The Filming of "KARMA"

Of course, it's not my first song. I've had a billion songs since I released Boomerang back in the day. But it is my first song. It's my first record, it's my first it's my first adult world serious not kids made. It is my first song, and I am so proud of it. I'm so excited about it. I'm so excited for it to be in the world's hands after two years. If you if you didn't listen to last week's podcast, go take a listen. I deep dive into the making of a song and all of that.

But today I'm going to be deep diving into the music video. So let's freaking do it. Buckle up, put your seatbelt song, because we are going into Carmel world right now. And you definitely want a seatbelt for this one. Anyways, So let's start at the very end of twenty twenty two. I talked about this a bit in my last podcast, but I made this document that had a pitch for

my label. One hundred and sixty page document every song date I wanted to come out, music video concept, what comes after it, the merch designs for it, the wardrobe for it. Like everything, right, everything from that doc has stuck to the plan, except for the dates. I mean, I originally had a schedule to come out March twenty twenty three, and it's now March twenty twenty four, and it's all starting to come out. We're April twenty twenty four. We get the DA a year later. I was just

a year early. I was a year excited anyways. But I in that doc, the very first video that I came up with, very first song that I wanted to come out was Karma. I knew I wanted that to be first. I knew the power that that song has to come out first, to come out out of the gate it is. It's a head turner. Is it our best song musically? No? Is it the biggest head turner? Absolutely. And for me, I'm all about playing my card smart and being very calculated and being very what what do

I want to get across? And for me, with Karma, it was about making a point. It wasn't about being Selein Down. I know I'm never ever going to be Selin Down. I don't I don't have the voice, you know, and I but I do have something that is a gift, that is being able to create visuals. And for me, I knew that with Karma as a song, I could create a strong visual and so honestly, I closed my eyes, played the song and I thought to myself, what can I do to this? And I knew I wanted some

sort of contradicting element. I wanted either fire and water or I wanted dark and light. I wanted something that was contradicting, and initially it was fire and water, and up until the day of the video Shoe, it was

still fire and water. The day of the video Shoe on set, I literally came up to the director and I was like, Hey, so, I don't think we need the fire anymore and he was like, we're literally filming and I was like, yeah, but no fire, It's not gonna it's gonna be too much, and he was like, okay, I mean it's your's your thing, so yep, I'm on it. Anyways, I'll get into that though. So originally my concept started as you know, I wanted to be on a yacht.

I wanted to be at a party. We didn't necessarily know if it was gonna be a yacht yet, so I said I wanted to be at a party. I wanted to be with my girl. And then I saw my girl cheating on me, and I got really angry, and so I started to to you know, develop these fire powers, right, and I set the boat to fire. We do this cool dance and then I'm like, wait, I messed up. It's not that serious, it's not that dramatic like everyone. I'm just gonna go. So then that's

when I jumped off the boat. And then I was like, wait, I messed up again. I got to get out of this water. And then I like, I come out of the water and then I'm on this beast island situation, and then it's like shit, I messed up again. So then I just set the island of fire and it's like my Carra followed me and I just set the island fire. And originally it ended with me on the island on fire, and that was that was it. It was like boat firepowers, set the boat to fire, jump off.

Then it was like island firepowers, set the island fire, and then I'm stuck there because you can only escape your karma so much. Essentially, So that was the original music video idea. And then I got to let that idea marinate for a very very long time. So all of twenty twenty three, I actually had to not listen to any of my new music because any time I listened to it, I get too excited. I get ready to fill a video and to do a performance and to sing and to dance. I get I get so

excited and so pumped up. But then I when I realized it wasn't gonna come out in twenty twenty three, I was like, Okay, I have to slow down. I can't listen to this. I can't get excited. I can't I can't be stoked just yet. But then I got the official word that Karma was greenlit by my label to come out first and to do the music video and to make it massive and to go for it.

And I said, Okay, here we go. So then I had a call with a director who's great, who I've worked with before, and it just it wasn't It wasn't necessarily the right vibe. She wasn't necessarily finding exactly the vision that I had in my head. It wasn't the level that I wanted to do. And then I finally asked her as a friend on like a sidebar. I was like, what's what's going on? I was like why because normally normally she does things massive And I was like,

what's what's going on on? What's happening? Why? Why are you holding back on me with this? Like I'm finally excited? And she revealed me. She said, because there's not really a budget. And I was like, well, what do you mean there's not really a budget because at this point I was out of the budget conversation. I didn't know that. And she said, there's not really a budget to make this vision that you have come to life. She's like, everyone loves this vision, but it's just not possible within

