About the Project
The Concept
Our Approach
Creative Direction
Over Me is a music video created for underground hip-hop artist Moneyforwater. The project came together through direct conversation with the artist about his vision for the track; a piece exploring identity, transformation, and the process of coming back to oneself. It was one of his early music videos and Céleste's first music video engagement.
Structured as a collaboration for portfolio, Over Me marked a specific turning point for the studio: the moment Céleste began moving from school-based creative work into cultural production rooted in local music communities.
Over Me is grounded in nature as metaphor. The song's themes: identity, return, and self-recognition called for a visual language that stripped away noise. Rather than build a stylized world, Céleste built a return to one.
The visual through-line was elemental: water, grass, open sky, coastal light. The imagery was designed to hold the emotional weight of the track without competing with it, letting the song itself carry the narrative while the visuals created space for it to breathe.
Over Me was approached with intentional restraint. Rather than build an elaborate visual narrative or lean on stylistic movement, Céleste chose to hold still: using primarily static shots and letting the music carry the story.
The decision was philosophical as much as practical. The song was doing the emotional work. The visuals didn't need to compete with it. By holding the camera steady and letting the landscape breathe, the piece created space for the artist's voice and message to sit at the center; undistracted, uncrowded, unhurried.
Cinematography leaned on wide shots: deliberately expansive framing that placed the artist inside the landscape rather than at the center of it. The intent was to visually reinforce the song's message: that finding oneself often means becoming smaller against something larger.
Wardrobe was intentionally minimal: stripped-back styling designed to mesh with the natural environment rather than stand apart from it. No maximalism, no distraction. The artist as part of the world, not against it.
Location was at Hammocks beach in North Carolina; a deliberate choice that honored the artist's roots and demonstrated that culturally rich production doesn't require coastal studios or major markets. Céleste chose to show what North Carolina has to offer, on its own terms.
Direction, Production, Treatment, and Editing by Cameron Elyse for Céleste Studios.
RAW. is built on the belief that quality outlives urgency. Each episode is crafted without rush, released only when it aligns with the right moment, allowing the work to breathe and resonate fully.
Each season reflects a new perspective in Cameron Elyse’s life, positioning the series as both a creative archive and a living narrative.
Over Me was approached with intentional restraint. Rather than build an elaborate visual narrative or lean on stylistic movement, Céleste chose to hold still: using primarily static shots and letting the music carry the story.
The decision was philosophical as much as practical. The song was doing the emotional work. The visuals didn't need to compete with it. By holding the camera steady and letting the landscape breathe, the piece created space for the artist's voice and message to sit at the center; undistracted, uncrowded, unhurried.
Our Approach
Creative Direction
Cinematography leaned on wide shots: deliberately expansive framing that placed the artist inside the landscape rather than at the center of it. The intent was to visually reinforce the song's message: that finding oneself often means becoming smaller against something larger.
Wardrobe was intentionally minimal: stripped-back styling designed to mesh with the natural environment rather than stand apart from it. No maximalism, no distraction. The artist as part of the world, not against it.
Results
Over Me was released to Moneyforwater's community and served its purpose as an early visual for an underground artist building his sound. While the project did not generate mainstream metrics or downstream engagements, it accomplished what it set out to do: it put Céleste on the ground in music video production and established the studio's fluency in the discipline.
Impact
Céleste's first music video production
01
Established the studio's capability in artist visual work and cinematic music-driven storytelling
02
Marked the transition from student-based work into local cultural production
03
Contributed to the foundational body of work that would inform Céleste's later artist rollout capability, including Pursuit of Solace
04
CREDITS
Directed by @cameronnelyse
Produced by @cameronnelyse
Record Producer @shemar.alexander
Co-Producer @eisthegoat
Starring Donovan @moneyforwater
1st AD Zion Akee @zionackee
PA Nasir Washington @nnasirw
DP Cameron Elyse
Editor Cameron Elyse
Colorist Cameron Elyse
Titles Cameron Elyse
Film Photo Elijah Harris
BTS Zion Akee
Reflections
Over Me was Céleste's entry into music video production — the first time the studio translated its cinematic sensibility from editorial and film work into the specific discipline of putting motion to sound. The project taught the fundamentals of music-driven visual storytelling: how to let a track shape the pacing of imagery, how to hold visual restraint against sonic complexity, how to build a world that serves the song rather than eclipses it.
More than the finished piece, Over Me marked a personal and creative shift. This was the project where Céleste's founder began moving beyond student work and into the cultural production landscape of Charlotte — the beginning of a body of work that would eventually extend into editorial, campaign, and cultural strategy at editorial scale.