I currently have two ideas for my senior thesis project, of which to pursue I will make a final decision very soon. For the first idea and one I had in mind when going into this class, is to create a demo reel of work I have created thus far in my areas of motion graphics, 3-D animation, cinematography, and more. The idea is to have all of my best works compiled in a cohesive, fluid segment that can be easily viewed and accessed by any person wishing to see. I believe this is a great way to sum up my time here in college, to show all that I have to offer, and show it in a way that would be representative of my skills in editing.
Video editing I would say is my biggest strength. It is also the type of work I love doing most. Composition, rhythm, flow, artistic direction… these are all elements that go into it, and are all elements I love spending lots of time on perfecting. I believe my senior thesis project itself would be a demonstration of my largest skill, while also featuring the other skills I have. Below I will have attached a recent video I edited as part of rush marketing for my fraternity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7qAhIQzOsk&feature=youtu.be
Materials for this project will include all works I have completed up until now (which I have saved, for the most part – other pieces were unfortunately lost in hard drives failures), as well as any programs I need to edit/create them. These programs can include Adobe Premiere, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, MAYA, and Final Cut Pro. The only fear I have at this point is not having enough examples of work to create the vision of a video I have. To remedy this I plan to make more pieces on the side, adding to what I already have. I hope to learn the extra leaps it takes to really create an impressive piece that potential employers will be sold by.
ALTERNATIVE IDEA: CMF PROJECT
This is my other project idea for my thesis, it is a lot more ambitious and pretty exciting to me. Given I have permission to pursue, I would like to begin preliminary works for my Spring 2020 Campus Movie Fest film idea, which will be a cyberpunk-themed 3-D animated experience. Last semester, my friend Greg Patten and I created (with some help from others) a 3-D animated film called “A Hero’s Journey” which was originally set to be a VR-compatible short film. Due to our crew being limited to only us two for the majority of the time, we could not tackle this endeavor, although research was made. The film won the silver tripod award for Best Editing, of which I am very proud to have edited, and also got nominated for the golden tripod award at the CMF National Convention. We did not win, in the end, however looking back we really made this project in a last-minute effort, and with better help this time, we plan to go big this upcoming one.
This second project has more merit to me because it is something in which you have a strong interest. Go with your gut on this — as long as you push yourself and keep the work moving forward, the chances of it being a good thesis project increase.