In today’s social media landscape, influencers often push boundaries, chasing views and attention by performing stunts that can be reckless, even dangerous. For this project, I wanted to create a piece of short viral content for TikTok that serves as a social commentary on this trend. By showing influencers willing to risk their safety for the sake of spectacle, my goal is to highlight the lengths people go to for a moment of online fame, often without considering the potential consequences.
Shooting this concept in real life would be nearly impossible due to the danger involved, so I decided to set the entire scene in a virtual world. By using Unreal Engine, I’m able to replicate a realistic environment where these risky behaviors can be safely portrayed. The footage will be composited in Fusion and polished in DaVinci Resolve, giving the final piece a heightened sense of realism. This project isn’t just about VFX; it’s a narrative designed to prompt reflection on the impact of social media and the blurred line between reality and performance for today’s digital influencers.
Theme referenced from my favourite movies:
Examples of influencers doing stunts to gain views/likes on social media:
Storyboarding:
The story goes; An influencer attempts to boost her TikTok views by risking her life, walking across the busy Ratchaprasong intersection filled with traffic. The stunt ends tragically when she gets hit by a bus—but that’s not the end. A miracle occurs: the TikToker somehow manages to stop the bus with her mind. Astonished, she starts experimenting with her newfound power, playfully moving the bus while turning to the camera with a look of surprise. However, she loses focus, accidentally causing the bus to crash into a nearby building, which explodes. Panicked, she stops recording and runs away.
Final Thesis Project
Main Concept
- Recreate one of the busiest street in Bangkok in 3D environment to be as photorealistic as possible
- Formatted in a TikTok style video featuring an internet influencer attempting to perform a dance on the busy streets of Ratchaprasong Road while avoiding cars and motorcycles passing by
- Serves a purpose to be a mockumentary/parody of today’s landscape of social media where influencers try to outdo other influencers with more and more outrageous content or dangerous stunts to garner attention
- Post the following video on TikTok and observe the performance of the video on key factors: virality (how viral does the video perform based on engagements), believability (do people believe the stunt was performed for real) and debatability (how people form opinions or sides of the argument according to the video)
References
Idea Board
Location – Ratchadamri Road (CentralwOrld Front Entrance)
Production Methodology
Green screen setup in broad daylight + tracking marker for camera motion tracking
Why?
- Saves time from rotoscoping and produce better fine details in the matte especially in the upper body area
- Daylight provides the best lighting method as the virtual environment was also set in daylight
Cons
- Cost of buying materials/setting up green screen may be an issue
- Green spill from the materials may cause issue during post-production while compositing
New Idea 09/05/2024
Instead of just one video. I’ve conceptualized that I could create this social media influencer persona around the idea of mockery of today’s social media landscape.
New Idea 08/07/2024
Sticking with first concept but produce two versions with different concept/video entirely but based on the same location
Concept 1 – (“LISA – Rockstar” TikTok)
The currently popular TikTok trend right now is based on k-pop artist LISA’s “Rockstar” music video where people would stand in the middle of the Yaowarat road. This concept takes a different approach by having the talent do the dancing in the middle of Ratchaprasong Road instead.