Becoming DoPE (Director of Photography/Editor) is all about my journey from photography to filmmaking and sharing it with each one of you! I fell in love with being on the camera side of the medium. Since then I’ve been fully immersed in the art of filmmaking and happily drowning! NOTE: I’m NOT leaving photography. Just adding moving images to my game!
Uncover the Epic Journey to Create the UE5 Cinematic ATUNBI (Rebirth)!
A behinid the scenes look at the making of "Atunbi".
ATUNBI (Rebirth) - Unreal Engine 5 Cinematic
"Atunbi" is the short story of a frog that joins the ranks of other symbolic animals in African culture. This entire cinematic was produced in Unreal Engine 5.1. The assets were sourced from Quixel Megascans, UE Marketplace, Sketchfab and custom assets that I modeled directly inside of UE. In addition to real images, I used Midjourney to create more visually interesting references for both the environment as well as custom assets. I also wrote and produced the soundtrack for this short film. It's a a fantastical afrobeat driven piece that I attempted to marry with the weather elements of the cinematic.
"Meet the Metahumans" REMIXED with My Custom Mesh to Metahuman
I remixed the original Epic Games "Meet the Metahumans" project with my own self-realized Metahuman and voice over. I created the Metahuman of myself using photogrammetry with Reality Capture, the Mesh to Metahuman plugin for UE5, tweaks in Metahuman Online Creator and back to UE5 for adding the glasses. I then imported my Metahuman into the Metahumans project provided by Epic Games, swapped out the existing actors and made some final tweaks before exporting and finalizing my voice over in Adobe Premiere.
Alien VS Racer: Dance Battle - Virtual Production Using Unreal Engine, Mixamo, HTC Vive and Atomos
Check out this short I created which is the sum of all I have learned about virtual production over the last 6 months. Who won the dance battle? I created this project using Unreal Engine 4.25, Epic Games assets (subway train), Mixamo (characters and mo-cap), HTC Vive hardware and my tracked virtual camera rig with an Atomos Ninja V recorder. Edited in Adobe Premiere. Music from Epidemic Sounds.
Becoming DoPE EP#5 - “COMPLETE High End Virtual Production PC BUILD for Unreal Engine, Gaming, Photo and 4K Video Editing”
In this video I walk through my COMPLETE high end PC build for virtual production, gaming, photo and 4K video editing. Primary applications include Unreal Engine, Lightroom, Photoshop and Adobe Premiere.
Becoming DoPE EP#4 - “Road to Virtual Production PART 1: Traditional vs Virtual Workflows and ARRIVAL Scene Recreation”
Virtual production is an emerging workflow for filmmakers that has incredible creative benefits and possibilities. In this video, I discuss a brief history of traditional CG/VFX workflows and the benefits of virtual workflows. I also give a peek at the progress I'm making with using MAYA to recreate a scene from the scifi movie ARRIVAL.
Becoming DoPE EP#2 - “How to Correct Constantly Changing White Balance in Adobe Premiere
If you leave on auto white balance while shooting video in your DSLR and you experience major color and temperature shifts in your footage, I’m gonna show you how to fix it... in three steps.
Becoming DoPE EP#3 - “3 Things Photographers ALREADY KNOW About Filmmaking”
As a photographer, practicing the use of good composition, exposure tools and lighting techniques gives you a great headstart in filmmaking. Here is my breakdown on using them to bridge the gap to becoming a great cinematographer.
Becoming DoPE EP#1 - “Writing My First Script”
As a new filmmaker, you've got big ideas, but channeling those ideas into a well written script can seem daunting. Take a look at my early stage process and how I'm sorting it out.
Becoming DoPE Intro
Check out my intro bumper for my Becoming DoPE channel.