B-RAGE PRODUCTIONS started as a DJ with mismatched equipment and a cardboard box of records. My turntables were made of plastic and rubber belt drives. The mixer was a scratched-up Radio Shack Realistic with missing slider caps. That box holding my records? That was a produce box I found at a Publix Supermarket dumpster. But when I went up against vanilla ices with a pair of Technics 1200s and Numark mixer bought by their daddies, I wiped them up off the ground.
Growing up with nothing gave me a perspective most go to college to learn only to be held back with reprogramming. College is great for those wanting to be lawyers, doctors, and accountants, but not Creatives. Music, Visuals, Art, all belong street-level where energy, grit, and grind live. Those are our teachers.
THE ARSENAL…
Building something out of nothing is by far one of the finest aphrodisiacs known to man. I admit to trying my hand at carpentry once, which was fulfilling; however, the moment I found myself atop a 3-story scaffold, it was over before it ever got started. Then out of necessity, I found myself in front of a computer creating a website; learning as I went along. Being led by the vision I had for it. Before I knew it, I was creating using a medium utilized by more logical minds than creative. I learned HTML, CSS, and JavaScript; all the languages necessary to bring uniformity, color and movement to websites. But like anything else, I couldn’t just stay in that pond; I needed to expand into oceans by learning how to build databases, applications, systems, and engines. Voice & Data Networks was a cakewalk.
Watching movement play out the way I did on dance floors when I was a working DJ was always something I needed to capture and elevate. However, it wasn’t the right time for that extravagance. I needed to get food on the table and DJing wasn’t enough, but the creative coding I developed did more for me than DJing ever could. DJs are a dime a dozen in an industry that’s as oversaturated as livestreaming. However, when the time came, I got busy building again. Everything’s about strategy and timing; all you need is a little patience and lots of perseverance.
Movement needs to be captured as well as documented, but as much importance as there needs to be in the vision, execution can’t be ignored, and for that, quality needs to be placed on its pedestal. Anyone who says camera quality isn’t important is delusional. Everything starts with the camera, and not just any camera, the right camera for what you’re shooting. For me, it all revolves around low-light entertainment, and there are only a few cameras for that, and even less that double as a hybrid. I chose Canon for its color science and the R6 Mark II for its unparallelled hybrid and low-light capabilities. When it comes to glass, there are only two I need and they are the RF 24-70mm L and the RF 70-200mm L. When it comes to movement, there’s nothing better than the DJI RS4 Pro Gimbal to ensure smoothness.
Lighting is a whole other beast, beginning with flashes, cobs, soft-boxes, beauty dishes, and lanterns. Bending light is a tricky but valuable commodity. The depth, texture, and shadows lighting brings to the table is immense when it comes to elevating.
The best part about what I do is having a place I can bring it all together at. That’s at my family business, Atlas Travel Event Management.
This is my diary; my journal… This is where I lay all my thoughts and feelings in written, photographic, and videographic formats. Music, Coding, Photography, Videography, Cinematography, Post-Production, Building… These are the things I think about including my new ambition in broadcasting.
Enjoy.