the budget that we were given from label. And I said, oh, I said, don't's threat about that. I was like, I've been waiting for this one I was like, I will cover this video whatever it is, like, don't like make it like let's let's let's go. Like the best thing you can do is invest in yourself. And I've been waiting years to have this moment like I I will handle whatever we need to handle. And then it's still just still wasn't clicking. And so that's when I made

a phone call to my other director friend. His name is Mark Klass, and Mark and I have done so many videos together. He is the director behind Dearie Am, Number One, You Bop Time to Celebrate World Party he did. I wanted him to do the J Team, but Nickelodeon did wouldn't let him do the J Team because he hadn't done a movie yet and they didn't want it to be his first. And I was like why, like he's freaking perfect for it, come on, and they just

they were a little hesitant. I was like, all right, fine. But then then once I literally woke up and I was like what about Mark? I was like why didn't I realize that right away? And so called Mark and I was like, look, I don't know if you're interested, I don't know if you're available, and he was like look, I'm so busy right now, but I will make it happen. And I was like, let freaking go. So that I called him, gave him my idea and I told him.

I was like, look, I was like, no matter what anyone tells you, I was like, I'm I am going to fund this. I was like, I am going to make it work. Go make your budget, whatever, whatever the team can contribute, that is a phenomenal. I will handle it other than that, you know. And so he went. He made my vision come to life, and he gave us a treatment, and he gave us a budget breakdown, and I was like, Okay, here we go, here we go. We're gonna be fine. We're gonna be great. It's gonna

be worth it. And he made this treatment based off of that video idea, and uh it was. It was essentially perfect. Now I want to cut to you so we know we know this video is happening. We have our idea, the label approves it. I approve it, like we are all so stoked, all so happy. Then it comes time to audition dancers, and we auditioned dancers and we have great boys to be in the thing. And then we have great girls to be in the thing.

Great girls come to the audition. I knew that Malia, who ends up being my girlfriend in the in the music video, I knew she was gonna be in it as the girlfriend. I was ready for that. I was comfortable with that. But then the other girl, the one in the red I we had the audition and no one else felt right at all. And so then we

were having a meeting. We were having a meeting with the war team, the hair makeup team, my mom, the director, the choreographer, Richie, we were all having a meeting together and I was like, none of those girls felt right. I was like, I just don't know, Like, let me sleep on it. My mom actually said, what about Alexis. You always said you wanted her in a music video, and I had met Alexis, she was the Season seventeen

winner of So You Think You Can Dance? And literally I told her, I said, I have songs coming out. I know I want you to be in the music video. Like I have this vision for a song that we had done and I was like, I have a vision for a video and it wasn't Karma, it was a different one. And I was like, but I want you to be in it, like I see it, I can picture it, I'm ready for it. And she said, okay,

I would love that. And so then I, uh, when this that night happened and she didn't come to the audition, and so I thought, you know, maybe she maybe she changed her mind. Maybe she's not it's just not available, like maybe it just didn't know we had that meeting. And then I got in my car and I had a text from Alexis and she was like, oh my god, I had no idea that you had an audition, Like

I didn't get it because of the height requirement. We put girls five six and taller because I'm five seven, five eight, five nine, I don't really know, and so we put five six and taller so that way that wasn't a massive heighth difference. And Alexis is like a really cute five two. I think she's really little, itty

bitty baby. She in a little pollypocket and yeah, so she was like, she was like, I didn't get the audition because of the heighth requirement, Like there's ever a world like where you do like another audition, Like I would love to come, even if like it is fight, Like I still just love to be there and be in the room like please let me know. And I was like, oh my god. We literally just had a meeting. We were talking about you, like we want you to do it, and I was like, can you come to the studio

tomorrow and we can just dance. We can just kind of feel it, see if it works, if we have chemistry, because we had never danced together, but we knew each other. And she came to the studio the next day and it was just, I mean, it was magic. I just I knew. I knew that she was the right one for it. And then ended up when I was like, if you're available, you got the job, and she was like, I will be there. So then cut to music video rehearsals.

