Adobe Fuse and Mixamo have been my primary tools in character creation.
Here are the characters so far,as well as a dress being created in Marvelous Designer.

Here are also some preliminary storyboards covering the first ~30 seconds.

Plot has been the major stumbling block in this thesis, storyboarding unsuccessful due to lack of direction.
I've recently discussed with my advisor re-establishing my plot basis after down-scaling the scope of the project.
The original pitch included 3 characters.
Modeling, texturing, rigging, and animating of 2 seems far more feasible, but requires rethinking the previous major plot point: our lead male and female characters being 'just not right for each other' in favor of his ending up with another lady.
The current concept that I'm playing with:

• Our male lead is experiencing serious depression/ennui in his day-to-day routine of a black and white world (set in the 1950s).
  
• The full color our female lead surprises him, causing him to trip and be fired at his diner job.
  
• He goes out searching for her, following sparse bits of color he begins to see in his otherwise gray world before being forced to give up for the night.
  
• The next morning he nearly crashes into her, finding her standing on his front doorstep- she leads him by the hand to an entrance to a colorful new world, her world of the future.
  

Condensed references and some work in progress images below

Character References (not mine, source linkage on my Pinterest)

Top row: Character Sheets (mine)
Bottom row: Palettes (not mine, source linkage on my Pinterest)

Diner Objects: Booth Table, Barstool, Tabletop Bottles, Counters (modeled and UV mapped in Maya 2016)

Diner Exterior, Booth Seats, and Overview (modeled and UV mapped in Maya 2016)

Diner Test Render

Current Gantt Chart, courtesy of Tom's Planner

A series of setbacks later, here's a big old overdue update.
Big news first: I have email approval from Mystery Skulls' agent Larry Little, giving me permission to use "When I'm With You" as my thesis music! Credit will of course be given to Mystery Skulls/Luis Dubuc for all their copyrighted material, and I am not profiting from their use in my thesis' distribution.
Here also is the rough version of my pitch video:

Updates to inspiration and reference images can be seen at my Thesis Pinterest Board and new 50's Aesthetic Pinterest Board

My first choice of audio for the music video concept would be by the artist Mystery Skulls, whom I was lucky enough to see in concert earlier in the year. In particular I would like to build a narrative based on the song "When I'm With You".
(LICENSE HOLDER APPROVAL PENDING)

Beyond the lyrical narrative of the protagonist wanting to get back with the girl he is still in love with, maybe the featured couple aren't as perfect for each other as he thinks-- and maybe someone else could bring even more to his life.

3 Different Possible Project Concepts, in no particular order, with example imagery
Music video of a series of stills, animation sequences, and image transitions of both 2D and 3D, with strong emphasis placed on audio and visual pacing and timing. A semi-abstract theme would probably more scale-able than a narrative story line, but in either case should have tie in to the song’s content.
Goal of 2 min video, 24fps/1920x1080p. Examples:

• Arctic Monkeys “Do I Wanna Know?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpOSxM0rNPM
• Shane Koyczan “To This Day” (many more styles/mediums than I would go for)    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltun92DfnPY

Historical CG catwalk fashion show, clothing meshes assembled in Marvelous Designer and ZBrush. Simulation of historically accurate fashions and materials of a particular era (or throughout the ages) on a CG model. 
Goal of 4 women’s outfits + accessories, my personal preference of styles in 1870-1890s America. Examples:

• Marvelous Designer 3 Academic, Enterprise, Clo3D - Amazing 3D Fashion Design Software - CGriver.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_vQ8nJ8NF
• Truly Victorian, Early Bustle 1869-18 http://trulyvictorian.net/history/1869.html

Set of character lineup maquettes built in Maya, Mudbox, and ZBrush. Includes 2D concepts and character sheets of varying silhouettes, color palettes, and roles. These character sheets are translated into 3D sculpted figures with hair/fur, clothing, props.
Goal of 3 completed, posed maquettes. Examples:

• Character Lineup http://joshua-flynn.blogspot.com/2011/02/character-line-up.html
• Disney Infinity figures line https://infinity.disney.com/game-info