Video: Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon — "Cali Cab"

A quick note on the creating process.

Sometimes, art can be messy. The way you intend things to go doesn't always happen — mistakes, happenstance and a bit of deus ex machina can get in the way.

And when plans go awry, you have three options:

1. Delete everything and never try again.

2. Release it as is.

3. Smile. Give it another shot.

My first inclination was to take route No. 2 for this project. I wanted to get the video out fast, and despite its flaws, I still enjoyed it. Still do. It was meant to be a continuation of the musicians series I began with my first-ever time picking up a camera in 2013, and was filmed in conjunction with a photo pack for my friends at Death to the Stock Photo.

My buddy and creative partner Matthew Addington now lives in Atlanta. We still toss around creative ideas and share projects, so I sent him the first draft to see what he thought.

In not so uncertain terms, he recommended a re-shoot.

"You know what's wrong with it, so why not fix it?"

Touche.

I knew next to nothing about recording audio (shameful, given the number of years I've been playing guitar), and now I know slightly more. The Zoom H4N I was using has an awful preamp hiss when you boost the recording level all the way. Lesson learned.

As for the over exposure ... I'll be honest: it didn't bother me all that much. The most important component of my work is the "human element," and that part felt locked in for me. But I took his advice and scheduled a time with Jeremiah to re-do.

Ok, so here's the original: 

First Draft

We liked how it turned out, but in addition to my previously mentioned technical errors, Jeremiah was not thrilled about his mispronouncing the same latin phrase I used above. (In the heat of filming, I thought it was tongue-in-cheek intentional.)

For the second go-round. I hung a blanket from my backdrop stand to dampen the natural reverb and changed my audio capture set up, going in direct from the guitar and putting the mic up close, while also using the built-in H4N mics to capture the room tone.

All was going well, except I had a CF card issue — my camera display looked like a broken Atari game after a couple minutes of recording — about five takes in a row. Tried a few things, and finally got a solid take at the very last moment before Lloyd had to leave for a choir performance.

The final version is different, still imperfect, but I'm much happier with the end results. If you like what you see and hear or know a friend who would, feel free to share.

Enjoy.

—@MARCELOASHERQ

If you dig my content aesthetic/intention and would like to invest in your own personal project or business, click here to hire me. 

For more on Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon and his music, read the story about our first collaboration.