NARRATIVE
director, writer, director of photography, editor
Chinatown was my very first music video, and also Chow Mane's. We shot it during the Lunar New Year festival in San Francisco's Chinatown, making it one of the busiest and most festive times of the year for that neighborhood. The video celebrates the symbiosis of Asian and American culture by givings a nod to Hong Kong-style action movies, while combining it with modern trap culture. Chinatown is a lighthearted dedication to the generations of Asians in America, each decade bringing its own influences to American mainstream culture, while incorporating an American identity.
gaffer
When the director approached me with the challenge of lighting this film only with cheap lamps from Home Depot, I thought it would be a fun test of creative limits. This was a passion fashion film, the creative energy was high and the budget was low. But our tremendously talented team was able to make the most of what little we had and turn it into a dreamy vintage fashion film – and the cinematography was hardly jeopardized by the budget.