When I transferred into the New Media department at the University of Tampa, I felt a new passion for my work and a desire to work as hard as possible. This has lead me to constantly push my limits and improve with every project set before me. Professors like Santiago and Gregg inspired me to constantly push the envelope, and reevaluate the conceptual side of my work. In fact, it is completely due to Gregg Perkin’s Spatial Computing class that I am well versed in Unreal Engine 5.

I had originally chosen the New Media major because I was recording personal music in my closet/dorm/apartment for years, and facilitating all the visual work behind it (cover art, Spotify Canvases, and videos). While studying the New Media degree path, my free time — if any — was filled with honing my audio production and engineering skills. In November of 2022, my hard work paid off as I landed an internship at Executive Studios in Clearwater Florida. I was able to learn from the best audio engineer in the Tampa Bay area, as well as the best songwriter in the Tampa Bay area.

This brings us to the purpose of my Senior Project. The true reason I chose to study New Media was to gain the skills necessary to begin my professional career. Using my audio industry alias, I was ready to start Cyniical Productions LLC. My senior project is everything I needed to begin as an established professional in the audio and multimedia fields. Now an official audio engineer at Executive Studios, I have provided examples of works I have helped mixed and produce (vocally and instrumentally). There are samples of short-form social media content from services I have provided for clients of my studio.

As an ode to the New Media program and all of the Unreal Engine work I have done with Gregg Perkins, I have created an Unreal Engine world with particle systems that react to audio output. This can be used for multiple aspects of entertainment, and is another potential application of virtual production.

Thank you,

~Joe Cannatelli