Mastery Journal
Before shooting my final project, I was nervous because we had a crew of only 4 people (myself, Aerial, LaMont, and Jamal). I was very unsure of how it would turn out with us doing all the work. However, once we started shooting, I realized we didn’t need a big crew because shooting a music video didn’t require as many people on the crew than a short film.
We shot at an apartment and on the sound stage. As far as setting up having the sets ready, I believe we did a great job. We set up the apartment with lights the day before we were shooting, so were able to get in, get the shots we needed, and get out early. Co-directing was a new experience for me. That’s one thing I wish I was more prepared to do on set. We didn’t discuss what our roles would be as co-directors. Because of this, we sometimes found ourselves trying to make decisions on set, even though we should’ve already had those answers before shooting. Other than not being fully prepared to be co-directors, I feel that we worked well together and got the music video done in an efficient manner.
The music video more than exceeded my expectations. I didn’t imagine it looking as great as it does. I had high hopes, but it turned out better than I’d hoped. I’m definitely proud of the music video and I’m proud of Aerial and I for getting this project done.
Working as the writer, producer, script supervisor, and 1st AD on LaMont’s film “Hired” was a totally different experience than shooting the music video. It’s a huge difference to be a script supervisor rather than the Director. I wasn’t in charge of the vision of the film, I mainly took the script supervisor notes and kept us on schedule. I feel that film went really well as well. Although we started late on the first day, we still made up the time and finished early that day.
All in all, I feel that the 3 final projects I worked on were amazing projects that I learned a lot from. I’ll take this knowledge into future projects.
Armani's Mastery Journal 