Creative Exercise (Spec Project)

This video was cut as an imaginative mashup of Helldivers entering the world of The Lord of the Rings. The idea was to blend two opposed genres but be visually consistent and cinematic. 

One of the biggest concerns was including realistic VFX elements. 

I used heavy motion tracking with DaVinci's Fusion to composite spaceships into the scene with realistic motion and scale. I used Multistroke to paint the sky and tracked the changes to duplicate the original camera motion. To enhance the mood, I applied a red color grade, explosions and smoke effects, and Helldivers' themed SFXs and sound design. I applied a fake camera shake to give intensity and immersion in the scene, and created masks to fake lighting and shadow effects from the ships.

Videogame Trailer (AIV Students Collaboration Projects)

Edited for a student-made horror game, with the main goal of generating suspense and psychological tension throughout the trailer. 

I captured and selected gameplay footage, then structured the edit around a steadily increasing rhythm, tightly locked to the music to build a sense of growing unease. I designed the soundscape using horror-themed SFXs and manipulated saturation levels to find a dark, unsettling visual tone. 

One of the key additions I made was the use of tracked lighting masks for the generation of lightning flashes, a purely post-production visual effect, as thunder and lightning were not present in the original game. Not only were the flashes utilized for atmosphere, but also to build tension and foreshadow the presence of the monster. 

At the end of the trailer, the creature is only briefly revealed, which serves to maintain its mystery and create more tension. Because this is a horror game, the point was not to fully reveal the creature, the player should view the monster in their own time in-game, not all at once in the trailer.

Unreal Engine 5 Exercise (Spec Project)

This project was my first serious experience with Unreal Engine, where I explored its core features by creating a whole environment. 

I designed a custom camera motion path, applied materials to 3D meshes, and built a scene from scratch, with a softly rolling hills landscape around the edge to frame the view naturally. I experimented with different camera settings, which I found extremely intuitive since I am accustomed to working with mirrorless cameras. 

For a bit more realism, I used the foliage system to populate the scene with vegetation. I also performed some color adjustment to make the whole thing more visually appealing. The main goal of this project was to learn the fundamentals of Unreal Engine by building a consistent and visually pleasing scene from the ground up.