Inside the Mind of A Streamer (*title is still subject to change)
To be honest, I haven’t been able to work on my thesis as much as I would’ve liked this semester. However, after reflecting on my project, I can say I’m content with the work I’ve done and the direction it’s headed. As a refresher, my thesis project is a video essay in which I explore playing video games live for an audience (streaming) and as a career. Through the use of efficient commentary and footage, my project will essentially battle the negative notion around streaming and showcase the reality of what these content creators go through to achieve their “dream job”.
In terms of progress, I have mainly done research by familiarizing myself with the type of footage I plan to include. Since my project focuses on using footage to support what I would be discussing, it was important for me to take note of useful clips to get a strong idea of my video essay’s direction. That being said, I have created an outline and written down some key points from streamers to form structure before actually editing the clips in the near future. Some of which include streamers giving general advice on going live, their personal experience with self-doubt and meeting expectations, the importance of viewer interaction, etc. I mainly plan to use snippets from larger streamers (e.g. Ninja, xQc, Shroud) to give perspective on what it takes to attain such a dream and how it’s a genuine job that takes serious dedication, but worth the pay out. At the beginning of the semester I had a rough idea on what to cover, but my thoughts weren’t as fleshed out as they are now which is definitely a good sign of progress.
Looking ahead, there’s certainly a lot that needs to be done. Although I have watched a decent amount of videos to learn Adobe Premier Pro, I still have to get into the groove of editing and recording my audio for my video essay. Originally, my plan was to have more hands-on experience with Premier, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. As I previously mentioned in my last update, I wanted to record and edit my own footage with friends to better familiarize myself, but those plans fell through due to work from other classes and outside obligations. COVID has certainly played a negative role, as everything became centered around doing things online causing me to push assignments aside, feel less motivated, and not get as much done as I hoped for. Regardless, I know what needs to get accomplished moving forward which is turning my outline into a script to aid my commentary, purchasing a sufficient screen recording software and microphone, and begin editing my video essay using Premier before the Spring starts.
With all things considered, I have made a rough timeline from now until the end of the project:
December
Revise outline (if needed)
Begin writing script
January
Purchase any necessary equipment (e.g. screen recording software, mic)
Continue to learn Premier; do so by editing intended footage
February
Continue writing script while simultaneously editing footage
Begin meshing clips and commentary together
March – April
(Possibly) learn some After Effects to add more intricate visuals
Finish script and most of editing/commentary
Incorporate additional visuals from After Effects (if progress permits)
May
Polish editing (e.g. transitions, audio); finishing details