Here it is!

Hi guys it's me Santi,

Here's the links to my Film Opening and CCR's

FILM OPENING

CCR 1

CCR 2

The videos are also attached (but compressed, so it's better to look at the links) below.

Film Opening:

CCR 1:

CCR 2:

And, until next time, Santi... :)

One last reflection

Hi guys it's me Santi,

For the past two months, I’ve been working on this massive project, and I’m so happy with how it turned out, and it was definitely a lot of work. Our original concept was completely different, a 2000s-style movie inspired by Legally Blonde, so the fact that we ended up with a sci-fi drama is kind of crazy.

One of the biggest parts of the project was definitely the sci-fi elements and the visual effects, since it was so cool watching them slowly come together. We were honestly a little nervous, what if the VFX shots didn’t look good or didn’t meet our expectations? Since we wanted the film opening to look as professional as possible, any rough or unconvincing effects would take away from the final product, and the pressure was especially on me because I was the one who took on the challenge of creating the planet. It took a lot of trial and error, but seeing the final result made all the effort worth it, and it really showed how well my team and I worked together throughout the project.

Editing and color grading the film opening was another part I really enjoyed. It was so rewarding to see how the pacing evolved as we refined the edit, we actually overshot quite a bit, which gave me the freedom to experiment with which shots made it into the final cut.  There were a lot of small details that didn’t make it into the final edit like a shot of her putting her toad back on the seat but even those tiny moments helped us define the story.

Of course, we ran into some challenges, especially with scheduling. We originally thought we’d have an entire week to spare before the deadline, but the competition we were preparing for set us back, and on top of that, we had issues with the gas station where we were filming. When we first tried to shoot there, they wouldn’t allow us to film without the manager’s approval, and it ended up taking three weeks to finally get ahold of the manager, but once we did, we were able to finish filming. Fortunately, it all came together, and the final shots turned out great.

Filming the CCRs was a a lot of fun for me, I loved creating a talk show for my first one and then doing a breakdown analysis for the second, and being able to combine both creative and analytical approaches made the whole process even more fun. I’m really happy with how both CCRs turned out, and I think they complement the film opening perfectly.

Overall, I hope this project shows the amount of work, dedication, and creativity my team and I put into it, I’m so proud of what we accomplished, and I’m excited to see what comes next!

Until next time, Santi :)

Audio but it's rich

 Hi guys it's me Santi,

I’m recording my second CCR today, and I’m super excited because I’ll be using my brand new DJI lavalier microphones. They sound super duper crisp, and I can’t wait to hear how they elevate the audio quality for this recording.

For this CCR, I’m doing a film breakdown, inspired by how some directors analyze their own work, and I’ll be answering the third and fourth CCR questions in more of an analytical style, with the film playing in slow motion in the background. I think this approach will be a really fun and creative way to explain the production process and showcase the details of the project, while also answering the more technical questions of the film opening.

Here's an idea of what I want to cover:

• Opening credits and what SAC means

• Color grading process - made grocery store/gas station cooler and darker to match depressive tone

• Production skills developed through ACE Media

• Leadership growth

• Gas station exterior shot was significantly altered in post-production (masked center for warmth)

• Planet VFX required trial and error

• Technical details: planet created in Blender, composited in After Effects, final edit in Premiere

• Equipment: Canon Mark IV and DJI Osmo Pocket 3, tripod essential for VFX shots

• Radio provided exposition

• Final shot shows protagonist looking at picture of dead friend

I’m looking forward to filming it and can’t wait to see how it turns out!

Until next time, Santi :)

Editing the Santi Show!

 Hi guys it's me Santi,

The biggest part of editing my first CCR was adding audience sound effects, since it’s a talk show, it needed all the typical sounds of things like cheering, laughing, and crowd reactions because without them, the whole thing would’ve felt awkward, with just me talking into silence.

To get the sound effects, I used Epidemic Sound, which gives me access to a bunch of music and SFX. I layered in various audience reactions to make it feel like the crowd was actually interacting with me, and one of the coolest effects I found was a chant of people shouting “Santi,” which I added in the background to make the show feel even more personal.

To have a more talk show vibe, I also added music, simulating a live band like you’d see on an actual late-night show, and I made sure the "audience" reacted to moments in my dialogue, which really brought the talk show to life.

Beyond the sound design, the rest of the editing was pretty straightforward, with basic color grading, cutting back and forth between Host Santi and Guest Santi during the conversation, and adding a cool graphic at the beginning and end, made the graphic in After Effects, I was aiming for that classic late-night talk show style.

Here's the graphic I made for it:

 I think it turned out really well, and I’m excited to show it along with my other CCR and my film opening!

Until next time, Santi :)

Filming the first CCR

 Hi guys it's me Santi,

I just filmed my first CCR, and I had a fun time doing it! Like I mentioned before, I went with a talk show format, which made it really fun to interact with the fake crowd and then switch outfits to play the second Santi, the main thing I wanted to achieve was simulating studio lighting to make my house look more like a professional set. I think I pulled it off pretty well by using a giant cob light from BECON TV, which is a place that lets students rent equipment for free. The lighting made a huge difference in giving the scene a more studio feel rather than just my house.

One issue I ran into was with the camera movement, during the wide shot where I planned to have both Host Santi and Guest Santi in the same frame, the camera shifted slightly and because of that, I couldn’t pull off the side-by-side shot I originally wanted. Instead, I had to improvise and go with a shot-reverse shot setup, which still works fine it just would’ve been more effective with the wider framing.

Other than that, everything went smoothly, and I’m really excited to start editing it!

Until next time, Santi :)

The Santi Show Season 2 Part 2 (CCR #4)

 Hi guys it's me Santi,

So how much tech did we use in our project? Short answer is all of it.

My group and I worked with different cameras and editing softwares, like for shooting we used a Canon Mark IV, and a DJI Osmo Pocket 3. The camera was from our school's television program, and I owned the DJI Osmo. Using these cameras was really important for our film, and a tripod was very important, since we would be using VFX, so it's a lot easier when the shot is steady than moving around.

For post-production, we used Premiere Pro, Blender, and After Effects to edit and add visual effects. Like I've said before, I used Blender to create the planet, but after that, it was 90% After Effects which was used compositing the planet into the actual shot, and these were later imported into Premiere Pro for the final line edit.

A quick note on the planet: trial and error are bound to happen when working with VFX, so we had to move the planet around until it looked right, but the final shot is really cool.

First instance of the planet shot. Changed because the planet looked small and too fake.

Final shot without color grading. Planet is bigger and has more atmospheric haze.

Multiple views of 3D model of the planet. Here I'm figuring out the lighting for the title shot.

Without the fancy software, we wouldn’t have achieved the final product we were thinking of, so it's great that we were able to use them (also shoutout to Blender for being completely free and open-source).

Until next time, Santi :)

Script for CCR 1

 Hi guys it's me Santi,

Here's the script for my first CCR! (click the pictures for high quality)

I was inspired by the sometimes offending obnoxiousness of talk show hosts, think Ellen.
Until next time, Santi :)