When we step into a subculture, we have to step in expecting anything. I chose film making as my subculture because I find finished products amazing, but I never understood the quality of creating one. When I met up with Jose to observe him filming for his new skit, I did not expect to be there for so long. His new skit was taking place on the train, he was working on a second part to a parody he had created a couple of months prior. We met at Fulton Street inside the train station, together with two other camera men, and another two comedians. After everyone met, they decided to film the skit on the J train since it would be an empty cart as Fulton is the first stop on the J train. Jose showed up half dressed for his skit wearing a cowboy outfit. The last piece of his outfit was a horse, which he put on right before walking toward the train. Jose set up the camera, so that it would be easy to carry once we boarded the train. He had a stick with a ball figure attached to the camera to ensure clear rotation of the camera, especially since the train moving would cause some issues in clarity.

We boarded the train, Joselito and his crew set up in the middle of the last cart. They began about an hour after scheduled time because they were waiting for one last person. They did not have a microphone because he had previously recorded a song for the parody the night before; therefore, the recording was only for visual purposes. However, they did have a Beats Pill to play the song that he recorded so that he and the other actor could lip sing the song. The first parody was to a Kanye West remix, for this parody, the song was a Billy Ray Cyrus remix. The first complication I noticed was, the other actor did not recite his part in the song, nor did he memorize the lyrics. When the boys started rolling the camera, it took Jose a couple of takes to get into the song and actually match his mouth with the lyrics. After Jose actually was able to grasp the lyrics on beat, he recorded his part three times before moving onto the next part of the song. The next part of the song was for the other actor. The second actor did not seem to serious about the shoot which caused Jose to record at least fifteen takes of just his first two lines. The guys were going to switch to another train, but they decided to stay on the J train instead. We were on the J train all the way until the last stop before Jose even got half way through the second actor’s part in the song. Jose had to constantly repeat himself, and I noticed him growing irritated. Jose asked the other two camera men to help with the filming but they didn’t seem to want to help.

I looked around the train as people were boarding, some of them grew upset that the crew was taking up the whole middle of the cart to film. People looked confused until they saw Jose’s outfit, which caused some to laugh. At some point, they had to stop recording because there were too many people on the train. Filming continued after about thirty five minutes when the cart emptied out. On the way back uptown, Jose was able to finish the second actors part. Filming the second actor’s part took about forty takes in total. Jose’s goal is always to capture three takes of a perfect lip singinging attached to the song he had recorded. After Jose finished recording the lip singing part, one of the cameraman decided to help Jose, and just capture Jose and the other actor dancing, and jumping on the train seats. Jose galloped across the cart with his horse attached to him. The second actor had a miniature guitar to make the scene look as western and funny as possible. They took a couple of takes of Jose and the other actor walking into the train, and galloping across the train station.

I left the moment we reached Fulton Street again. It was already 11pm, and I was drained. The guys finished their recording for a couple more stops going towards Brooklyn again. The next morning, Jose posted a preview of his skit on Instagram and quoted, “If I can get 1,000 likes, I will post the video tonight.” Sure enough he reached the 1,000 likes, he posted part of the video on his page, and he posted the link the the full YouTube video on his bio. I saw the finishing product and then I understood why he took so many takes of each line for the song, and for each scene. His parody was a music video, and ideally music videos never stay focused on a scene for longer than three to five seconds before switching the screen to a different scene. Moreover, although they were switching from scene to scene, the lip singing still managed to match the song. It must have taken Jose a lot of time and focus to edit his different takes.

My biggest takeaway from this observation is that entering the filming subculture, you need to have a lot of patience. The second actor hadn’t recited his lyrics beforehand, which is why it took so long for him to finish recording his parts. Jose literally repeated himself at least thirty times. Another take away from this experience was that props are very important when it comes to filming, as well as planning. Jose has to thoroughly think about everything he wants in the video he is filming so he has time to find them. Part of the reason they started an hour later than the scheduled time is because he was going from store to store looking for a specific candy bar that was part of his lyrics for the song. Timing is very important in the film subculture, it is easy to set a time frame for work, but it is also very easy to fall behind. I know Jose films because he wants to be a professional actor, his skits are just a way for him to put himself out there and to building a liable portfolio for people to see him as an influential figure in the filming industry. Lastly I want to say that it is also important to have a team who shares the same aspirations or goals, and that they enjoy what they do as much as Jose does; this is a perfect way to ensure the best quality work.

Going forward, I would like to see Jose working with people who are as enthusiastic and serious about the work he does. The content of this skit I observed was great, but I am sure with more enthusiastic people, Jose’s skit would have been stronger. The goal for Joselito when he creates his skits is to gain the most views possible while pushing for more viewers to follow him on Instagram and subscribe to his YouTube channel. In general, filming for up and coming actors is a gamble to play on social media especially. The goal for filmmakers is always to gain as much views and followers as they can, in order to gain this, they must create content that people actually care to see. Whether the content is funny, serious, touching, or even factual, the goal remains the same. For this observation I did not get to see the green screen work that happens behind the scenes, but it did teach me to appreciate the work that directors and producers publish after repetitive takes.