We have this idea, we have this costumes. I knew that I want to be some sort of beasty sea creature, and then we have the beast cousin sea creatures coming out of the water. We're in the yacht, all of everything is still stuck to the plant. Right then we're in rehearsals, and God, I wish I could remember the exact moment that this happened. But somewhere along the line of the first day of rehearsals, I was like, wait, I'm saying I was a bad girl. I did some

bad things, but I'm seeing somebody else cheat. I was like, no, I am the bad guy. I have to do the bad thing. And so then it was like, okay, well, how are we gonna do this bad thing right? And then my choreographer, Richie actually came up with doing it in the choreography and kind of getting with another girl while my girl was literally in my hands, and that's when we came up with that iconic that shah Na lie,

that shaw Na cheet, that dance moment. And then you know, after that is when we went into the dance of the chorus and we decided we were like, it's it's all happening too fast, like we need a moment for it to breathe and to see what happened. And so then my videographer his name is Camer and he was there and I was like, well, give me a second, I can like freeze the song and like just like chuck it together quick on my phone and then we

can have the producer like redo it. So then I did that and I played it and then Cameron, who's a videographer. He was he's also an incredible music producer, and he was like, do you want me to just like chuck that together fast, but like better than your awkward freeze frame pause, And I was like, oh my god, please. I was like I want a heartbeat, I want a breath, and then I wanted to fill back into the music, and he was like, literally, give me ten minutes. I

got this, and I was like okay. So Cameron took the music, he gave us that extra ten seconds and we were like, oh my god, it's perfect. So then that night the director comes into rehearsals and we were like, all right, we have a full new pitch for you. It is me. That's the bad guy. It's me doing the cheating. We're still doing the firepowers, but now it actually made more sense because it was like, I'm setting this fire because I messed up, and I kind of

just want to burn the evidence. And then and it's like it kind of follows me to the island and so I want to burn the evidence again. And then we have the next day of rehearsals, all going good, all going well. I'm trying to think if there was anything like that didn't go smoothly. But honestly, everything did.

I mean, at this point, I did a crash course two weeks of like making sure my my body was in check, making sure I was eating properly, making sure that I was stretching so I wasn't gonna get tight, Like I did so much pre work for this video. But everything in the week like went so smooth, It was so put together, it was so great. And then we were on set day one, day one, and so day one we shot all of the stuff on the yacht,

so all of the white. And then day two, so we shot all of the beast stuff, all the black, and then we did the nude stuff, the pool stuff. We did all of that also on day one. We did it that night. So day one was like a seventeen hour day, and then day two was like a fifteen hour day. So we're on set and we're doing the first dance, and I told my director after that, that's when I had the conversation with him, like I

don't think we need the fire anymore. I was like, because the dance happened, we don't need me to set this to fire. To jump off, I can just like dip out, like see everybody, and then it made sense to have my karma follow me and be with me in the pool scene, and then it made sense for her to follow me to the island. It kind of ended up being that I was the bad guy, and then the girl in Red, who is played by Alexis read she is, She is my karma, she is what's

following me. She is the bad thing that I did. Then we're on set and I was like, you know what would beked up as if I at the end still made the wrong choice and I still went with the wrong girl. So then I was like, wait a second, this is all happening on set. I was like, here's the new vision. Everybody. I was like, I know, we're literally on set, but hear me and I think this is the winner. They're like what is? I was like,

the whole thing becomes a flashback. The whole thing becomes a forward, and so you know, you see me with the girls, I make the wrong choice and then I'm like deuces. But then you know, after we get to the island, Red follows me, and then it's like we go back in time and then we're back on the boat and we have this moment again where We're doing that same style of dance but to a different part of music, and it's like we are back now in real time of like what choice is she gonna make?

And I still make the wrong choice. That happened on set and that's where the story came together and everyone was like sold, we love it. It's psycho, but we love it. And I was like me too, I love it too. So I was like, all right, we gotta get Red in the pool with us. We got we gotta make this all happen, and we're like, okay, great, nailed it. So we had our first day on set. It was a great day, went smoothly. We went to the pool after we shout it at the director's pool.

It was freezing outside and my outpha that I was wearing is basically nothing. I mean, I'm essentially nothing. It's all sheer and so it's so cold. But luckily the pool was heated to like eighty five degrees, so we were chilling in that department. And then for the pool scene, that actually took a lot of preparation. So the same way that we had rehearsals for the dance part of things, I had rehearsals by myself. For the pool part of things,

I practiced how to backflop into the pool. I brought a GoPro out I filmed with a camera just at my pool figuring it out. And I really tried to figure out, like what the best way to jump backwards into the pool was. And I realized that the best way to do it and the best shot to get was just by backflopping. And I was like, Okay, here we go. We're just gonna backflop, like you'll be fine eventually, and here I am. I'm fine. Then I was like, okay, I want to get a shot where I'm singing underwater.

