Journal Entry 007: Fast Car
/11-6-2023
12:24PM
New York City, NY
It’s a special thing when it feels like your work is a part of something much bigger than yourself. Usually, my work process is very internal and private - sitting alone with ideas until, eventually, the time comes to share them with collaborators and the rest of the world. It’s a pretty selfish pursuit: telling my own stories with the secondary hope that maybe anyone who gives it their time can relate or project their own meaning onto it. Impact beyond my own personal fulfillment is something that’s hard to fathom.
With Kwudi’s “Fast Car” Music Video, I couldn’t feel any more opposite and honored to play a part of bringing a friend’s story and art to the visual realm. Every part of the process from pre-production, production, post-production, and release has been so rewarding on a soul/core level. A village of passionate and loyal friends working towards sharing something meaningful.
JT Clemente, Ace Scott, Kwudi, and Eric Nguyen on the “Fast Car” Music Video Set - by Jasmyn Bagonghasa
Kwudi and I first met backstage at The Hollywood Bowl and Red Rocks way back in October of 2019 when Rhetorik snuck me onto Logic’s tour bus (What a crazy sentence). For a wide-eyed and recently-dropped-out JT, these were some of the first REAL moments of exposure to a life in the entertainment industry that would come to consume me through the following years. An understandably intimidating atmosphere at my dream venues and in my first tour bus bunk, I was ushered and accepted into the world by the most welcoming squad of artists and friends whom I’d already admired deeply - Kwudi being one of those people.
We remained friends mostly via the internet through the next few years, with a few brief hellos at rehearsals and events scattered here and there. Nothing but extreme positivity and contagious energy every time.
Logic, Kajo, Kwudi, rhetorik, and Tomo Miličević onstage at red rocks on the “confessions of a dangerous Mind Tour” - 2019, by JT Clemente
Fast forward to earlier this year when Ace, Kwudi’s manager (and another close friend of mine whom I also met in my early days as a director in 2018), gave me a call to field the idea for the “Fast Car” Music Video.
At that point, I was still at a place where I was rejecting every music/film project that came my way after a rough experience in the field (which is a story for a different time), but this one was different. Immediately, yes.
Ace and Kwudi already had an entire concept and treatment put together, which was a new experience for me as a director. A simple, yet poignant, piece: Black and white. Clean imagery. A man and a wrecked car. The world’s first look into Kwudi’s life and art since his motorcycle accident a year prior.
It was important that the visuals not be too much as to distract from the music, and equally important that the imagery be profound and intentional with every frame. I storyboarded this one down to the millisecond before we even approached the shoot. The final edit is almost identical to what was initially planned.
Finding the perfect pacing and framing to reveal more information about the story and reflect the lyrics at the right times was paramount. I’m particularly proud of this brief sequence where it almost feels like a shot-reverse conversation between Kwudi and the wrecked car:
Through the few months of its creation, every step of this project was an absolute team effort and labor of love. Pushing a wrecked car into place was probably the best and most tiring team-building exercise we could’ve asked for before our shoot day even started. It ended up setting our production over an hour behind schedule.
Our initial pre-production meetings with Kwudi and Ace were spent establishing the visual tone of the project: A raw, yet triumphant, outlook on the reality of the situation while avoiding a Disney-esque “Everything’s gonna be just fine!” perspective.
Eric Nguyen our DP, and Chancee Phensuk our Gaffer, worked closely to help shape the scenes and lighting to capture that feeling. Especially in the opening moments inside the car, I’m still way too impressed with how they bent the light and finessed our angles to accentuate Kwudi’s performance. Kwudi absolutely nailed every take, I don’t think I even had to give him a single note throughout the day.
Also - a huge shoutout to Ace, who’d never produced a music video before but could’ve fooled me with the amount of planning and preparation he did. He made execution of it all on production day such a breeze.
I couldn’t thank Kwudi and Ace enough for trusting me to be a part of something so important and personal. It’s an honor to call you friends and collaborators. Seeing the support and love on Kwudi’s side upon this song’s release has been the most reassuring and inspiring thing. People recognize a good person making something from the heart, and that couldn’t be a more magnetic and kinetic energy to want to be around. I hope to embody even a fraction of the integrity and passion that you breathe into everything you do.
A quick thanks to everyone involved:
The OG: Tracy Chapman
Mixing: Bobby Campbell
Mastering: Simon Lancelot
Guitar: Corey Sanchez
Directed and edited by JT Clemente
Creative Direction, Producer: Ace Scott
Addtl Photography & More: Chris Sgroi
Director of Photography, Color: Eric Nguyen
Gaffer: Chancee Phensuk
HMUA: Ashley Francisco
Wardrobe: Akintunde Ahmad
Behind the Scenes Photography: Jasmyn Bagonghasa
And finally, please show Kwudi and Fast Car some love! Give the video a watch, but there’s also an entire EXTENDED version of the track that goes absolutely insane (both linked right here).
Some quick extras:
I had the pleasure of being at Creator Camp while the video premiered, and shared the occasion with everyone there. Such a special moment. (Damn, I’ll have to share some stories about my time here soon too).
Some love for the Fast Car Music Video from Rainn Wilson and Logic, along with shoutouts on LIVE RADIO
Catch you soon,
JT
