“Out in the Parking Lot” by Guy Clark- The Making of the Music Video

For a music video project assigned to us in my Digital Cinematography class, I partnered with Omar. Honestly, this was one of the best experiences I’ve had working on a film project at University of Houston. I believe a good part of that had to do with how well Omar and I worked together. We both had second thoughts about whether we’d be ready to shoot on  the day we had scheduled even though we had a shot list already crafted. Ultimately, we chose to stick to the plan and persist.

For film projects in the past, I had second guessed myself and changed production dates and locations. I learned my lesson from those projects. Of course some things are out of your control when it comes to film production, but I find the option that has the least resistance, is usually the option to go with. We had been planning to shoot at this bar that Omar knew about for weeks. The owner was incredibly generous with allowing us to use his parking lot. On the day of, we wondered if we should shoot at The Nook instead since we feared our original location may be too far for people. We chose to stick to our original location because not only was the scenery better, but we knew that if we were to change something as crucial as location on the day of, our cast and crew would lose trust in us. This experience taught me a lot because by the end of the night, I could genuinely say I had a good time and everyone on set felt the same way. Structure and sticking to the original plan builds trust among your team.

During the shoot, there were sprinkles of rain every now and then. There was a fear that we wouldn’t be able to get every shot we needed to get. The universe must’ve been on our side that night because we never had to stop shooting due to the rain. Our team was incredibly helpful and down for the ride. Mya held the umbrella over Omar and I as we operated the camera. We never even had to ask her to. She just wanted to do whatever she could to make sure we finished our project. For that, I am very grateful to her. I am glad that I got to return the favor by being a part of her project as well. Minh, Alan Nguyen, and Lawson were invaluable on our project as well. There were other invaluable crew and cast but that list would be toolong. They know who they are and I want to thank them as well! Filmmaking is a wonderful career because it forces you to find a community of people who are willing to be down for the ride. Seeing the same people show upto support you on every project is heartwarming because it shows you that they care about your success and that you can depend on them.

Overall, I’d say I learned a lot from this project. When you’re a creative, you can’t be passive about who you team up with on projects. If there’s someone you want to work with, go out and ask them if they want to work with you. After all, I wouldn’t have been able to make this project if I had not asked Omar if he wanted to partner with me. The crazy thing is, weeks after we had partnered up, he told me that I was one of the people he wanted to work with in this class. I never would have guessed it. Shooting you shot doesn’t just apply to romance, ladies and gentlemen.