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Goal: Content Creation | Documentary | Photography
Package: Simple Starter Kit
Location ⚘ Year: Brooklyn, NY. 2023
This project was a simple one. A half-day solo shoot where I show up on location, converse with the interviewee, film, take photos, then create content and a short documentary.
Unfortunately the client wasn't available to talk much prior to shooting so story boarding was difficult. This meant I had to be flexible with the story in-post.
After viewing the footage I get the chance to rewrite the story in places that need it. This happens whenever the interviewee says something unexpected and noteworthy.
Tried a lot of 120fps. There was also some new camera settings that backfired which made me try some new techniques with lighting, shutter speed, and ISO.
This was a fun one with an interesting subject, being from a border town, crossing it constantly for school, and leaving to attend one of the best music schools in the world. She’d then end up in New York with a blossoming singing career. What a story!
We barely got to speak leading up to the day of the shoot! Planning was rough… I had a story I knew I could tell but had to be ready to improvise since I did not know exactly how she would respond to my questions in the interview process.
Research
I knew two important things about her background – she’s not from the US and she just graduated from Berklee College of Music, one of the greatest music schools in the world. The goal was to find out how she got to that point and the type of person that journey made her, as well as what led to her music career along the way.
Born in Tijuana, Mexico. Mainly lived with grandparents while parents worked. Attended school in California, crossing the boarder daily, until she graduated high school. Studied in Cuba before heading off to Berklee and graduating in 2022. Now working as a singer, producer, and teacher in Brooklyn, NY.
Wants to make positive music in her native language that eases the minds of her listeners. She’s challenging the big city as a bilingual singer.
The mission here was to dive deep into her past and really understand how she became the person she is today. I focused on three areas.
Life in Tijuana
Deciding to pursue music
Her end goal with her music
Friendly | Bilingual | Traveler
Age: 24
Occupation: Singer | Producer | Teacher
From: Tijuana, Mexico
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Tier: Mid-level
Establishing yourself as an artist in NY requires a lot of hard work. It’s expensive to live here so working a day job is a must and music takes up all her free time.
Make a living as a singer.
It was clear that there was something pushing her to work harder than most. At such a young age she has already accomplished so much – winning awards and graduating from Berklee. I had to find out what motivated her.
Motivation is an action based in emotion. She was shy, so to get her to share the emotional side of her story that she was keeping tucked away I had to get her as comfortable as possible with speaking with me.
After we had our initial conversations and turned the cameras on the plan was to ask as few questions as possible and let her speak as if she was talking to a longtime friend. But things don’t always go smoothly with a plan like this.
Pros
Cons
Pre-Production
She has a past that most in the US don’t know anything about. What from her past has led her to thinking the way she does today? We want to highlight her work ethic, innocence, and intensity.
Work Ethic
Innocence
Intensity
Honesty
The Journey
Purpose
Nostalgic & inspirational.
Each step she made in her journey has the opportunity to teach but it all depends on how the story is told in-post. I need to keep everything authentic. Some interviews get chopped up and reorganized in the editing process, not this one.
Location
Interview Gear
Photography Gear
Lighting Gear
Execution
This was the second tightest location I’ve shot in. After moving some furniture we had a 10×12 space to work with – just enough space to lay out two cameras but didn’t leave many options in terms of angles and distance from the subject.
The best part about the situation is that I was prepared with a some Sony FE 50mm f/1.8 lenses. The depth of field these provide are amazing.
This was more like listening to a podcast then editing it into a digestible story but that’s nothing new when pre-production research doesn’t go according to plan.
This was the first time I incorporated 120fps shots into my work. It was perfect for this client though. Made it all majestic like.
Once the edit was completed and exported it’s time to repurpose it into a vertical format for reels and shorts on Instagram and other platforms. I use the Captions app on my phone for to add the captions.
The covers for the reels as well as the post featuring quotes from the artist were done on Canva.
Lastly, the video was released on Youtube and by the company Hear That Music.
Overall, this was a smooth shoot and release. Both the client and I were busy shooting other projects during the editing process so that didn’t move as quickly (mostly my fault), otherwise it was no problem.
There was a positive reaction from her community! This was the first time she was documented in such a way which made sharing it a special moment.
The posts are also shared on the account of HearThatMusic.com.
It’s about getting impressions from non-followers and turning them into followers.
What I did well
Improvising. When it comes down to it I’m still confident I’ll execute. I showed up with very little knowledge of the individual but made her feel comfortable enough to tell me her story.
What I would do differently
Like I said, I need to connect with the individual more prior to shooting. I also had trouble with my camera settings during the photography portion of the shoot which ruined the focus on some pictures. Need to have those setting dialed in before shoots as well.