I'm Alive

I'm moving ahead into my third semester at USC's School of Cinematic Arts this upcoming August. Finishing up my first year was quite an experience. For anyone who reads the blog and has questions on the subject feel free to contact me. 

Along with finishing my first two semesters, the music video I co-produced, DP'd, and edited, "I'm Alive," is available to watch!

The project started with musician, Matt Kabus. Justin Wood, a fellow Alabama alumni, directed. We started the production a year ago during the summer of 2012 in Atlanta. Matt watched one of my earlier demo reels, and devised an eclectic vision to accompany his song. Of course, production led to major revisions in comparison to Justin and Matt's original plan, but the finished product is phenomenal.

I want to direct, but I've realized cinematography has become a mainstay passion culpable to my penchant for stories. Honestly, isn't cinematography just visual storytelling when defined? 

I've received some amazing news on current projects I'll reveal as the summer moves forward, but I'd also like to share the story of a USC Alum whose realized the dream I'm pursuing. Ryan Coogler, Director of Sundance winner, Fruitvale, has been tearing up the festival circuit (and tear ducts) with his telling of the last few hours of Oscar Grant, an Oakland, CA native shot by the police in 2009.

I won't focus on the movie, it speaks for itself.  I'll focus on Coogler, a man who achieved a dream. This director found a story that resonated with his sensibilities, and brought a swath of raw emotion and talent seldom seen. I appreciate his story for one particular reason. He didn't grow up in films. He did not plan to become a director. When his life veered upon this course, he made sure to utilize his opportunities to the fullest. 

No individual's path to finality is identical. No one's success a mirror image. Still, his story gives me hopes that everyone retains the possibility to achieve. 

Superstar Revisited

Nearly a year ago I worked on a project known as Superstar. The music video is finished, and I couldn't be happier with the results.

You can click HERE to read my previous post highlighting the production and my work as Director of Photography. Gifted, the songwriter/singer has worked with artists such as Ne-Yo, Jagged Edge, and Bei Major. He's also performed beside Miguel, Brian McKnight, and Marques Houston. In summation, he's got talent.

This production pushed my knowledge to its full extent, but the experience helped me understand the importance of lighting. Soul, aesthetic, and opinion do not pervade the depths of a camera. It should not dictate the experience. A strong cinematographer does not rely purely on the strength of the camera. They intertwine a mixture of movement, lighting, and placement to capture the director's vision. A cinematographer is a visual storyteller. The camera is his workspace, but light is his foremost tool.

Check out the behind the scenes video to learn more about the cast and crew of the music video too.

Tear It Up

Hard work does not guarantee success, but success does not come without hard work. 

It's been a busy month for me. I'm currently working as Director of Photography on a movie known as Doobie Sampson, I finished my role as DP for The Gifted Music video a few weeks ago, and I just finished shooting a music video as DP for singer, Matt Kabus. I've never been one to rest. I won't be starting anytime soon.

I have been shooting a large amount of music videos, but I haven't been sharing them as frequently as I should. One of my most recent videos was for rap duo, Controversy and Big D. I shot this a few months ago, but never got around to sharing it.  

Controversy and Big D hail from Alabama and currently attend UA. Controversy came in with me during the Fall of 2008. It's been a long time since freshmen year. I would've never begun to imagine I'd shoot a music video for one of the better known rappers around campus.

One of the other reasons I'd like to share this is due to the progression I can see in myself. I'm proud of the work I did on Tear It Up, but I'm proud to say my skills have exponentially risen after shooting the upcoming music videos for Gifted and Matt Kabus.

You can find Controversy and Big D on twitter. You can also find the music video for Tear It Up on youtube.

Superstar

Mission accomplished once again everyone. 

"Gifted Johnson"-Photo courtesy of Sumerlin Photography

I recently finished working as Director of Photography on the music video for R&B artist, Gifted. The guy is an eccentric fuse of positive energy, catchy lyrics, and superb beats. Gifted's songs emanate experience. He has a lengthy songwriting credits, the most notable being Ne-Yo, Jagged Edge, and Bei Maejor. Point being, he understands how to make a hit.

Gifted has performed on staged with Miguel, Brian McKnight, and Marques Houston so his experience within the music industry is extensive and rich with stories of high-profile meetings and hobnobbing with the famous. He has been around the block. After writing and performing for those who have gained notoriety, he wants to build a cult of personality all his own.

