Ceremony
Amanda Brewer
Amanda Brewer is a Multimedia Content Creator based in New Jersey.
She currently studies Interactive Multimedia at The College of New Jersey, with minors in Photography & Video, Marketing, and music technology.
Her focus is in videography and digital content creation, with interest in music, advertising, portraiture, nature, and abstract art.
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Welcome to the “Ceremony”
I’ve always wanted to make my own music, but I’ve also always expected to have a video-based thesis. With “Ceremony”, I am able to combine those two passions together in order to create a concept album and an array of visualizers and videos to portray an abstract narrative. This piece is meant to be a continuation of my film “Ritual”, which deals with topics of insomnia and dreaming. In “Ceremony”, there is a three act structure based on the Rites of Passage, taking on themes of transition and personal growth.
The theme of this album is very fitting to both the current climate of the world and my own internal emotions. Creating this has lead to many new experiences and challenges, and ultimately has helped me grow as an artist. I love delving into more abstract artistic work when I get the chance, so I invite you all as audience members to craft your own meaning from the audio and video presented to you. “Ceremony” has provided me with a unique experience to go all out and create the project of my dreams, and I look forward to sharing it with all of you!
Phase 1: Music
Recording was a PROCESS, especially with my college house on a busy road. I would have to record after midnight to have a shot at anything useable in my room, and everything else I just recorded in my parent’s basement or through an audio interface. My sound proofing setup was as affordable as I could make it - just a bunch of moving blankets suspended up on garment racks and tripods. I used my RODE NTG 4+ to record everything in the most sound damped corner of the room, and it honestly turned out pretty well. All the guitar was recorded through my Audient Evo 4, and I used Vital for all of my synth parts.
But wait, there’s more! I also collaborated on HALF of the tracks on the album. I wasn’t originally planning this!! I worked with Angela Branchek for drums on “Biological Warfare”, Rain Bernal for drums on “Is This The End?”, m4lw4re for electronic parts on “Papercut”, and Dan Felix for bass on “Phase 3: Incorporation”. I feel like the songs where I collaborated all ended up having their own unique sound, and really stand out from the rest. It was a super cool experience, and as someone super nervous to release music at all, I’m really surprised and proud of myself that I worked with this many other talented musicians.
Lastly, I mixed all these songs myself in FL Studio. It was my first time using this program so I am honestly still learning, but I’ve already acquired a decent bag of tricks when it comes to plugins. Adding effects and crafting the sound to become my own was honestly my favorite part of the process, just watching a recorded track go from completely flat to full of life is so cool and fulfilling. I’m really excited to release this album and see how all the pieces finally fit together.
Phase 2: Video
Come on, this wouldn’t be my project without a video component. Everyone said I was crazy for putting this much work on myself but that’s just how we roll!
I decided that I would make a video or visualizer for every song in order to follow a vague abstract storyline. Generally speaking, the “Phase” songs get actual videos that advance the plotline, where everything else gets visualizers to set the mood. For reference, a visualizer is more like a simple moving image; it is technically video, but usually doesn’t change much. Visualizers are becoming more common in the music video world, likely since they’re usually easier to produce, so I thought it would be fun to try my hand at them. Most of mine are actually a bit more involved than most visualizers as the image changes far more frequently, honestly you might be able to just consider all of them “videos”, but to me they still hold a slightly different vibe than the more plot oriented videos, and I approached them a little differently from a production standpoint.
Speaking of video production, I did all the video work myself, aside from some camera work from Dan Felix in “Phase 1: Separation” and “Papercut” - fun fact about “Papercut”, I filmed some bleeding candles in my basement for about 6 hours and had the brilliant idea to make that into a 4k time-lapse - do not make my same mistake. I spent a lot of time during this project really planning out things like wardrobe, props, color, etc. in order to achieve the vibe I was looking for. It’s really the first time I’ve spent more than $10 making a video, but I think the results call for a more cohesive overall video series.
It’s also the first time I’m making a video series! So many firsts in this thesis, which is exactly why I picked it. I love learning new things and putting way too much work on my plate so this was a perfect plan.
Phase 3: Looking to the Future
So is this project over? Well as I’ve mentioned this is quite the project, so there are some things I plan to do afterwards.
1.) I’m planning to make some merch for this project. Likely t-shirts, maybe stickers, if I think of anything else that would be cool too
2.) I want to make some “behind-the-scenes” or “making of” videos on my YouTube channel. I’ve already shot some footage, I just haven’t had the chance to go through it yet.
3.) I would like to spend more time advertising and branding. I didn’t really get any time to advertise since I was so busy working on the actual content, but I plan to use my Instagram and TikTok pages to try to further my music, and my YouTube channel in general. I also want to tidy things up on YouTube by making custom thumbnails for all the videos, along with a new logo and banner. Lastly, I want to add videos to my songs on Spotify since…why not! I already have the footage, it would be foolish to not use it.
If you’ve gotten this far . . .
Thank you for your interest in my senior thesis! It’s super cool that people actually care about the work that I make. I put a lot of time and energy into this project and I’m feeling a whole range of emotions releasing it to the world - excitement, fear, stress, happiness, you name it.
I’ve always thought of my self as an all-around type of person, as I love video, photography, music, traditional art, and so much more. If you ever need help with any creative work please don’t hesitate to contact me, I’m always open to new projects and ideas :)