Those of you that follow my photography know that I have taken a lot of basketball pictures of The Game around LA this past summer. I was fortunate enough to be on set for his “Celebration” video set to take some behind the scene’s pictures. This week I had another opportunity to join The Game on set, this time for the filming of his new single for “Ali Bomaye”. It was a 2-day shoot.
Day 1 was in a location close to Downtown LA. Filming didn’t start until close to 10pm and it was FREEZING! You could tell the majority of the people on set were from California because we were all under dressed and shivering (haha). It was great to see The Game again – he is so inspiring with his “60 days of fitness” and healthy lifestyle he’s been promoting on his social networks. As the night went on, DJ Khaled and French Montana showed up on set for cameo’s in the video. As it got closer to midnight, Rick Ross came to film his verse. This set was rather small. Less than 50 people and they were all directly related to one of the artists there. Being an artist myself, I’m always inspired to see the creative process of how other artists operate in their creative environments. All of the artists on set were really great and all got along really well. It’s always inspiring to be around people who have accomplished so much in the entertainment industry.
Day 2 was in a studio close to Compton. This day had a LOT more people on set and being in doors, it was much warmer. As the camera crew began setting up, 2 chainz arrived. It’s cool to see how tall The Game and 2 chainz are. (6’4″ and 6’5″). I am 6’0″ and I always tend to be taller than everyone – so it was refreshing to see some artists who were tall! 2 chainz was funny and light spirited. After the two of them did their verses separately and together, 2 chainz headed home. To my surprise, Chris Brown came for a cameo. I am a big fan of Chris Brown’s and have been for many years. I got to work with him over the summer at the Drew League so it was really cool to be able to take pictures of him again, but in his musical setting. After filming ended, I snapped a photo of Chris Brown and The Game together. Afterwords, I had to ask Chris for a picture. He was very polite and very friendly. Every time I’ve gotten to talk to him, he’s been nothing but great. It’s really cool being able to meet someone you really admire and find out they’re everything you hopped them to be.
I took a lot of really great photos on set. Make sure to check out the Day 1 and Day 2 albums! Click on a picture to see the entire album!
DAY 1
DAY 2
cassy athena 