleans, playing through the
night.
2008
Sony
PSP
Star
Wars
Battle
front 2
The game I spent uncountable hours playing
on console, shrunk down to fit in my hand.
How can I say no. I literally bought a PSP for
it.
10

2011
Sony
PlayStation
3
2013 Super
Nintendo smash
3ds bros.
2013
Microsoft
Xbox
One
11
2009 Super
Nintendo
Wi
Mario
Galaxy
Last
of
us
Battle
field
4
The first galaxy felt like a return to form for the
franchise. It felt like a modern Mario 64.
From the opener to the very end you get
sucked into the story of the last of us, it’s one
that you never forget.
I’m terrible at Super Smash Brothers; it is
though the game that all my roommates play.
So any game that can make me competitive
will always be special.
The first time the franchise had 64 players on
console. It was the main reason I bought the
Xbox on launch day.
2014
Nintendo
Wii
U
2016
sony
playstaion
4
Mario
kart
8
One of the most beautiful games on the Wii U.
It also brought killer couch co-op to our home.
uncharted A fitting end to Drakes tale. Naughty Dogs
4 ability to get the best out of Sony’s hardware is
astonishing.
Profiles
tommyboy601
12

Tools of the trade
Audio
Loving games is great, but what about the software and
tools I use on a daily basis. These are just some of the things
that I used to do my job
Equipment
Cameras
13
I use a variety of cameras on a daily basis. These
include Canon’s 5d MKII and XA25, Nikon’s D4s,
Zoom’s Q8 and Go-pro’s Hero 4 Black. These three
allow me to do everything from stills to full 4k video.
Audio is the other half of video, with out solid audio
your audience tunes out. To deliver audio I use a
variety of pieces of equipment. I use a Zoom H5 to
record audio while in the field in conjunction with
wireless lavaliers or a shotgun microphone. While
working back in a studio I use a mixer during an
online talk show that I film.
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Lighting
While the first screen I was put in front of was a Mac
I am familiar with both Mac and Windows operating
systems.
Adobe
Diffusers, lights and reflectors. I’m familiar with all the
ways to bend light to make an interview subject or set
pop.
Software
Equipment is only half of the picture. Being able to
take what you record and create a product is what is
really important.
15
Mac
and
PC
I am Adobe certified in both InDesign and Photoshop.
I also have a working knowledge of Premiere, After
Effects, Speed Grade, and Illustrator.
16

Other
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Thomas Boyd
407-325-5795
@tommyboy601
tomboyd@bellsouth.net
www.thomas-boyd.com