OCEANO
Oceano began as an exploration of a transition through two very different spaces: from the vastness of space and the night sky, to an underwater world. I wanted a strong change in scale and atmosphere without making the colors feel disconnected. Grain, bright, almost overexposed light, and a controlled palette became the visual thread tying the scenes together.
To get the light behaving the way I imagined, I built a lens flare tool in After Effects using expressions. Making it procedural gave me more control over the flare as the shot changed and made it easier to try variations without rebuilding the effect each time. I studied how light, texture, and depth could guide the viewer through the transition while keeping the final underwater reveal readable.
This was a particularly fun project because it pushed me to experiment across After Effects rather than rely on a single technique. I learned a great deal about its 3D workflow, shading, and expressions while developing the look of each environment. Seeing those studies come together in one short transition was the most rewarding part.