IMM Senior Thesis – Fall 2019

Looking back as a senior, one of my favorite memories of my time on campus is a game my friends and I would play called The Cryptids of New Jersey… or TCNJ. The rules of the game go as follows: if you see a friend on campus and it’s nighttime, you have to become a “cryptid” and creep around trees, do a weird jog, run out of the light and into shadows. Basically, pretend you’re Bigfoot and someone has seen you. If you were the last cryptid spotted on campus, then the next time the friend group has a photo shoot (whether for holidays or just because we felt like it – we’re college girls, give us a break) that person has to pose as a cryptid. Those memories of being weird with friends just because we could hugely inspired my current appreciation for cryptozoology. That sense of playfulness is what I hope to impart on players of my cryptid museum game.

My senior thesis project is a way for me to express my creativity and challenge myself, while also getting to have fun by combining my two favorite hobbies – visiting museums and cryptids. Who hasn’t accidentally fallen into a research hole, where you’re on wikipedia to quickly look up the plot of a film and the next thing you know it’s two hours later, you’ve hit eleven other related links, and you’re reading about the political effects of the implementation of crossbows in medieval sieges? That’s one of my favorite things to do on the Cryptids Wiki, where you can click on a link about Bigfoot sighting locations and follow the related links to end up on a page talking about the first atmospheric beast sighting in Indiana in the 19th century. This concept of drifting between liminal spaces is something museums specifically utilize in their creation of exhibition galleries to get visitors interested and entertained. So while it may seem like cryptids and museums have nothing in common, they’re more related than you might first assume.

My idea is for players to wear VR headsets and move about a museum dedicated to cryptids; however, one of the cryptids is missing from its stand and it’s up to the visitor to find it. I hope to not only teach players about cryptids, but to have them enjoy learning and get lost in the space. While I don’t plan for this game to be very long, I hope I can showcase my sense of style in my interpretation of cryptids’ appearances and lore, get people interested in learning even when it’s not a topic that may benefit them in any applicational sense, and teach players that not all monsters are evil.

My project will require the use of design apps like Photoshop and Illustrator, 3D modeling software such as Maya and Sculptris, Unity, and VR technology. I have worked with all this software before except for VR, which will present my implementational challenge alongside my stylistic challenge. By the end of this semester I hope to create design sketches of the museum layout and cryptid designs to act as prototypes for my final project. I could forego the cryptid designs and create the museum in a 3D space as well, but I do not see myself being able to do both prototypes with the time left in the semester. Overall, my cryptid museum should be a lighthearted way for players to enjoy themselves and learn about something new.

For my final project concept is to take the idea of gambling type games from casinos and even carnival style games and make it into a fun party game such as mario party. I love mario party but the problem is how much luck based it can be and the same thing can be said for gambling. The difference in my game is that you can take luck and try to bend it to favor yourself such as a person counting cards. I wanna start of making the minigames before i go into the whole thing.

Why i think this is a very good idea for my final project is because i am very excited for it and i can use all of my skills and knowledge to flex my artistic muscles. I will be drawing my characters and then having to do a lot of 3d work. I will have to model, texture, rig, animate and then transfer all of that into a video game that is fun. It can show future places i apply to that i have skills in 3d work and that i can code and that i understand what it takes to make a fun and competent video game.

I am able at the moment to make video games and do 3d work but it will take a long time to do an da lot of creativity and ideas and hard work to get everything to look like a professional game that i am proud to show people. I have a lot of ideas for minigames and the core game so im starting off on the right foot.

