USC Senior Thesis
Documentary: Directed, Edited, Prompted
Pitch/Mood Video: Directed, Edited
Below you can see the process of creating a VR film in Unreal Engine. I modeled the butterflies in Blender and integrated them into Unreal using a Niagara particle system to simulate flocking and natural flight behaviors. I also created multiple environments using the landscaping tool, and Blender.
Additionally, I am experimenting with Gaussian Splatting, a technique that converts real-world photos and videos into highly detailed 3D point-based representations, allowing for photorealistic scene reconstruction within Unreal Engine. This approach enhances the film’s visual fidelity while pushing the boundaries of real-time VR environments.
The Community of Crecencio Morales has been the guardians and stewards of this land for generations, working tirelessly to conserve the forests and protect the monarchs. However, climate change, illegal logging, and threats from organized crime have put both the land and its defenders at constant risk.
VR DEMO: Directed, DEVELOPED
Another component of this project is a VR immersive-documentary exploring the stories of migrants, with the monarch butterfly as a symbol of hope, metamorphosis, and odyssey. Currently in production, the film features visuals created in Unreal Engine and includes interviews with residents of Poplar, a small town in California’s Central Valley that has been disproportionately affected by ongoing ICE raids in a post-Trump America.
Photos BTS of Documentary
These are images from my most recent documentary. These are the interviews I have been conducting in Poplar with the migrant community which is being affected by the ice raids.
Migration of Monarchs is an interactive exhibit that explores migration through multiple lenses. The first component features the documentary ‘Retorno De Las Animas’ on the migration of monarch butterflies.
This documentary highlights the courageous struggles of the Mazahua community of Cresencio Morales to protect the oyamel fir forests that monarch butterflies call home. Each year, millions of monarchs migrate over 3,000 miles from Canada to Mexico, arriving in Michoacán on the Day of the Dead. To the Indigenous communities that greet them, they are the ancestors returning. But this year, the butterflies did not arrive.
