A couple of weeks ago I uploaded my second Japan trip video, and the response was honestly wild—in the best way. So this is me keeping it really chill and breaking down how I planned, shot, and edited that whole cinematic travel film. I start with the gear I brought, because travel videos are basically a game of choosing your limitations. I shot the trip on my Sony FX3 and limited myself to two lenses: the Helios 44-2 (58mm, fully manual, swirly bokeh) as my main look, plus the Tamron 17–28 for anything wider that the 58mm just can’t cover. Then I get into pre-production, which for me is mostly about balancing being immersed versus trying to “get the shots.” My philosophy is to shoot what I can and worry about story later—because the story hasn’t even happened yet. I built a three-act structure while we were there (Tokyo → Kamakura → Nagano), and I also talk about “fake it till you make it”: sometimes you just don’t have the footage, so you cheat in post with recreations, pacing fixes, and sound design. Finally, I break down my color grading workflow in DaVinci Resolve using Dehancer (Portra 800 + Kodak 2383), and why sound and music are arguably more important than the visuals—most of the audio in my timeline is completely fake, and that’s kind of the point.