So then I practiced singing underwater and I realized after I did it and I filmed it, and then I watched it back just at my house a couple days before the video shoot, I was like, oh, your bubbles, like you can't see anything. You can't see anything that you're singing. So then I had to figure out how to move my mouth underwater while making it look like I'm singing well not getting that like massive bubble overflow.

So then what I figured is I had to empty my lungs go all the way to the bottom of the pool, sing the words come back up, and then also while doing that, also holding the beat of the song, so I would listen to the song above the pool, catch the beat, go under, sing for a bit, come back up, make sure I was still on beat. So then when we got to the set of the pool, did all that, but we could only do it in like forward increments because of the emptying my lungs getting

down to the pool. By the time I was down there and they gave me the green light to start, and then I had to figure out where I was at in the song. We had to do that bit coming up and down and up and down and up and down, and it was It's not easy, but it was so worth it. And that is one of the parts of the video that everyone talks about, like the singing underwater, the singing underwater where you actually underwater, and I was like, no, we literally were underwater. Got it

turned out so cool. I'm so happy with how that turned out. Then after that, we we came home, we fell asleep, and we woke up and we did it all again the next day. The next day. Day two. Day two started off awfully. I'm not gonna lie. My biggest fat peeve is hair and makeup. I hate sitting in the hair and makeup chair. Hair and makeup took five hours on day two. By hour three, I was done. I was over it. I was like, give me, like, let's go, Like I was just not having it anymore.

So to be in that chair for five hours was very tortuous. And it was just like one thing after another after another, just look out to happening. And then the girl Alexis, who was red, this is kind of a fun story. She was supposed to she was supposed to leave set. She's supposed to wrap at about four o'clock. But that was so with the order of the day. Was going to be all the dancing on the sand and then all the dancing in the water and then the actual water tank of me coming out of the

water and all that was good to go. But then I realized that the initial schedule didn't have us doing our red and blod b stance in the water, and I was like, oh, we need that, like we cannot not have that moment. And Alexis actually had a flight to catch and she was like, I planned on wrapping at four. I have a flight at eight, Like I can't. I can't stay And I was like, where do you

have to be. I was like, I will get you wherever you have to be, like we must, we must have this moment of us doing this dance in the water, like we can't not have it. And she was like okay. She was like I just have to be somewhere in the morning, another state at like nine am. And I was like, okay, I'll get you there, Like where do I gotta get you? Like I will figure it out. And she's like Phoenix, Arizona. And I was like, oh, maybe that's like a six hour car drive. I can

get you there. Even if we wrapped at three in the morning, I can get you in a car and get you there. We ended up being able to wrap her at like eight o'clock, so we got her car service. They drove her through the night. It was totally fine. But she was like we really, like we can make it work. And I was like, yes, we can make it work. Like if you're fine to make it work like that, I will make it happen. I'll pay for it, like don't even sweat. She's like okay, let's freaking do it.

And thank god we did because that dance in the water that few eight council was I mean, honestly, probably the most special part of the video, dancing in the water like that. It was about a three inch water pellett. I guess this is a good way to put it. A big, big square of water and we got to splash around we It was slippery, but like, you'll be fine,

we'll find it. I did get scared when we Alexis and I were doing our partner work in the water, because I, of course, you know, being the partner, I didn't want to affect how she does, and I of course want to be I have to be the supporting one when we're doing all that partnering work. I'm doing all the lifting and so having her life essentially in my hands. That was a lot of pressure in the water, but so sick, so worth it. Then we we wrapped up the day. We wrapped up the day in the

water tank. I got into a tank that was about three feet deep of water. It was a square, said crisscross apple sauce, And I raised myself out, lowered myself down, and raised myself out, lowered myself down. Somehow, by some miracle, my hair and makeup stage, so I guess the five hours was worth it, but ah it was. So it was the most stressful five hours literally ever, but it was worth it. And then then we called that's a rap.

And what's very strange is anytime we've done a music video and we've called that's a rap, every time, I cry every single time. I'm just so happy. I don't want to be done, i don't want to lose the day. I'm so sad, like there's so many feelings going into it. But for some reason, with Karma, they called that's rap, and I was like, yeah it is. We freaking did it, Like I felt so accomplished. I felt so satisfied. It

was so much work. It was two days of rehearsal, two days of a video shoot, and it was done. Like we did it. We got there, my vision came to life. I felt so fulfilled and so overwhelmed with excitement that a tear wasn't ever in sight, which is interesting, that's very very rare thing for me. But then I mean the editing process of we've had forty two different versions. That's dramatic. We've had like thirteen, thirteen or fourteen different

