Brewhouse where I have my studio is a very old building. It’s an old Brewery that in the early 2000 was rebuilt to house studios. It was when the Swedish music export was in its peak and songwriters and producers from sweden gained a lot of success. Anyway I’ll tell you more about this someday- but when the industry changed and the DAW tools got better and less expensive, so did the area of the studios. Nobody wanted to rent big expensive spaces anymore- because you could have your studio at home! So The big studios in Brewhouse moved out and Higab (who owns the Building) had to create smaller spaces. My studio was part of a large space that was decided to rebuild. So higab put up walls and made smaller studios. In my case they did some structures wrong- apparently my studio has out flow of air - cold air. Which means I have no heat. Almost. It’s 15-17 degrees Celsius which is very chill. 🥶 cold It’s good for the equipment though and good when I get my heat strokes from my menopause 🤣 But in between those episodes- I need extra heat radiator and sweaters.

Here’s the video of the AI eye: https://youtu.be/T3k8LjY5zSU?si=BmevvPU4dlWKAZko Let me take you behind the scenes of one of the coolest little tricks I’ve done in Final Cut Pro — how I created the AI eye effect that gives the feeling of a living, thinking humanoid presence. I got a ton of questions after sharing that little clip. Some of you asked: “How did you make the eye track so smoothly?” or “Was that effect made in After Effects?” Nope. No After Effects. No fancy plugins. Just Final Cut Pro, two video clips, some creative layering, and a touch of magic ✨. So here’s exactly how I did it, step by step. ⸻ 🧠 The Vision I had this idea in my head — a humanoid eye, but enhanced. Almost like it was scanning, learning, adapting. I wanted to fuse the organic human quality with something cold, high-tech, and… almost sentient. I recorded a close-up clip of an eye (yes, it’s real!) — and I had a separate graphic: a circular, glowing, digital “AI interface” that I wanted to embed into the eye, and make it move with it. The challenge? Making that glowing AI overlay stick to the eye as it moved slightly in the shot. ⸻ 🎬 The Setup 🧩 What I had: 1. Clip A – A close-up video of the human eye. 2. Clip B – A circular AI effect with a black background (created elsewhere, possibly in Motion or another video layer). ⸻ 🔧 Step-by-Step: Object Tracking in Final Cut Pro ✅ Step 1: Import your clips Open Final Cut Pro and import both clips: • Drag Clip A (the human eye) to the timeline. • Add Clip B (the AI graphic with black background) as a layer above it. ✅ Step 2: Set blend mode to “Screen” This is key! Since the AI graphic had a black background, I wanted only the glowing parts to remain. I clicked on the AI graphic in the timeline, went to the Inspector, and under Compositing > Blend Mode, I changed it to Screen. Now the black background disappears — leaving only the glowing graphic! ✅ Step 3: Resize and position the AI graphic Still in the Inspector or directly in the viewer: • Scale down the AI graphic until it fits naturally over the iris. • Position it so it aligns with the center of the eye. This part is manual — but trust your gut. You’ll feel when it clicks visually. ⸻ ✅ Step 4: Track the Eye (Object Tracking!) Now for the magic. Final Cut Pro has native object tracking, and it works beautifully for shots like this. 👉 Here’s how: 1. Select Clip B (the AI graphic) in the timeline. 2. In the Viewer, click the small square icon that says “Track” when you hover over it (looks like a crosshair). It’s in the lower left corner of the viewer. 3. A blue “Add Object Tracker” box will appear on the video. 🎯 Now: • Drag and resize this blue box over the part of the eye you want to track — usually the iris or pupil. • Once it’s placed, click Analyze (either in the viewer or in the Inspector > Tracker section). Final Cut will now go through the video frame by frame and follow that part of the eye. It’s surprisingly accurate! ✅ Step 5: Attach your graphic to the tracked object Once Final Cut finishes tracking: 1. In the Inspector, under the Tracker section, you’ll now see your tracked object. 2. Click the “Attach to Object Tracker” dropdown and choose the tracker you just made. Boom. The AI graphic is now locked onto the eye. It’ll move subtly with it — giving that hyperreal, sci-fi feel that makes people go: Wait… was that real?! ⸻ 🎨 Bonus polish Here’s where I added some finishing touches: • Slight Gaussian Blur or Glow to the AI layer to make it look like it’s inside the eye, not pasted on top. • Color correction to the overall clip to add a colder, more futuristic tone. • Added a light hum or synth pulse as sound design to make the visual feel more immersive. ⸻ 🧪 Final Result The end result? A human eye, merged with digital intelligence — and all done in Final Cut Pro. What I love about this technique is how accessible it is. You don’t need crazy software or 3D motion tracking. Just a good eye (pun intended 😉), a clean graphic, and a few clicks inside FCP. ⸻ 🗝️ Want to try it? If you’re experimenting with sci-fi visuals, this is a great first effect to try. You can replace the eye graphic with: • A radar circle • A flame • A galaxy • Even a spinning record if you’re doing a music video! 🎶 ⸻ Let me know if you try this — tag me or send me your clips. I love seeing how others build on ideas and make them their own. ✨ Until next time, keep creating. /Melisha 💜

