For my thesis project, I plan to create a hybrid documentary/video essay that strings together the journeys of several different TCNJ Super Smash Bros. players as they try to become the best player at TCNJ and perform their best at King, Lions Gaming’s yearly regional tournament. Through the use of prior footage and graphics, I will also detail the history of these players, their previous results, and their rivalries. To gain enough knowledge about the field to complete this project, I plan to:
- Use LinkedIn Learning to gain more knowledge of how to use Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects, Illustrator, and Photoshop, and to learn filming techniques
- Learn how to create motion graphics and incorporate them into the video
- Watch The Smash Bros and Last Stock Legends series along with other Smash Bros documentaries; conduct interviews with the teams, message them on Twitter, and follow them
- Gain permission from TCNJ players to interview them
- Talk to professors in the IMM and film departments such as Ceaphas Stubbs
- Study the UI of various Smash titles and determine how to replicate it
- Gain access to cameras and microphones through the AIMM Cage
- Go through each players’ past results in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Ultimate
- Research the histories of Super Smash Bros. Melee’s “five gods” through SmashBoards, tournament streams, and sites like Liquipedia
- Network with members of esports production teams at colleges like Rutgers
- Find documentaries or movies that use interconnected narratives to tell a story