Today we’d like to introduce you to Andre Neptune.
Andre, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Ever since I could remember I’ve always had a creative mindset. I use to spend hours sitting in front of the television whether it was watching cartoons, movies, or playing video games. I was introduced to these forms of entertainment at a very young age and was fascinated with every moment. I believe this is where my love for visual art began to develop. Initially, I went through life thinking I wanted to design video games given that I was good at them and loved everything about them. I enrolled at Valdosta State University in 2014 as a Computer Science Major. After taking my computer application courses, I soon began to realize that I liked playing video games more than creating them. I was not a huge fan of coding and numbers. I learned that I was more gravitated towards the design and aesthetic of what video games bring rather than the programming of it.
Around this time, the app Vine was on the rise and was becoming very popular worldwide. I discovered a cult like group of viners who would edit Anime with music in a very creative fashion. I was really fascinated with how people literally were creating 6 second loop music videos with cool transitions and effects. I began to learn how to do them myself starting from YouTube tutorial videos. I went from learning iMovie and perfecting that to learning other editing software such like Sony Vegas. I spent hours on end trying to learn how to edit videos layered with music. I got pretty good at it so much that I received recognition from vine. My highest looped vine reached 30k views, this showed me that people actually liked what I was doing so it drove me to create more. I soon changed my major to Mass media & communications. Given that Valdosta State was known for having an excellent mass media program it was only right to make the transition. It was then where my media career began. I used Anime and music as my foundation for my craft initially. I am really into music so I would make anime edits with songs I personally felt would go with specific scenes.
After transitioning into the mass media program, I began learning the basic fundamentals of media and entertainment. Ranging from lighting, angles, production, post-production, etc. I’ve always had an eye for things and was naturally good at taking photos and what looked right and didn’t. I am a perfectionist to a fault at times. I began working with cameras and getting familiar with adobe products more such as premiere and illustrator. I continued to make anime edits on my own time to perfect my craft as well as studying on camera knowledge and film. As time went on, I began to have more media-related skills and know-how under my belt from taking production courses and lectures. I started to work with local dancers on campus and began to shoot some of their dancing videos with an aesthetic approach. I like movement and flow so I liked syncing camera shakes and bumps to the beats of the music to give the video a bit more impact.
In my senior year, I was able to compile a demo reel of my work that I had produced within that final year and I noticed how far I had come from the beginning. I see myself as a creative content creator. I don’t like labeling myself strictly as a photographer, videographer, or things of that sort because I am versatile with what I do. I just began my photography portfolio in the beginning of 2019. My clientele started off as close friends conducting free shoots just for me to build my portfolio up. I was able to help shoot behind the scenes for The Horne Brothers Production Company for a Netflix Pilot. They really enjoyed my work ethic and contribution that they hired me for some of their other productions. I then got recognized and through word of mouth was able to get booked to shoot a sweet 16 for my first gig. I love to capture the most genuine moments of people when they’re in the midst of living their lives. I still am a video person at heart so I kept making visual edits on my own time. Every edit I make I would post to my social media to show off my talent.
At this point, I knew what my capability was I just did not know what I wanted to do to make an actual career for it. I started developing more of a sense of what I wanted to do after local rap artists started demanding visuals for their music. Given that my editing style was unique with quality I started making visuals for some artists. I was not limited to Anime for these types of visuals and began to expand my range of talent by implementing sports, movies, tv shows, etc. I love content with aesthetic so I always implement stylistic effects and transitions to everything I do. Im still working freelance with my photography and visual content but I am striving to work for something that is bigger than me. I want to be a part of a collective of creatives and visionaries that can make an impact on the world and media realm.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Far from it actually, There has been plenty of roadblocks and mental obstacles I’ve had to overcome. When I first started editing, I loved the joy in creating something from scratch and turning it into a masterpiece of my own. Figuring out how a software works and how to navigate is a small stepping stone to creating something you have envisioned in your head. It took time for me to develop the discipline of working with editing timelines and content. Fear of failure used to have control of me at one point. I had to let that fear go in able to reach that next level of greatness. I always saw myself as more of a post-production (behind the scenes) type of guy. But It was tough for me to get out of my comfort zone with anime visuals to help creating real-life content. I tend to stick with what I know so breaking that habit was a challenge. I had to realize that my content needed more variety, so I began to work with more(photography/videography using DSLR cameras.)
Moreover, we worked on a lot of studio/field film production content in my undergrad and it conditioned me to have respect and admiration on what it takes to make film. I’ve always been an outside the box type of person so I enjoyed the freedom and creativity of making music videos rather than the strict guidelines for production of a short film. The most frustrating thing for me was me trying to figure out how I could be successful of what I loved to do. I had to do some research and job searches of what career paths they have for the things I liked to do. I knew that I am great with creating a visual for something and implementing music and graphics to give it more depth. It has always been difficult on figuring out how I can make a living on what I do and be happy. After conducting more research with different careers in the Atlanta area, I have become more confident on a lane I can fall into.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
My brand is called NeptunezWave. My last name is Neptune so I came up with neptunezwave symbolizing my own style or “wave” of content. I range from photography, visuals, music videos, anime music videos, and promo visuals. I specialize in creating aesthetic visuals complemented by music. I am most known for my stylistic anime visuals. I am most proud in my unique approach to my content. My style of editing separates me from many especially when it comes to my visuals. I like to make unique transitions and artistic effects to content that will provide a nice vibe and is pleasing to the eye.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I was always an outgoing kid that loved to laugh, play games with friends and just enjoy life. I was very humble starting at a young age and was empathetic to those around me. I was always taught to treat others like you would want done unto you. It made the most sense and I never had a problem treating people with kindness and joy because I was genuinely a nice person. I was big into video games and sports so that consisted of most of my childhood. I knew I was different from most kids when I was young. For starts, my last name is Neptune. That alone use to separate me from what was known as normal. I would get mixed reactions from people throughout my life about it. Some thought I was making it up and others were truly fascinated that I could have such a unique name.
Before social media was a thing I was heavily into YouTube. It was so fascinating to me because it provided endless content of things you can search at will. Unlike tv I could watch things over and over again without having to wait. I began to find cool videos relating to tv shows I use to watch. Naruto and Dragon Ball Z were the first anime I had ever seen before on TV. It’s funny because back in middle school some kids use to try make fun of me for watching anime like Naruto because it was a “cartoon”. I tried not to let stuff like that get to me because I liked what I liked and thought it was cool myself, so I did not care what others thought of me when it came to that. I just saw it as their loss for missing out on something really cool. I use to watch Naruto and other anime on Toonami every Saturday night waiting for the next new episode to premiere. I would then go to YouTube to look up any content on those tv shows or video games that I like. People use to post anime music videos just like I do now but with alternative rock music such as Linkin Park. Looking back now, that definitely had a substantial impact on what I like to do today.
Pricing:
- For photoshoots my prices range from $30-$100 depending on the type of work(# of Photos/locations, etc.)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://drenep22.wixsite.com/wave /// YouTube: Neptunez Wave
- Phone: 7703694054
- Email: drenep22@yahoo.com
- Instagram: @neptunezwave (business) / @andreneptune (main)
- Facebook: Andre Neptune
- Twitter: @neptunezwave
- Other: LinkedIn: Andre Neptune
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