Filmmaking

<h1>Rebirth as a writer</h1>
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<p>It’s been a minute since I actually thought of my own future. The use of tools that God has given me. Coming to understand that growth is connected to who I am. </p>
<p>Whom I am in Christ will bring assurance to what I am dealt with. The growth of my character is a question and development for God to mold. </p>
<p>The wilderness as an artist comes with affliction that produces a story to tell for many souls to be fed. But first it’s the experience of the wilderness that bring forth a living testimony. </p>
<p>I can be honest, most of my writing won’t come from here but the prayers and thoughts I have towards God to help bring soul to His Kingdom before time is out. </p>
<p>This is just a preface of where I am going. May the stories that I write be acceptable in your sight Jesus! In Jesus name! </p>

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Art in the Wilderness  — @undefined's mag on Magma

Error 2022 “Thoughts Out Loud”  — @undefined's mag on Magma

<p>You’re your own inspiration. As you continue to mold your craft, it’s good to look back on what you completed or didn’t complete so you can embed new ideas into your now. </p>

<p>The reason why many artists get discouraged or second guess themselves is not because they don’t have anything to tell or give but because they compare who they are to someone else journey. </p>

<h1>Breathe</h1>
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<p>There’s always an opportunity to enjoy who you are as an artist. Don’t steal that from yourself by thinking someone else is better than you. No one was born knowing how to mold their craft. Enjoy your seasons and live within the moment. Love your craft because without it, it has no meaning. Never stop growing and no matter what path you choose in life, never stop being curious. </p>

“Moving Forward” by Jasmyne Renee  — @undefined's mag on Magma

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  <h2>“Frenemies” was written and directed by Corey Glass. After receiving the script of the story, it was molded to be better from beginning to end. In the beginning there was a scene that we were going to use as voice overs to show the relationship between the homeboy and the girlfriend. However we didn’t feel that should’ve been initiated to the storyline. Starting the film off with her calling her boyfriend was more than enough to show her irritation towards him. Which will lead to why she is so irritated. </h2>
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<h1>Location </h1>
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  <h2>Choosing the location wasn’t hard at all. I knew I wanted a place with a lot of natural light coming inside. Natural light tends to help me not to use any lighting equipment. Filming something by yourself can be challenging but you enjoy the moment because it helps you be very creative on set without opinions. </h2>
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  <h2>I don’t try to think about everything that I would need on set gear wise. My whole objective on set is to make everything look natural to what our eyes can see without the extra. </h2>
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  <h1>No extra equipment needed </h1>
  <h2>One good reason why I love a house with the right lighting and lots of windows is because I don’t have to worry about setting up lighting equipment. Using the right lens can also help with that. It was never written that any scene was suppose to be filmed at night. Due to season changing, it started to get darker early than usual. So we had to think of a way for the story to make sense, in which it did. We created a time elapse. </h2>
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  <h2>Good lighting and lens kept the scenes smooth</h2>
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<h1>Be creative in the present </h1>
<h2>The time elapse created a change on set, it was no longer everything has to be daylight. So I initially decided when the homeboy leave in the beginning that we create that time elapse there. That would bring us to night time of just the boyfriend and girlfriend having their time alone without the homeboy. Which could create some type of intimacy between the two. </h2>

<h1>Create in the now</h1>
<h2>Before the time elapse was even thought of, we recently filmed the ending in broad daylight a day before the house scene. There was no intentions on filming any night scenes. The beginning and ending was suppose to be broad daylight. </h2>

