Rashi Ranka

Fall 2021

Graduated from San Jose State University with a GPA of 4.0 and highest Latin honors of Summa Cum Laude.

Fall 2020

President's Scholar at San Jose State University for maintaining a 4.0 GPA

• Home

As 2019 draws to a close, it’s worth taking a look back at the progress that has been made in the deepfake space for DFBlue. This is the year that truly put the deepfake technology on the map and showed the world the true power of A.I. and Neural Networks.To mark the end of 2019 and the beginning of a whole new decade, DFBlue launched a 2020 teaser showcasing the use of deepfakes for adverting and the entertainment industry.

The French Consulate in New York hosted a Conference on fake news, deep fakes, foreign interference with Ambassador for Digital Affairs Henri Verdier, Chief innovation Officer at Graphika Camille Francois, Vice News reporter David Uberti and DFBlue’s Co-Founder Sid Gandhi. DFBlue’s participation at this high profile event showed us that the international governments are serious about the negative effects of deepfakes and fake news. It speaks of their dedication towards combating fake news and digital forgery to preserve our digital space.This year DFBlue announced a partnership with Harvard University in a research study on the psychological effects of political deepfakes ahead of the upcoming 2020 U.S. elections. This research is ongoing and will be underway through 2020. Learn more about this partnership here.DFBlue also hosted the first-ever event on Deepfakes in New York City called “Deepfake — Fake News or Powerful tool?” which was a discussion on what’s possible with Deepfake technology and how it can be used ethically. Our next event is happening in San Francisco soon.

• Home

Elle, a symbol of a particular style and Art of Living, partnered with Tetramind to build them a website to showcase and launch their awe-inspiring shoe collection in India.Being a worldwide lifestyle magazine of French origin that focuses on fashion, beauty, health, and entertainment, I had to integrate the website as per their guidelines. After in-depth research and planning, me and team were successful in doing so.

With a goal to showcase their shoe to a wider audience, I began strategizing for beautiful creatives for Elle which they promoted on the Elle Boutique India pages. The artworks were designed as per the brand guidelines of Elle and include GIFs and Carousels.

South India's Largest Footwear Destination, Centro partnered with Tetramind to build their brand website. With over 30 stores in South India, Centro needed a comprehensive website where their customers can check for the latest news, offers and contact details.As the Brand Manager for Centro, I successfully planned and executed the website. Over the time, we've integrated various new things in the website such as 3D Store Preview and Integrated Feedback Forms.

• Website

When I took up Social Media Marketing for Centro, the main challenge I faced was to not just increase the engagement on the page, but also to convert it into store walk-ins. Me and the team have managed to do so by showcasing the amazing offers Centro has through beautiful creatives.

In 2017 when Centro signed as the official sponsor of Sunrisers Hyderabad, we kicked off an extensive IPL campaign consisting of TVCs, Theatre Ads, Player Meet & Greets, Outdoor Activities, Contests and many more.The online engagement and store-walk-ins during these three months where the highest in 2017.

Resign is a Rooftop Skybar located in the heart of Hi-tech city in Hyderabad, India. Resign gives you an expansive view from the Roof Top while serving hand-crafted spirits & some delectable food.I designed Resign's Social Media launch campaign for its big opening at the end of 2018. Along with the launch campaign I was also an active part during the designing of menu's, merchandise, staff uniforms and dinnerware.

