# @jidenna9725 on YouTube

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://youtube.com/watch?v=WAuAszcZBOQ
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/32916937-jidenna9725-youtube
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/5a8dbd36df.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-07-29T18:00:23.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** jidenna (@Jidenna) — https://gondola.cc/Jidenna

## Caption

OGA CITY - EP1 🌒

Directed, Written, and Scored by Jidenna

——————

I’m really excited about this one. I’ve been experimenting around with the genre for weeks, but I feel like I’m living it now. In general, I work on these pieces for about 12-16 hours with a couple hours of video game breaks sprinkled in. Some of them, I finish in 1-2 days. Some take me 1-2 weeks of consistent work. 

I used a combination of #veo3, #midjourney, #runwayml, #flux Kontext, #klingai, and #higgsfield

1) I began with a single image on Midjourney for an initial vibe shot. I created the red coupe in Midjourney and began imagining a tropical neo noir that drew on Michael Mann’s Miami Vice, Drivr, and Knight Rider with the idea of setting it in a near-future fictional West African metropolis. 

2) If I’m not working on 2D or 2.5D, I actually don’t stay in Midjourney that long because I prefer Runway and Whisk for control and fidelity. If I do create a shot in Midjourney, I bring it into Runway or Whisk almost immediately.

3) From there I started building out the storyboard/shotlist (first frames). I studied driving sequences in all the films above as well as Taxi Driver.

4) For animation, I used Veo 3, Kling, Midjourney, and Luma Dream Machine’s reframe tool (to change my compositions).

5) For the score, I started with a progression on piano and added the horns and accoutrements via Udio. The song playing in the car at the end is an unreleased record that @nanakwabena produced for his debut album, which he is finalizing visuals for right now in Accra!

6) I wrote the voiceover overlooking downtown Los Angeles. That’s probably why I’ve been obsessed with noir. I only used Chat and Claude to fill in a couple synonyms 💪🏽. Lately, I’ve fallen back in love with writing, because I’m reading cinematic prompts all day.

7) I finally dove into Da Vinci Resolve for color grading thanks to the advice and encouragement of @wes_walker_ . @twopointoh put me onto the Nano plugin for the haze 🤯. The intial shots were not cohesive at all. Most of the work was the non-AI parts, which are equally if not more rewarding

Anyway, hope y’all enjoy. Much more in store.

## Stats

- **Views:** 7,250
- **Likes:** 506
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 100

## Tags

klingai, midjourney, flux, higgsfield, veo3, runwayml

---
Copyright (c) Gondola