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  <h2>Ending better than before</h2>
  <h2>As I stated before, the ending was suppose to be daylight. While on set, we walked a couple of streets over to find a nice corner with street light to light the character. Once again, I desired a natural look to what our eyes could see. We found a few alleys which were restricted but eventually found a corner with a street light. The night scene looked way better than the day scene. From the streaks coming from the car, to the corner standing that we didn’t have at first. Not only that, I suggested to add the female laying in bed calling the homeboy while he was talking to the boyfriend. The bedroom idea wasn’t written, but I wanted to use every part of the house if possible. So it blended right in with the story instead of showing her calling him with her name popping up. </h2>
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  <h2>There was a light mounted on the corner of bed. We turned it on and let the scene be. </h2>
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<h1>Be the Team</h1>
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  <h2>One interesting thing I know is that I can be a whole team behind the camera. I’m good at capturing sound but not so good at editing sound. Which is okay to not be so perfect along the journey. I capture good audio making sure everything is dead silence and on my close up shots. Thankfully my cinema camera allows me to adjust audio settings with the channels. However, dealing with just 3 actors in an empty scene was grand. </h2>
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<p>“The beauty of creating is actually being there in the moment to create” </p>

“Frenemies” 
Written by Corey Glass
Cinematographer by Jasmyne Renee — @undefined's mag on Magma

<p>Coming into the knowledge of being a cinematographer was never in my plans. However, God always showed me how my gift can multiply and make room for me. I am a writer before anything. I believe there are so much we encounter as we grow. Some things are hard to discuss so with a pen and paper being there, it’s easily to pour your heart out.</p>

<p>I’ve always been the type to express on paper. Sharing a piece of words that somebody may relate to is also sharing a blessing. I always stand firm that my craft and who I am cannot be compared to another artist. We are all unique in our own way and how we express the way we feel, what we experience, and what we learn sharing through the arts has nothing to do with who story is better. It’s good to know that someone is listening whether it’s local or global. </p>

<p>When it comes to mistakes, it’s a question of what exactly is a mistake when it comes to art? We grow within our craft in a way of how to deliver the message. As I was growing in cinematography I was starving my writing for a period of time. When I was starving my writing, I questioned my gift once more. Because I believe who I am as a cinematographer reflect who I am as a writer. The only way for me to get back to my writing with God was to put down distractions that I was picking up. I had to put my phone on airplane mode, and go ghost like I felt once before. Keyword “felt”. </p>

<h1>3 in 1</h1>
<p>A wise cinematographer once told me on set, if you’re a good cinematographer you’ll make a good director. That’s 3 gifts in 1. </p>
<p>As a black female director/cinematographer, I don’t feel a burden within this industry. I don’t feel like I’m obligated to do certain things or tell certain stories to be in the mix. I believe in every story of a film, there’s something to be learned even if it’s cartoons. You have to make that something stand out that represents or tell some part of you on the inside. </p>
<p>Barry Jenkins once said “if you make something that everyone can relate to, you have something that no one can relate to.” </p>
<p>I had to continue to repeat that to understand what he was saying until I understood the depth of it. It wasn’t just a quote, it was advice to be yourself in a unique way. </p>

“Written Before Action” — @undefined's mag on Magma

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<p>When it comes to frames in cinematography, we tend to collect still moments from a moving picture. The moments that are collected are moments we present to the audience to bring interest in the story. Somewhere within that moment between the actor and the camera, a strong emotion was captured. </p>

<p>Environment </p>
<p>Frames don’t always include a person but indeed the environment. Set design is considered the reflection of the story and a character personality. Whenever a cinematographer capture the look in the environment, it is shared to also bring out interest in the story. </p>

Evolving in art.  — @undefined's mag on Magma

<h1>Digital Content</h1>
<h1>I always believe that a person craft should challenge the mind. It’s very common to have a caption when posting on social media. Whether you’re explaining what you have posted. Expressing how you feel on a post. Or just finding tons of photos to dump to share with others. </h1>

<h2>“No caption | Just capping” became one of my captions at some point. I’m a silent sharer. When I create, I let my heart and mind speak instead of words. There are times I post with something to elaborate on or I just don’t have anything to say because what I have posted says enough. </h2>

<h2>Let your mind be inspired by someone else’s craft. Let it challenge what the person was feeling, why you think they captured it at a certain angle &amp; why did they choose the colors. That’s the only way to appreciate art, in silence with our minds. </h2>

<h1>As a cinematographer, we are always so focused on keeping the shot in focus. I learned how much blurry stories can tell some interesting parts in a story. I’m beginning to use them more in a creative way. </h1>