When I started at my first job in high school I realized that I hated having to work and answer to someone else. I didn’t have any strong career aspirations at this point, just a bunch of ideas about myself and what I thought I might be good at. The one thing that has been consistent for me since I was little was making videos. Ever since YouTube first came out and I could get my hands on a camera that had a memory card I have been making videos. As high school continued I found myself starting to get into some entrepreneurial ventures with my friends and it made me happy to get to work as my own boss and do what I wanted to do, even if sometimes it didn’t work out. I knew then that my ideal life included me having my own company, being able to direct employees, make investments, and just create. From these interests came my project idea about entrepreneurism and content creation. My project is going to be an in-depth look on how to start your own business in media and content creation. I will be documenting the ideation phase, the basics in making your business a legal entity, how to get your first jobs, networking, video editing, and more. At the end of my final project my deliverables will include this documenting, the content I create along the way, and the other physical and digital pieces that come along with the branding of a business.

My project is interesting because it will be general enough that someone should be able to take what I have learned and will continue to learn and apply it to their own dreams and ambitions. I will be focusing a lot on videography, but the legal rules and regulations of starting a business focused around videography are mostly the same as starting a business around any other content creation. By this I mean that what is going to make my project interesting is that it will be educational, interactive, and attention-grabbing. I am sure that similar things have been done in the past and there is competition for starting a content creation business in New Jersey. However, I am only interested in what is the newest and most effective content, or what is on the cutting edge. I also know that where I want to go with this is a lot more interesting than what I am doing now, so I would like to cover as much ground as possible in my final presentation so that students and potential entrepreneurs can learn, while also getting to see some good creative pieces.

I have a lot of ideas right now on what I want my deliverables to be. First, I want to have the documentation and presentation of the early legal stages of a start-up. I could present this in a few different ways but I am not sold on anything specific yet. Next I want to present what content I have made in working over these semesters. The stylistic elements of my project include a few things. Most importantly is the branding of the company and how it runs, what it posts, who it associates with. Next is the style in what is created. For example, the videos I make should all be similar in that they should have a specific style that is unique to me.

   For my finalized thesis project, I decided to go with a version of my first project idea, building a water projection screen. This idea is a combination of several of my interests/passions: water, filmmaking, storytelling. I also enjoy this idea because it challenges me to develop some building skills as well as some minimal coding to program the water to use different amounts of water pressure at different times throughout the film. As a response to some of my feedback suggesting I seek out a purpose between the water and the storyline of my video, I decided to tie in The Thirst Project. The cause behind the Thirst Project was something I was ignorant to for most of my life so I would like to use my voice to help support this cause that other people may not know about either. Depending on how long the process for this project takes me, I might look into finding a way to divide the fountain between murky, dirty water and healthy, clear water and using the visuals in my presentation to demonstrate just how lucky we are to have the water we do. I think this project idea is also relevant as TCNJ recently had a water recently had a problem with access to clean water and students were unable to drink from any campus fountains or any dormitory/apartment taps nearby. For some students, this experience was a major struggle. When you put into perspective that we, as students, are being provided with water bottles from the school as well as have the means to find clean water at our local dollar stores, while other countries have to walk miles carrying their clean water home, it really highlights the privilege that is often forgotten through our daily lifestyle. All it takes is a quick search of “TCNJ water” on Twitter to see how helpless some students felt without clean water for a few days. I am hoping my short film may inspire students to take this helpless feeling and acknowledge that for some countries that is their entire life and we have the power to help change that. 

   In relation to my future, I think this project would be something the Walt Disney Company would love because I’m stepping out of my comfort zone and teaching myself something new as well as using my voice to help others. Disney is all about leaving your bubble and seeing what the rest of the world has to offer. 

   My project should look something like this in the end: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6TCX0jSc7E&t=88s although I have considered using metal PVC pipes instead of the wood that this man used for his project. I am hoping to be done with the basics of my project about two-three months before the Thesis showcase so I can spend a lot of time decorating my screen as well. I want my project to really immerse my audience and to do that I’m going to have to really pay attention to theming. 

     I believe that the collaboration between my video and the moving water screen will create a new time of storytelling for a nonprofit. These days the world is looking to improve itself in a million different directions and if you want your issue to be heard then you really have to find a way to grab everyone’s attention. I want people to come over and watch my project because it looks cool but I want them to stay because they realize that access to clean water is a very real problem and they want to learn how they can help.