The song is called, Superstar. Produced by Bei Maejor, the song retains a flirtatious, and upbeat spirit. It sounds like a song you would constantly turn up when you're listening to the radio. This is where the music video comes in.

Friend and colleague, Micah Russell, pitched the idea. He wanted a music video with influences from a notable amount of current artists including:

Kanye West

Miguel

Fitz and The Tantrums

Usher

Micah's treatment (a write-up of a creative idea for a music video) revealed an interest in mixing various eye-catching colors during performances of the song within a studio (Miguel, Fitz and The Tantrums, and Kanye) while interlacing narrative style imagery from outside locations and clubs (Usher). It became my job to create an atmosphere worthy of each of these scenes.

The first thing I began working on was lighting plans (a floor plan detailing the movement of talent and where lights will be placed to illuminate them) for the entire music video.

These lighting plans encompassed the entirety of the shoot for each day. I set up floor plans for various scenes such as within a club or studio style lighting.

Photo courtesy of Sumerlin Photography

The experience was amazing. Now that my job is done, I'm looking forward to seeing what the editor brings together. Until then, check out this Behind The Scenes video highlighting me as well as my director and other individuals who made the project come together.

I Gotta Hustle

Now that Homecoming is over life has gone back to relative normality. I have far more time to work on projects I'm not obligated towards. At the moment I'm working on a music video for Alabama rapper, Drama. I've come into contact with some very talented artists because of my work with North Greene records.

I usually shy away from doing music videos. This doesn't mean I'm not interested in the industry, but many of the artists that approach me usually have very sub-par music. Anyone that knows me understands I'll turn down money if a project doesn't interest me. In this case, if your music isn't well done I'll pass.

Drama and Trent surprised me. When I listened certain tracks I felt as if I were listening to something on the radio. From there I've been working with both. I'm focusing on Drama's video at the moment, but I'll more than likely work with Trent soon. Still, I have done some photography work for him.

You can find Trent on Twitter. To check out more of Trent's work click here. I recommend "I Gotta Hustle." To see more of our work together go to Flickr. Also, Que The Lights is now on Twitter. Be sure to follow us!

I Can't Give You, What I Don't Got!

A while back I got the chance to work with native Birmingham group, Dat2.
Dat2 is a hip-hop collective consisting of Thad Weller, Mario Leonard, Dave Johnson, and Squeeze (you wish you had a nickname that awesome). Their sound is fast-paced blend of hip-hop, rock, and soul. What really made them stand out in my opinion, was there use of live band in their recordings in comparison to most music that works strictly on synthesizers and pre-recorded beats.

Their frontman, Thed, has quite the personality which becomes quite evident as you work with him. I could describe him, but I'd rather let the footage do the job.


I Don't Got from Micah Russell on Vimeo.
Music Video

Artist: Dat2
Song: "I Don't Got"
Album: "Live From Malcolm's Reading Room"

Director: Micah Russell
Director of Photography: Xavier Burgin
Camera Operator/Assistant Director: Alex Newberry

This the first time I've worked on a video project where I wasn't the head of it. This is also the first time I've been with a team that had far more experience than I did. Director,Micah Russell, is a TCF senior whose body of work speaks for itself. You can check out some of his work here. Camera Operator, Alex Newberry, is another TCF senior at the University of Alabama whose work precedes herself. Check it out here.

I  learned a substantial amount about working with individuals who are more experienced than me. You must be willing to realize there will always be individuals who are more knowledgeable in your area of expertise. You must choose whether this is a positive situation or an adversarial one. Are you going to learn from them or resent them. As far I'm concerned college is not the place to have an elitist attitude on any subject.

Micah ended up not only being the director, but the post-production editor for the video. I ended up working on two specific parts of the production. I took the main character out to the majority of the locations before filming and photographed him in action to give Micah a feel of where we could shoot the ongoing action.

The actual story in the video differs, but the feel of the video becomes apparent from the pictures we took before we went into production. Overall, the experience gave me a good lesson on the necessity of pre-planning, story-boarding, and just having a good general (visual) idea of what you want to do.

I'm planning my next short film now so all of this will come into play.

To check out the video plus other work I've done click HERE