What is Kokh all about?Kokh is a documentary made by a team of 7 on India’s 2016 Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill. The Bill has been introduced in the parliament to ban a deep rooted industry- ‘Commercial Surrogacy’ with its hub being a small town called Anand in Gujarat. The bill allows altruistic surrogacy only for heterosexual infertile couples who have been married for 5 years. This bill was proposed because there only mere guidelines existed; there was no proper regulation of surrogacy practices in the country which have led to exploitation of women. Surrogacy has become a billion-dollar industry in India and hence, the source of income and livelihood for various women, middle-men, and doctors. Many women, who opt to become surrogates, do so to support their families and to earn some money. The Government’s ban might be in response to widespread concern about the exploitation of poor women, but if the ban comes into action, numerous lives will be disturbed.Kokh (meaning ‘womb’) presents the views of almost all the stakeholders involved in the process along with the experts. We interviewed surrogates and Dr. Nayana Patel in Anand, Gujarat. We talked to IVF specialist Jatin Shah, Lawyer Amit Karkhanis, and a LGBT Rights Activist in Mumbai. We also interviewed DG of ICMR, representative of National Commission for Women, Chairperson of Centre for Social Research along with other researchers in Delhi. The aim of the narrative was to present all sides before taking biased decisions based on hearsay. If something is important enough, even if the odds are against you, you should still do it.The system needs stringent regulations to protect the rights of all the stakeholders involved rather than a complete ban. The ban on commercial surrogacy also means many unfortunate infertile people would have to give up their dreams of becoming parents. Almost all surrogate mothers and commissioning parents disagree on the issue of commercial surrogacy being banned and often say “how your baby came into the world is far less important than the fact that she’s here”. Moreover, the ban can take the industry underground which may lead to real hidden exploitation. Women’s rights, child’s rights, LGBT rights, medical ethics, and other legal issues are some of the major aspects related to surrogacy which need to be taken care of. The rational way forward is not to ban the surrogacy completely but to regularize it.

The Team and Behind the ScenesWe were a team of seven (Rashi, Manisha, Shivani, Tarun, Hiral, Tanya & Alfiya) who played very important roles in bringing together this documentary in four months. We travelled to Anand, Delhi and Mumbai. The making of our documentary has been one of the best learning experiences we have ever had. It all began way back in our First Year of our college, when we were acquainted with this event called ‘Roll.Take.Turn’ for which final year students made documentaries on current issues. Back then, it seemed almost next to impossible to imagine ourselves in a place where we would be able to contribute something on our own towards making of a documentary. Life has a funny way of working out just when you start believing it never will. Eventually as time came, everything fell in place and we knew exactly what we were supposed to do. All of us were involved into every aspect of the making of our documentary which involved writing: from correspondence with the interviewees, forming interview questionnaires to preparing the script and screenplay of the movie, to the final edit. As a team, the entire experience was challenging and very new, but we all made it.

My experience of directing, shooting and editing a documentaryFrom scripting to directing to shooting and editing, I played a very active role during the entire process. Scripting was a bit of a challenge for me compared to everything else. I had many story lines in my head but each had its challenges. Until the last minute on the edit table, we were going over the script and screenplay again and again. I was not satisfied with the set script, and we kept re-working on it to make sure the communication was straight and clear. With a topic like Surrogacy, even a slight miscommunication would lead a disaster. I was so emotionally involved after personally talking to all surrogate mothers, doctors, and other parties that it felt like a big responsibility to present a very well balanced and a correct view. I was at a stage where I just couldn’t stop thinking about it.The first rough cut of the documentary did not work at all; it wasn’t in sync and the communication was not smooth at all. While editing the second rough cut, somehow half the scenes got deleted and it was a mess. Thankfully, I had back-up, which also meant we had to re-do it all over again. It took an extra day to cut all the scenes and put it back together in place. After making multiple errors, I finally got exactly what I wanted by the third rough cut. It took me 168 hours (7 days) to finish the editing. I reached the studio by 11 am everyday and I was working on it until 2–3 in the night, and on the last day I was at the studio until 6am in the morning. Someone from the team or my friends were always there in the studio to help me out one way or another.Shooting the entire documentary was the best part. I was very clear with the shots I wanted and thankfully, I was able to get those without much of a problem. One of my friends, Karan, was helping me out with the camera work as I was also directing this documentary. The first time we were setting up, it took Karan and I around 35–40 minutes. The second time around, it took us 25–30 minutes and after that we just kept getting better and quicker with our set-up time! Apart from this, we was also able to get sponsorship of Rs 50,000/- from our fantastic speakers Dr. Jatin Shah and Amit Kharkhanis, who are also a part of our documentary.Making a documentary is hard, but teamwork is even harder. When a project becomes a big lesson, you’re thankful to have been through all of it in the end. Now, I take it all one day at a time and enjoy the journey.