versions editing it. It's kind of funny. I have all my reaction videos because I was like, when we get the one, like I wanted to, like, I want to have my reaction on camera, and so my first reaction, like initially, I mean, I'm stoked, like the video is everything I ever wanted it to be, Like it turned out so great. I'm so happy, but like, here's all the changes. But I was so happy. But then after that, I mean, for takes two through twelve, I'm just like, no,

still didn't get it. Still didn't get it, Still don't get it. Then finally my last like the last time that I like, the first time that I watched the final version of the video, I was like, Okay, finally we got it. Like I wasn't stoked at all. I was so proud and so happy, but I was like, finally, it's about time. Like I I wish I had a more exciting reaction because the way that I feel when I watched the video is like that's my baby coming to life. That is everything I've ever wanted to do.

That is every bit of art that I ever wanted to create. And I think one of the things I'm most proud about with karma and the visual behind it is how much I actually did for it. You know, I'm a co director on it. I produced it, I financed it. I helped with hair and makeup. I did. Alexis the Beast, I did her makeup I did. I helped Richie with the choreography. I help with the wardrobe. I help on set. I help with the light. I mean, I help with the effects. I help with all of it,

even down to the thumbnail of the music video. The thumbnail I made myself on Photoshop, and I put those photos together and I cut them out. And there's a lot of people that could do that job. But it is something that I love doing and I pride myself in doing, and so I think that's one of the things I'm most excited about. One things that I'm not gonna lie I'm scared about is Okay, I guess scared is the wrong word, because I'm not scared. I'm interested

in is the world's reaction. You Know, when I posted the warning, the world how to reaction. When I posted the teasers, the world how to reaction. When I posted the song, the world had to reaction. So now when I share this video, what does the world's reaction look like. And that is something that I don't know yet and I won't know until it happens. But no matter what, I'm already onto the next project, already starting the next piece of art. And I kind of say, this version

of me is like a chef's course dinner. You know, you're not going to Outback or Applebee's, where you know what you get in and you know you're gonna like it. You go into a chef's table where you're going in to a Michelin Star restaurant, so you can't change anything. But like most people are into it, and if you're

not into it, you still talk about it. And so that's kind of how I like to explain this new version of me, this new chapter of my life is it is unrestrained, and it is a chef's course freaking dinner. We're also just getting started. You know, my goal is to create art. I can never ever ever say that enough. I'm not not trying to create the national anthem and the song of the world. I'm trying to art, and I'm trying to create visuals that makes people's heads turn

and make people go, oh shit, she did that. That is my goal with this music, with this project, and I uh, I'm very excited for it. I'm very proud of it, very ready for it. Gosh, I've been waiting waiting two legit years, but I mean I have been waiting. I have been waiting since since Miley Cyrus said this

with Bangers. I mean, I remember going to the Bankers too when I was eight years old, and I remember wanting to be that, and now here I am twenty years old, which is around how old she was when she did Bangers, and people people are saying, you're trying to do Ami Cyrus. No shit, of course I am. That's everything I've always wanted to be. And yes, I will never ever be Miley Cyrus ever, but one percent

I am doing like I am. I'm one hundred percent, one hundred percent looking at what she did and taking inspiration. I would never ever deny that because that's literally what's happening anyways. I feel like that is pretty much my karma music video Deep Dive. I mean, it was a long, long four days, but it was the best four days of my life. The project did turn out exactly how I wanted to. From my changes from twenty to twenty two, the end of the year to literally the day of

the music video shoot. Every little detail kept changing, but man didn't end up exactly the way that I wanted it to. I'm so proud, I'm so ready, I'm so excited. I'm so thrilled for the world to get to see it and for the world to get to judge it. Like, be my guest, have fun with it. If it gives you a highlight of your day, let it be that. I'm I'm totally cool with that. Ah troops, I love y'all. I got lots more good podcasts coming your way. We're gonna do a couple more deep doves on Karma for

this week. I am doing so many things for the release of Karma, and so I want to do a podcast where I kind of, you know, bring you in and let you know everything now kind of went on in this week and all the ins and the outs. There's a lot happening. We're just getting freaking started. And I just want to say that I appreciate you. I hope you appreciate yourself. I hope you are proud of yourself. I hope you wake up every day and are like, you know what, I am me, and that's freaking baller

because it is noise. Remember, no matter what Karma say, they're really good, but Karma's a bitch either way. Though, I love you and I appreciate you do this. Thank you so much for listening, everybody. Be sure to follow us on Instagram and TikTok at Jojesua Now podcast. Be sure to write us a review and maybe if you're feeling to leave us five stars, I'll see you next week.