Your favorite artist just dropped a new video, and social media has caught wind. You’re encapsulated in every detail: from the choreography to the outfits to the overall theme. However, there’s someone behind all of those camera angles whose job it is to pay even closer attention to the details.
Meet Jalani Riley, a cinematographer born and raised in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, whose journey started behind a much smaller lens than the ones he often finds himself behind these days.
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“When I was growing up, especially after high school, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I just went to Full Sail to study music because I thought music was cool.”
While these days Jalani’s day-to-day work might involve a music video set or two, his role now includes controlling the look and feel of the projects he works on. This includes lighting, camera angles, the look of the film, and even location scouting and prepping sets.
Jalani’s journey to film began in 2009 when he was gifted with a DSLR camera while studying at Full Sail University, starting with photography. Soon after, a spark for videography came from witnessing how others were innovating the same kind of camera he had in his possession.
“Around that time, these guys called Motion Family were shooting music videos with DSLR cameras. They were some of the first guys to use those cameras to do that.”
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A love of hip hop combined with inspiration delved from seeing the new possibilities of videography motivated Jalani to start researching. He spent time on Youtube, reading books, and using any resource he could find to learn as much as he could about videography and cameras. Soon, a chance to shoot behind-the-scenes footage on a music video set brought him to a realization that changed everything.
“It was the T-Pain (ft.) B.o.B, “Up Down” video. That was my first time being on a set, and that was it for me. I knew this is what I wanted to do and that I somehow have to make it to this point.”
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His journey since then has been all about exposure, observing others in his field, and taking in everything that he can. And while it’s been a road filled with loads of experience, it hasn’t come without its share of mistakes and challenges.
“At one point, I was sleeping on a friend’s uncle’s couch and ended up moving back home for a year. I was shooting videos for politicians and charging them more so that I could save up for this RED Camera.”
Back in Atlanta with a RED digital cinema camera in his possession, Jalani told anyone who might be interested about his new equipment. It landed him his first major job: shooting Rich Homie Quan’s “Flex” single cover. That experience opened the floodgates: a gig as head of the camera department with Resolve Media Group based in Atlanta and a running list of video projects long enough to have a hard time remembering.
“From there I did my first movie and I was not ready for it,” Jalani shared while reflecting on his first assistant camera (AC) person role.
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“Your job is to make sure the camera’s up and running and keep everything in focus. On my first day on the set, we were running around with our heads cut off. Fast forward six hours into that day, and a producer walks up to me and lets me know that no one hit record. I didn’t know it was my job to hit record. I thought this is it. This is where I go back to St. Croix. There’s no way I’m being hired again.”
Luckily for him, an experience he coined as the end was only the beginning. Within a few years, music video sets became film sets, and the “assistant camera person” title became “director of photography” when he least expected it.
“I remember sitting on my couch mad, venting to my mother on the phone about how tired I was of being a 1st AC. As I hung up the phone, [my boss] calls and asks if I’d like to shoot the rest of the movie we’re working on as DP (director of photography.) When I walked on set, someone walks up to me and asks, “so what do you want to do, boss?” and I was like, “well, shit!”
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In response to whether he believes everyone should “start at the bottom,” he makes a point of the level of experience someone is able to build up by learning every detail of what goes into filmmaking.
“In the position that I’m in now, when I walk on set and someone tells me “this can’t be done,” I know that I’ve done it before. Just having the knowledge, knowing how things should be done and what the process is like from beginning to the end of a film helps me to be creative and get the job done more efficiently.”
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When it comes to challenges, Jalani notes that from Zoom meetings to location scouting, to shooting in the sweltering heat or freezing cold, there isn’t a single aspect of his work that he doesn’t look forward to (even while describing a film experience that involved rain, mud, heavy cameras and more.)
That excitement comes to the forefront in recapping his recent work with St. Thomas born rapper, 5’2, whose newly released music video for her “Heavy” remix featuring PNDRN was filmed entirely by Jalani. He shares that an unpainted set caused major delays that almost changed the outcome of the video; luckily, he came out of it with a project that has already racked up over 10,000 views on Youtube.
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So what’s next for Jalani?
While he acknowledges how much he’s learned and mastered in his journey, he recognizes how much more he wants to do. This includes dreams of using the Virgin Islands as a film location and someday writing and directing his own films.
“I just want to do movies for the rest of my life. I want to create, build these worlds, do fun shit. I enjoy it so much that I don’t see myself doing anything else.”
Dope person. Amazing story.