KOLOA — Although Project Greenlight finalist Jesse Cudworth didn’t win the video competition, he hasn’t given up on his dreams. The Kauai filmmaker hopes his latest video, “Crime of Passion,” inspires other filmmakers to follow their own creative journey as
KOLOA — Although Project Greenlight finalist Jesse Cudworth didn’t win the video competition, he hasn’t given up on his dreams.
The Kauai filmmaker hopes his latest video, “Crime of Passion,” inspires other filmmakers to follow their own creative journey as well.
“I think film, I guess, is one of the most important things in culture. It has been since it came about,” Cudworth said. “It doesn’t matter if you have fancy gear and thousands of dollars. Everybody’s got a killer video recorder on their phone.”
Cudworth has created independent films since he received his first camera at the age of five. He has always believed in the importance of film and although he was disappointed about not winning PG, he continued to work on his passion and released his latest music video for the Kauai band, “Applesauce,” on Sunday.
“I really wanted to test myself on this one and I guess it worked,” he said.
When Cudworth’s friend and Applesauce band member Christopher Jackson White-Root invited him to listen to the band play a year ago, Cudworth knew he had to create a music video for the group.
He asked his friends Jorge Miramontes and Kellie Hatto to be a part of the experience in addition to his aunt and uncle Bonnie and Steve Bojorquez.
After two months of planning, five days of shooting and another two months of editing, Cudworth and his group finished the music video.
“It felt amazing,” Cudworth said. “We were just all blown away by it.”
A $1,200 project, Crime of Passion showcases Applesauce in a black and white setting as they play their instruments of bongo drums, guitars and a piano with smiles on their faces in a white house. Cudworth used a variety of editing techniques such as closeups of the musicians faces and hands as faces as they jam through their song.
“There’s really something special about the way film can affect someone,” he said. “It’s always been a really, really enlightening way to teach people about things.”
Cudworth has submitted his video to the Hawaii International Film Festival.
“The main thing I say all the time is you don’t need all that stuff, if you’re good at story telling, that’s what’s important,” Cudworth said.
