Director Notes: Papi Chino ❌ Amethyst Keanna ❌ J Arsenal - Bubalu
I found Papi Chino through a website and he needed to hire a videographer last minute. I took on the job and the shoot was within a few days. Lucky for me, there weren’t any need for pre-production, though, I wish I had a bit more time to discuss and figure out the shot list. Papi Chino found a really cool location in midtown Manhattan. I didn’t scout it earlier so I didn’t know how dark the location would be but I did find photos online.
During the shoot things really kicked off. I first did the takes of Amethyst. She’s a really talented singer. I found that after the first two takes she settled in and started to loosen up. It’s best to let the artist do what they love and that’s why I believe she didn’t need much directing. Next came Papi Chino and J Arsenal. I had trouble trying to make them feel comfortable but with the quick cuts in the video I felt it covered some of the awkward moments. It was clear they weren’t the typical “rap persona.” I had to figure out ways to get their performances. I believe I fell short in this aspect. As a director, your job is to figure out which buttons to push and how to push them so the talent could adjust to it. But I only had three hours at the location so I needed to just move on. I decided that I got the performances that’s needed, they’re not the best but they’re good enough. Additionally, I wish I had a larger budget to rent stronger lights and better camera gear. The low light capabilities really show in the footage but I managed to fix it through the use of Neat Video.
During the edit, I had trouble finding clean takes and cutaways to insert into the clips. This was because of the short timeline when I was hired. Also, it would’ve been great to extend the budget for a photographer. This is important so the client could use as a thumbnail but instead they used one of my photos that I took with my camera. The camera weren’t great but it’ll do.
At the end of the day, the video turned out great! So far it accumulated almost 2,000 views for Papi Chino and it seemed like majority enjoyed the song/video. I’d consider it a success even though there were some short comings. What I realized in this project is that even though I didn’t have any crew, an extremely low budget, and an extremely short timeline, I was still able to produce a professional looking product. Below are some behind the scenes shots and the completed video. I hope you like it.
