It was a cold evening in the middle of November when I first linked with the Culture of Creativity. We met up in Suhaly's dorm which was right by Washington Square Park, as she was finishing up her scholarly pursuit at NYU. Soon she escorted me upstairs to her space, where CJ and Rog were waiting. As Kanye's newly leaked album was being played upon entrance, nothing but good conversation followed.
Boom, the interview was wrapped and ready to be edited. I soon began the aforementioned process of slicing and dicing, where I was nearly finished when somehow I lost the original footage (due to some computer storage issues at the time). It was quite a letdown. All that work - gone. Demolished. I regrettably informed the crew of the bad news and they agreed to re-shoot at some point in the future. CJ was about to go on tour with the musician Ne-Yo, so we said maybe in a month or two. Little did we know that we wouldn't meet again until six months later.
This brings us to the end of last month, on the twenty-fifth of May, when we finally found a common point in our schedules to meet. Once again, we were right by Washington Square Park. Although this time, we were no longer in Suhaly's dorm (since she graduated already) - but instead on a bench about a block away from the park. All went great and I am very thankful that they were all willing to take the time out of their schedules and be kind enough to not only re-shoot, but once again give enthusiastic answers filled with words of wisdom.
Random Facts:
-The first time we shot, the interview was originally going to be a two-parter. And while they were each asked individual questions that time too, the whole frame and visual of both videos were of the group as a whole. As you can see by the new videos posted this week, I decided to take a different approach this time because I really wanted to show how special they each are not only as a group, but also as individuals.
-The second time we shot, Suhaly was running on a tight schedule so we shot the group video first and then individual parts after (with her going first). The first time, this order had been vice versa.
-Also because of Suhaly's shortage of time, I ended up not getting an individual shot of her (although I could've sworn I did). Therefore, the shot that you see in the film strip of her is actually an edited screenshot.
-CJ still does not know that I'm a Notre Dame fan. Notice how he proudly wore his University of Michigan gear both times. With the knowledge of me being in favor of said team, not sure if he would've agreed to do the interview again. Just kidding. Maybe.
-Some of the Richard Avedon images that were inserted into Rog's video, were actually saved from the edit of the initial video since he had talked about him as an inspiration that time as well (and rightfully so, I hope you all saw those photos).
-One of my favorite quotes from the lost footage that I think will always stick with me, was that when I asked about the future they said, "We're taking C8 to the moon." Well, I think they're on the way.
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