YDA winner Onda talks Precision

How did you get into directing?

Growing up, I was a sports kid with mainstream movie tastes, and with my family recently immigrated from Cuba and Peru, I had no exposure to filmmaking. I picked up a camera after watching Mandy directed by Panos Cosmatos and Ex Machina from Alex Garland and decided that I wanted to make people feel something through images. 

In 2019, I bought my first video camera and made a boxing recap video, which was terrible but ignited my passion for filmmaking. It wasn’t until I moved to LA and got into USC’s film program that I started seriously pursuing directing. During the pandemic, I honed my editing and VFX skills and a chance encounter with The Rock's videographer led to gigs with Westbrook Entertainment Company and eventually working for Will Smith, Sean Combs and Kanye. 

What was the inspiration behind the Big Sean - Precision music video?

The inspiration for the music video really stemmed from the idea of exploring what's real and what's not. We wanted to create a visual experience that reflects the energy and vibe mentioned in the lyrics, playing with the concept of perception and reality. For example, we used a green screen to create these unexpected moments behind doors, what you see isn’t always what you get.

what you see isn’t always what you get.

The colour palette was also a key element, with each hue representing different energies and moods throughout the video. We loosely connected these to the scenes: blue symbolises introspection, red signifies passion or intensity, green plays into the surreal elements with the green screen, and yellow captures that daytime, hopeful vibe at the end.

The graphics and visuals also tie back to the album's theme, with elements like the ‘what’s the best that can happen’ message and the target symbol, bringing the album’s ideas to life.

How long was the shoot and what was the most challenging aspect of the project?

The first day was a 16 hour day and then another 10 hour pickup day. The most challenging part was the creative journey from start to finish. I can have some pretty outlandish ideas usually and scaling them back and parting ways with ideas sometimes hurts.

What have you learned during the process of making the music video?

I  had a rough idea of how to approach everything, but I learned how to implement all the things I’ve learned through my own research. This was my second time shooting with a green screen, and I was able to improve on what I did in the last video by trying new techniques. 

For the NERF sequences, my DP, Iain Trimble, was instrumental in helping me figure it out. The paper sequence was a first for me, and I leaned on the graphics team, who did an amazing job printing and executing the visuals. Working with big names like Kanye showed me how important it is to treat celebrities like regular people to get the best performances out of them. Overall, the biggest lesson was to trust my gut, decisions happen so fast on set, and I've learned to go with what feels right in the moment rather than overthinking things.

ABOVE: BTS photos of the shoot.

What was it like working with Big Sean?

Working with Big Sean was an incredible experience. He’s so down-to-earth and really committed to the process, willing to stay and put in the work, even if it meant doing an extra take or two. Sean was involved in the creative process, sharing his thoughts on the storyline and making sure we included important themes like positivity and meditation. 

He was genuinely nice and open to trying new things. What stood out to me was how he’d stay on set with the crew, hanging out and talking instead of retreating to his dressing room between takes. There was no diva behavioUr, he was completely game for whatever the shoot required.