Interview and Article by YaSin Abdul-Musawwir, Assistant Editor
Clemons is a second-year Tallahassee Community College student from Tallahassee, Florida.
Her hope is attend F.S.U’s prestigious Film School in the fall.
Clemons is the president of the Film Society at T.C.C. to Clemons cinema is art.
“Art is creativity. Creating something that expresses who you are and how you want to present yourself. Cinema factors into this because I can create the impossible and express who I am through film.”
However, growing up Clemons never thought of herself as artistic.
“I don’t really know what I considered myself growing up. I was just a kid trying to figure out my way through life.”
Clemons admits that despite her love of film:
“I don’t have a favorite filmmaker, kind of crazy to say since my major is film.”
The films that had the most impact on Clemons growing up were “Kill Bill Vol 1”, “Avatar” and “Mean Girls.”
Representation in cinema important to Clemons.
“But of course, all these movies had mostly white people in them. I couldn’t really relate to any of the characters. As a black female, seeing how those movies are so white-washed, it makes you want to actually do something in the film industry, you know? Have more people of color as main characters, instead of background characters. Do more films regarding interesting points in black history.”
She has her own goals for her dream career.
“I hope to start my own production company so that women and men of color can see themselves more often through film and photography.”
Clemons has her own YouTube channel. She records and edits her own footage. Last semester she wrote and directed her own short film.
She said she hopes to improve her filmmaking process significantly.
“I’m an amateur when it comes to all of this but I really want to improve my writing skills because screenwriting is so hard. It’s something I’ve never had to deal with before and I like the challenge even though it can be frustrating. Once I have screenwriting down, I can do better in the filmmaking process.”
The art of editing is what Clemons is most drawn towards in film.
“Editing is what inspired me to have an interest in film. I love editing my own videos, and when I figured out that you can do this for movies, I was pretty excited about it. Editing is what I first knew how to do before all the camera work stuff actually.”
The rigor and challenge of the editing process drives Clemons forward. She thrives on it.
“My ultimate goal is to get better at editing films, and to improve my knowledge on directing, cinematography, screenwriting, camera work, etc. I want to improve in all the aspects of film. Not just one thing. I find it all pretty frustrating but interesting as well.”
