Words by Sarah Ontiveros

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I don’t think it can be argued that cinema encompasses a number of creative facets. In its totality it is a joining of mediums: video, the written word, music, hand-drawn art, digital art, costume design, sound design, set design, the list goes on and there’s a reason there are awards for many of them. Some people truly excel in their medium(s) and more often than not, artists (used broadly) in the world of motion picture, wield many tools and acquire many skills amongst these many mediums. You hear it all the time in independent filmmaking, “we wear many hats” or as Walt Whitman would say, “we contain multitudes.” This is surely true for filmmaker and creative director, Rena C. Johnson in NYC, having written, directed, edited, and designed for a dozen of musicians and artists and notably, herself. 

I stumbled across Rena’s work for musician Jazzie Young on Instagram, naturally. A few years aged from its release but still speaking to the nostalgic style of film on film that seems to have made quite a resurgence. One look at her portfolio and it was obvious why I was immediately intrigued. Rena has worked on a number of projects for standout artists like Sufjan Stevens, Mitski, and Sharon Van Etten to name a few. For these projects, Rena conceptualized and created visualizers alongside artfully designed song lyrics. What’s impressive about these videos are the immense detail put into the rendering of images and collages used to create the mood for each song, Johnson even contributes her own 8mm footage for Sufjan Stevens, interlacing them between his own archival photos and footage. Each visualizer crafts a specific vision for each artist and their musical tone, or dare we say, vibe. 

When she’s not editing dynamic visuals for music, she’s also set dressing for the Indiana Pacers and their throw-back uniform video series, bringing the 70s, 80s, and 90s to life once again and in perfect precision. Or, she’s directing break-out artist Jensen McRae in her sorrowful and sweet, “Savannah” music video. Or she’s walking around NYC with a film camera and an indie musician like Jazzie Young or Jens Lekman, capturing quiet yet gritty videos about love and loneliness and a comfortable melancholy. At least those are the feelings that are invoked when I watch her work unfold, be it a music video or a short narrative piece that feels like peering in on someone’s private home videos. 

What stood out to me when roving through her portfolio, was how many roles she attributes to herself in the industry. I’m sure there are a few of us who have admittedly left off a few roles that we’ve taken on as a way to avoid being overly arrogant, for lack of a better word. Or simply to avoid looking like we couldn’t afford to pay people for their work, so we did it all ourselves. The latter is understandable in independent filmmaking, what’s not, is the concept of feeling like we can’t be seen as a multi-faceted artists. Rena reminds us that we can be a writer, director, videographer, photographer, creative director, set designer, editor, and beyond. Not because we can’t afford to hire those people, but because art mediums are many and none of them are off limits once we decide on one we like. Like Johnson, we can wield many tools – creativity, as a matter of fact, knows no bounds, and Rena is visual proof of this.

Follow along with Rena at renacjohnson.com