Journal Entry 006: After You Go
/7-28-2023
12:15 AM
Los Angeles, CA
Making the things I like with the people I love. My personal mantra and true north recently.
Towards the start of this year, I'd essentially taken an indefinite hiatus from filmmaking - super low, uninspired, insecure. The works. I was legitimately searching for off-grid cabins in the Italian Alps that I could buy and disappear to in exchange for selling my filmmaking gear.
During that time, in an active effort of recovery; I spent a lot of time with friends, music, therapy, and the outdoors. No cameras. No social media. Doing everything solely for me.
The idea of stepping back into the film/music world made me too angry/sad/anxious, so I distanced myself from all of it as much as I could. I had some tour savings stashed away, so I politely passed on every project that came my way... That was until a group thread with two of my best friends presented itself:
For some context, I moved back to LA just over one year ago. There was this intense pull to pursue community and work on things for me. Two of the first true friends I made in the city upon touching back down were Caro Knapp and Ellie Williams. They're some of my favorite people in the world and my biggest inspirations in the midst of pursuing all of this big dream nonsense.
So long story short - of course I'm gonna work with them.
Ellie sent us the song and I put together a video treatment almost immediately. In the previous four months, I could hardly whip out my phone camera without absolutely hating the action of taking a picture; so this sudden inspiration and motivation to create was very welcome. Her music never fails to play out as movies in my head whenever I listen.
A few pages from the initial "After You Go" video treatment.
A few pages from the initial "After You Go" video treatment.
Caro and I had recently spent an evening driving through Zion National Park screaming lyrics to the soundtrack of one of our favorite childhood movies - Bridge to Terabithia. With that fresh in my mind, the imagery and overall aesthetic of that movie felt like the perfect starting point for us to pursue our second project as co-directors together.
Some frames from "After You Go" - The Music Video
Some frames from "After You Go" - The Music Video
Upon building out the actual look for the video, Eric Nguyen (our DP and colorist) and Chancee Phensuk (our Gaffer) absolutely executed. I really wanted the apartment scenes to feel like the memories in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and they did everything in their power to bring that to life through lighting, lenses, etc. Contrasty and cool tones in the “present day” scenes, vivid and warm feel for the “flashback” scenes. Their ability to adapt to the free-flowing nature of our tiny shoot and deliver on such an exceptional level is something that refines a film set from stressful to exciting.
A big moment of clarity came on a recent camping trip in Big Sur. We were walking along the coast when I took off my polarized/brown-tinted sunglasses and gave them to Eric. “These are the colors I want in Ellie’s video.”
(I’ve kept the same pair of shades for over five years because they give me the perfect tones to look at nature with)
Big Sur inspiration photos by Eric Nguyen (featuring myself, Caro Knapp, Chancee Phensuk, and Giovana Trujilo)
Big Sur inspiration photos by Eric Nguyen (featuring myself, Caro Knapp, Chancee Phensuk, and Giovana Trujilo)
Energy on-set reminded me why I love filmmaking so damn much. Our producers, Sahil Rustami and Liya Yang, made sure everything was in-line, on-pace, and all smiles throughout the entire day. (Oh yeah, we only had one day to shoot this entire thing.) Their planning and execution from pre-production through production can’t be appreciated enough.
I’ve talked about this before, but I’m pretty sacred about who I share my space with as a director on passion projects like this. Usually, adding new chefs in the kitchen is a recipe for frustration and disagreement. Not worth it. One of my other favorite directors, Samuel McIntosh, is someone whom I trust to share that space with. Outside of him, the only other person I’d wholeheartedly jump into a project alongside is Caro Knapp. Her input is invaluable and our workflow on set feels nothing but natural. She’ll often provide direction or notes for our production that I’m thinking about giving, before I even say them aloud… And even more, ideas I flat out haven’t even thought of. It’s an unspoken, shared, reassuring focus towards a goal that I’m grateful to have in a collaborator and friend. We make some dope shit.
Behind-the-scenes photography of production day by Jasmyn Bagonghasa
Behind-the-scenes photography of production day by Jasmyn Bagonghasa
It’s a weird thing, returning to a world that only a few months prior I'd grown to resent. The entertainment industry will chew you up and spit you out, entice you to compromise your values, and force you to sacrifice more of your life than you’d ever like to admit; but somewhere along the line, the right people and circumstances will find their way to you as a reminder of why you do it.
Thank you to Ellie Williams for being one of the most kind and thoughtful friends I’ve got. Your music treads that perfect line of intimate vulnerability and intense relatability that had me all-in from the moment I heard you at that small showcase a few years back. Trusting us to be a part of your art means so much, and giving us all the space to make things with each other is an opportunity that I never take for granted. I never feel more at home than when I’m with great people making great things.
To the amazing people and artists that made this video possible:
Directed and Edited by JT Clemente & Caro Knapp
Producers: Sahil Rustami, Liya Yang
Director of Photography & Colorist: Eric Nguyen
1st AC: Makaeo Cons-Scala
Gaffer: Chancee Phensuk
Production Design: Sahil Rustami
BTS Photography/Grip: Jasmyn Bagonghasa Production Assistant: Tristan Obedos
Cast: Ellie Williams, Abbey Martichenko, Ava Bunn, Evan Sheldon
To be transparent - I’m so over talking about myself and explaining the art and what it may mean and trying to convince others that it may be good - hell, I don’t even know if it’s good. (Also just found out calling my work "art" is a little pretentious? Damn. Don’t care, still doing it.) Big burnout earlier this year led me to really value privacy and keeping moments for myself. Not commodifying memories for the sake of impressing strangers online or earning internet points. I really do enjoy sharing the creative process like this, still. Behind-the-scenes insight is what got me into filmmaking in the first place. I still enjoy a veil of ambiguity around it all, though.
Damn, I actually sound pretentious now. I’ll wrap it up.
On a very serious note: Thank you for making the things I work on a part of your life; even if only for a few minutes. Thank you for supporting me, my friends, and the things we create. I regularly feel like stepping away and buying that cabin in the woods, but the allure of getting to do THIS always proves to be just a bit more powerful. More on the way.
JT
As always, here’s the accompanying playlist. These are all of the songs that helped me process and get out of my big slump through the first half of this year. Probably my favorite one yet. I’ve still got it on repeat.
WAIT. Here’s the actual video that this Journal Entry is about (if you haven’t already watched it.)