iamthenublack: Xavier Burgin of Que The Lights

Introduce yourself

My name is Xavier Lashun Neal-Burgin. I am a student at The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. I represent a hodgepodge of American culture. I was born in Washington DC, lived between Los Angeles, California and Columbus, Mississippi, and finally ended up in Alabama for my high school years. Presently, I’m still in Alabama working on a Film Production major with a minor in Liberal Arts, French, and Telecommunications and Film.

I’m the consistent jack-of-all-artistic-trades. I’m a phofilmartist (fo-fil-mar-tist). I’ve done a mixture of film, photography, and writing. I’ve worked and directed a few short films, worked on a documentary, edited small commercials, and created concept videos for projects and clients. On the photography side I’ve done parties and community events for clients, photoshoots, and artistic ventures all my own. I’ve also been working as The College of Arts and Sciences Depatrment photographer at The University of Alabama. As a writer, my skills have been focusing mainly on building solid scripts for my films, but I also dabble as part-time writer for my college’s newspaper as well.

My blog started after I went to the Cannes Film Festival this past summer and realized I needed to have a “walking, breathing” portfolio that could be accessed on the go. This is what became my site, Que The Lights.  When I came back to the states I started with a few clips of my experience in France and the blog has since become a venue for my work as well as an outlet for the surrounding culture at my university.

Favorite song lyric

No sitcom could teach Scott,

about the dream

or even explain the troubles that haunted my mom

on Christmas time

my moms Christmas grind

got most of what i wanted how’d you do it mom?

huh, she copped the toys i would play with in my room by myself

why he by himself

he got 2 older brothers 1 hood 1 good

an independent older sister kept me fly when she could

but they all didn’t see

the little bit of sadness in me

Scotty

Soundtrack to my life, Kid Cudi

I’m inspired by

The idea of being able to create from the depths of one’s mind. Many people never realize how many “good” ideas roll out of their head everyday. The idea may not be revolutionary, but it could make an impact on another’s life or even their own. I believe everyone can think of a time you were just hit with an amazing idea, but since you didn’t write it down you lost it. I’m pro-find yourself through yourself. I keep a small notebook so anytime something interesting hits me or I notice something, I can immediately write it down. An epiphany is great, but the best inspiration can be sitting in front of you as well.

My icons past/present

As a filmmaker I admire Sydney Portier and Spike Lee simply because they have made a name for themselves as legitimate men of film regardless of their skin color. My biggest icons in the filmmaking industry (for the moment) are Quentin Tarantino and Darren Aronofsky. I’m pretty sure everyone knows Tarantino, but Aronofsky has directed films like Requiem for a Dream, The Wrestler, and most recently Black Swan. The man is just an amazing individual who understands the mechanics of fleshing out a film. Aside from film, I specifically admire Kanye. I may get some heat for this, but at least let me explain.

Kanye is one of the few individuals from hip hop that resembles figures such as Madonna, Prince, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, and Elton John. He is a complete trainwreck and quite erratic, but his work as an artist is phenomenal and it always shines through. Sometimes it seems as if the problems he brings upon himself inflict wounds that only make him better at his craft. It’s the mix of crazy and creative that makes him great in my eyes. He’s a complete figure. A crippled character with tremendous flaws and artistic prowess. He’s an asshole, misogynist, fool, genius, pioneer, and innovator wrapped into a neat sandwich. Hate him or love him he’s not going anywhere for a while.

Thenublack philosophy/mantra

One of the quotes people love to say about someone they don’t like is “Just wait till they get out of high school.” Individuals love to visualize others doing nothing with their lives if they have something against them. I’m sure people have said this about me, but no one can ever validate the claim. I refuse to be another individual’s passing memory as they climb up towards success. That’s why I sacrifice to ensure my future is the talk of present, instead of someone’s faded recollection.

Check me out

Website

Youtube

Vimeo

Facebook

Share