See result: https://youtube.com/shorts/F6kGyJwzWiY?si=r0GUKGva3EqGa-t8 Let’s talk about something I always do in post — but rarely talk about. If you’ve seen my videos, you know I often shoot in front of a green screen. But here’s the twist: Even though I record with a green screen, I almost always end up switching it to a blue screen in Final Cut Pro. Wait — what? Why would I go from green to blue? Isn’t green the standard? Yes. And that’s exactly why I start there — but not where I stop. Let me explain. This is one of those tricks that makes your visuals feel cleaner, sharper, and — in my case — keeps my green eyes glowing like emeralds 💚. ⸻ 🎥 The Recording: Why I Use a Green Screen Green screens are the industry default for a reason: • Digital cameras are more sensitive to green light, which gives a cleaner luminance channel (translation: your subject pops more). • It allows for sharper keying (removing the background) and better edge separation — even with consumer gear. • It’s great in low light. Green reflects more light than blue, which helps with smooth keying. So that’s my base. Green screen is my canvas. But then comes the fun part — switching to blue. ⸻ 💡 Why I Change Green Screen to Blue in Final Cut Pro 1. My Green Eyes Deserve to Shine Let’s start with the obvious: 👁️ I have green eyes. And the green screen messes with them every time. When I key out the green screen, Final Cut can sometimes overcompensate — softening or dulling all green tones. That includes my eyes. So instead of trying to fight the chroma key, I flip the logic: • I key the green screen first. • Then I duplicate the clip, and in the duplicate, I manually shift the screen color to blue using color correction tools or keyer tweaks. • This lets me enhance and protect the green in my eyes in post. And let’s be honest… there’s something powerful about looking straight into the lens with eyes that sparkle like magic. Especially when I’m portraying something intense, AI-driven, or emotionally raw. ⸻ 2. Edge lighting looks cleaner with blue When I add rim lights or glowing overlays, I’ve found that blue blends better with lighting effects — especially when creating: • Cyberpunk/sci-fi vibes • Night scenes • Ethereal backlighting Green edges can sometimes look sickly or unnatural. Blue feels cooler, cleaner, and more “techy.” It’s like giving the background an upgrade — without changing the lighting on set. ⸻ 3. Green reflects. Blue behaves. Here’s a little nerdy detail: • Green bounces light more aggressively than blue. • That means green light can spill onto skin, hair, or clothing — causing weird outlines or color casts. But when I flip the green screen to blue in post, I minimize the illusion of that spill and get better control of: • Skin tone accuracy • Shadow definition • Matte edges It’s like I’m cheating the system — using green for the data, and blue for the look. ⸻ 4. Blue feels more cinematic in my palette From a stylistic point of view, blue backgrounds just look better with the colors I use in my videos: • It pairs beautifully with warm lighting and synthy effects. • It makes overlays, lens flares, and my signature purple tones pop without clashing. Honestly? It just feels more “me.” ⸻ 🧙‍♀️ How I Do It in Final Cut Pro (The Quick Breakdown) This part’s simple — but powerful. 1. I key out the green using the Keyer effect in Final Cut. 2. I duplicate the keyed clip (Option-drag in the timeline). 3. On the duplicate, I use the Color Board or Hue/Saturation Curves to shift residual background tones from green to a soft blue. 4. I tweak edges, shadows, and spill using the Keyer > Matte Tools. 5. Finally, I blend both layers if needed — keeping the clean edges of the green screen, but the cinematic tones of blue. No plugins. No heavy render load. Just a little layer trick and a sharp eye. ⸻ 🎤 Final Thoughts So that’s the story behind why I always start with green — but end in blue. It’s part creative, part technical, and part personal. In the end, I want my visuals to feel alive. I want my characters — whether human, AI, or somewhere in between — to stare back at you with clarity and intensity. And sometimes, the key to that isn’t just a good camera. It’s knowing how to bend the rules a little in post. 💙 ⸻ Let me know if you want a mini preset or walkthrough of how I do the shift inside Final Cut. And if you try it yourself — I’d love to see your results! Love & layers, ✨ Melisha

https://youtu.be/M9KedGKQ9ww?si=4TGlEtoLoAzCGePE This June my son graduated from Rytmus school of arts and music in Gothenburg! This has been a very busy time for me as a mother - planning the party 🎉 and celebration. It’s been hard to find time to make music. Fortunately, my boyfriend and I had already been writing together and he had the time to finish the music production! So I’m excited to share the music video on Monday- but in the meantime- you as an exclusive member can check out my sons graduation video where you can listen to him singing in his final project with his band from school! ❤️ enjoy !

