Fragments of Amaris – Capstone Corner

Multiple capstone projects in the Digital Media Program are being worked on. Two are in the final stages of pre-production and one has begun filming. The two in planning are “The Crew” a variety show with a varied amount of segments that create a whole broadcast, and “Local 41” a horror-comedy news show based on a fictional town. The show that is being filmed is the main topic today “Fragments of Amaris” the show is a live game of Dungeons and Dragons, with the story set in a fictional universe created by Corum Byers. This fantasy universe he has been writing for a few years now became the catalyst for creating this show along with his love of role playing games. The game Dungeons and Dragons is becoming larger and larger as show formats using the game to continue to come out, larger production teams make things like Critical Role which began the craze for the mass adoption of shows in this format. Corum being a fan of these types of shows took inspiration and adapted a portion of his story to be played and recorded as his capstone. The format itself is recording a game of D&D with friends role playing their characters in the universe, to give background he had each of his players have a background episode currently called Episode 0 to cover their motivations, character backstories and lives leading up to the events in the first episode. These episodes followed Tok Cuh a bug humanoid who is connected to a hive-mind leaving his home and all he knows to see if the great threat they were warned of is true, Addie who was forced to leave her home and subsequently forced into military service during a war she had no reason to be a part of, and Sigvat from a small northern village of story tellers who has heard of war coming towards his people. With the stage set the characters all began their journey to Novenna, during this time they were chosen as “fragments” which are basically demigods meant to assist their god and help save the world. That is all that has been recorded so far but eventually their journey will take them to the front lines of a war where diplomacy is no longer an option against a tyrant as he pushes towards their homes and destroys all in his way.

Map of Isira made by Corum Byers.

The filming set-up for the production so far is a basic studio set up. Chairs surrounding a table on a stage with Corum set up on one side and the players on the other, each player and Corum having a camera set on them to capture their reactions and conversations to give a more personal feel when needed, and a wide shot when the whole group is being addressed. A jib is also set up to give a nice aerial shot of the table with its map and dice to give viewers definition for the scenes where players are in combat. The shows shots look great so far allowing for a seamless transition between the changing tone of the show and allow viewers to become invested in the visual aspects without being boring. The show hasn’t had an episode enter editing yet but he plans to add in visual elements like maps and locations and concept art to illustrate to viewers necessary visual components in the story as well as sound bites and background music to help set tone and pace for the production. The show’s production hasn’t been entirely smooth though as every production has its hiccups, in the case of “Fragments of Amaris” scheduling is the hardest thing to do as classes began for half of the cast and crew, this problem was solved quickly though and filming resumed as normal. As this project and production get farther along it will a great thing to follow once episodes start coming out, the show is currently being adapted for YouTube and possibly the colleges’ TV station and a radio series.

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