A Film Created By Plan Bs

There is so much about this film that came about as a result of things not quite working out, but what I love about it, is that it allowed me to be more open and fluid.

First off, Cassius was not the original person I had in mind. When I was thinking about doing this film (which I had been for months), one of my friends was supposed to be in it. He and I talked about it numerous times actually, and I kept pushing back to accommodate his schedule, but obviously, it never panned out.

I found Cassius on Instagram after searching through some folks I follow... that big black hole of social media we fall into actually came in handy. Lol.

When I reached out to him, he was so enthusiastic, and what I appreciate most about him throughout this process was his willingness.

Just to be clear, I did not know this man prior to this film. And given the current climate of this ghetto ass world, working so closely with strangers could be a major turn off for many. Needless to say, I was happy and relieved that he agreed.

Okay, so I secured my leading man, which was great, but the one main issue that I had to work around was making the film feel intimate even though we were strangers.

Originally, because I was going to be working with my friend, I had intentions of getting shots that were more personal in nature, but with Tae, I didn’t feel comfortable with that. The day we met to shoot was the first time we’d even laid eyes on each other and I didn’t want to force him or myself to try to create a comfort that wasn’t there.

In the 5-6 hours we were together, we may have touched once, and it was a high five (which I meant to put in the film).

So sufficed to say, I had to work with the tone and relationship we created, rather than the one intended, which I still think feels close.

So the shoot was successfully done and it was time to edit. Then I found out that I’d mistakenly shot in 720p (which is lower quality than HD) at 60fps (the frame rate for slow-mo) !!! Aggghhhh!!!

No worries though. My original plan was to do a lo-fi look on the footage and, BONUS, I also was able to letterbox (make the picture square like the old TV shows) the film without having to create the black bars on the side, so in actuality, the mistake saved me time.

Having shot in 60fps also helped me, because I had more flexibility with the length of shots.

Now the audio...I initially had no intention of using a rap verse as the foundation for the film. The main audio component was supposed to be a “conversation”. We had the conversation at the end of the shoot, but to be honest, I knew almost immediately, that I wasn’t going to use it. I also knew the rap verse would end up being the anchor. It just made more sense.

I say all this to say, sometimes, what we plan is not what will be, and that can be a good thing. Not only was I able to create a film I’m proud of by being flexible and embracing mistakes, I could still create the original idea if I wanted to, which I’m considering...

I think I covered everything, so no need for lessons learned and things.

Thanks for reading.