An "Easter Fit" For Any Season BTS of Young Booke feat Future

The music video world is a fast paced vacillating industry that can keep you booked nonstop or sporadically. This production story will focus on the former of my initial point, and how I ended up in Miami, Florida in Little Haiti camera assisting on a music video featuring Future.

Luck is a misleading word to me, and the general consensus of the word implies that it takes no effort on the beneficiaries part on the reward received from said luck. I like to lean towards the unconventional approach to the word "luck" in which luck is only preparation and opportunity presenting themselves simultaneously. The branch of the film family tree that I am fortunate to be apart of granted me the access to the opportunity of getting flown out to Miami and have the responsibility of being Assistant Camera for Jeremy Bell (Director of Photography) and Azae Williams (Director).

The luck comes in because I am a jack of a few trades when it comes to production work but I am still mastering photography so with that I've learned and still learning the tools of being an Assistant Camera to Camera Operators. JB's 1st and 2nd string AC's were currently booked so the 3rd string "ME" was able to get an opportunity to complete the play.

I have to be openly transparent about this opportunity, I was SUPER nervous about all the responsibility that was on my shoulders. But the enduring thing was my mentor and DP trusted and believed I could accomplish the task at hand. So we prepped for this trip from Atlanta to Miami, so this includes personals as well as camera equipment. Getting through an airport with over a $100,000 worth of gear is not an easy task, but doable nonetheless.

We arrived to Miami and were welcomed to a very plush AirBnB which is always a plus and the process of game planning for the day's events began. There were several locations with a variety of talent and a gang of entourage included, but the game face was on. Pulling up to the first location which looked to be a "trap house" but it did have inhabitants who were gracious enough to let the production use their home to stage a scene.

So as the 1st AC on a production I am tasked with the responsibility of making sure the camera is operational with all the various components needed for a successful shoot. That typically starts with me finding a location to stage my gear for building and breaking down for when we wrap. Understanding the landscape/environment we will be shooting in, will this be an exterior shoot or interior shoot or a mixture of both. Once that information is gathered I can start building out the camera. On this shoot, JB the DP brought his ARRI Alexa Mini LF package with Rokinon Xeen series lenses. So I start to assemble this build, complete with Teradek Transmitter to send a video signal to the monitors that are used for me to pull focus as the cam op shoots and so that the director has an image to view as he directs talent. The camera build also comes equipped with the motors that I use to pull the focus and control the iris on the lens.

After a successful build and multiple scenes shot in the initial location we have a company move to the next location where talent #2 arrives, Future. Being on set was a sight to seek, not because of his fame or notoriety, but due to the amount of attention the man draws to himself. The set instantly became a little chaotic with ALL the BTS content creators and avid fans fought their way through to get a glimpse of Mr. Freebands. We pushed forward nonetheless, the song's artist Yung Booke was a very animated performer which works best for music videos and he delivered. His song mate on the other hand, SMH!

This was pure entertainment as we shot Future's scenes, the man was struggling to remember the bars that he laid for his song mate. It was understandable though, if you have a million and one songs with multiple people across the country will you really remember all the bars you laid down? Probably not! ;-D This experience overall was great, we even had a rainbow appearance giving us good luck as we handled our business in the Florida sun. Below is the BTS from the trip down to Miami as well as the finished video from Yung Booke feat Future "Easter Fit"

Thanks for Reading Have a Great Day and Beautiful Year