Hey loves! ❤️ I just released my 49th song in #onesongamonth — and this time I created a stop motion music video in Final Cut Pro! It was such a fun (and crazy!) process, and I wanted to share how I made it: At first, I collected a bunch of stock videos — some for inspiration, and some I actually used as backgrounds. I started playing around with still photos to try and create a stop motion effect. Some of it worked! But… when I tried to do a test for the lipsync, I quickly realized: this was going to take forever! One idea was to cut out frames from a video to mimic stop motion — but syncing the lips to the music just didn’t work. Then came the magic trick: I tried speeding up my video — and it actually gave me the exact effect I wanted! Still, the lipsync was off (of course), so I created a backtrack at half tempo, and recorded the lipsync in slow motion. Fun fact: I didn’t even know the lyrics properly yet, so it helped to do it sloooow! I filmed it all in front of a green screen, imported it into Final Cut, and then just doubled the speed. Suddenly — everything worked! The result was exactly the vibe I was going for. I added different colors, backgrounds, and even tracked some objects in Final Cut to follow my movements. A lot of the effects and stop motion moments are actually built from still images! It took time, but it was SO worth it. Maybe I’ll try this method again sometime. Hope you love this video and this song as much as I loved making it! Love and light, /M

So this months song was a challenge- I got sick and I was contemplating whether I was gonna be able to finish or not. Coughing all nights and my voice was not good. But I thought to myself that I was going to try anyway. I was able to do the mix and master of the instrumental so that it was only the lead vocals left. And it was challenging but it was also fun. And I learned so much in the process. Now I’m just resting. Everything is done now. The video, the mail marketing, the blog posts, social media (I have scheduled posts which is so helpful) So tomorrow I can just press “publish” and also publiy stories, shorts and tík tok. I have to rest now I’ll do the rest tomorrow. I’m so grateful for my son and for Francisco my partner. They have helped me so much when I was sick. Leo has been out with Ludde, he parked the car. And Francisco has been doing grocery shopping and cooking. ❤️🙏 I’m grateful for my family. Now I’m just resting I have to rest. Tomorrow I’m working as usual and also we have a gig in the night at Hängmattan! With Leo and Francisco and Fabian the uncle of Francisco. Have to get well until tomorrow 🙏

This January, I have been a bit off grid - off social media. And it’s been so nice. I’ve been playing piano, thinking, composing and been with the family. I’ve been a lot in the studio and every time I’ve been thinking I should post something. But I end up not doing it. It’s okay, my one and only focus is to continue my project and I want to make songs. So in the picture it’s something I made tonight because I’m going to make a music video tomorrow! I finished the song today.

I’m going through an experience that is very new to me. It’s the beginning of menopause because I’m 46. So my symptoms are that I love love love to sleep. Every chance I can get. The sleep is so wonderful and it’s the best sleep I’ve had in my life. The downside is that I can’t get up early anymore. I used to wake up so early and be able to work longer hours. I can’t do that anymore. But maybe this is not a downside. Also heat waves. Sometimes you get these heat waves from inside your body and it feels like a warm rain. It’s wonderful actually. I am grateful I have symptoms that don’t feel bad to me now in the beginning of menopause. Maybe it will get worse. I’m thankful that I’ve lived so many years and that I am a mother to a wonderful son! I am single and yes that is something I feel bad about sometimes. I’ll cover that in another post. Anyways maybe I’ll do a song about menopause? I don’t know if anybody did a song about it? Do you know ?

so this month I’m working on a song that is dedicated to a special person in my life ! And it is a surprise ! Right now in this phase, the mix sounds awful! But I love this confused phase of my songwriting actually. I just play as much instruments as possible and over produce it. This phase is creative freedom deluxe. Then in the next phase I sit and simplify everything. And strip away stuff. But not now ! Next step is finishing the lyrics.

Oh this video was challenging! It was hard styling the wig , gluing it to my head,and my dress broke even more so I had to come up with a different solution. But I guess it turned out okay. The make up was really hard to do. I had a Marilyn tutorial on makeup and the lips was the hardest part. The lines is supposed to be outside but in a very special shape. My lip pen didn’t manage it! So I had to use my eyebrow pen. Other makeup things: a lot of foundation and highlighter! Then the beauty mark that I only succeeded with once. Apparently Marilyn lashes are very special- your supposed to cut a small piece of the fake lash and mount it downwards for the Marilyn bedroom look. Then draw a lash shadow underneath the eye. Because I was so tired from a very full weekend- company event on Friday, baptism on Saturday and I decided to bake too which was fun! Leonardo decided to go to a party and coming home at 3 am 😅- I decided to bring the green screen home and try to film at home. That proved to be a challenge because the lighting was so different and bad. - all this meant I was so tired and I think one can see it on the clips. I can see circles round my eyes. But that may have added to the story I guess. Link to video: https://youtu.be/mbMUJzVKKcY?si=UcjjloclEeimerm8

So now I tried the wig on and it fits 😍 Although it’s hard to fix hair when your not good at cutting

I can’t sew I’m really bad haha but I thought I wanted a specific dress for my video. So I’m trying.

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