04 Sep Why We Love Music Videos like Loaded and Loud!

I love directing music videos because it combines two of my great loves, filmmaking and music. For me, not having to deal with sound design is definitely one of the biggest perks. I leave THAT to the pros. Instead, I get to spend copious amounts of time listening to the music and dreaming.

I try to feel and understand what the artist wants to accomplish with the music. I think about questions to ask, such as “what happened when you wrote this song” or “why did you write this song?” Different colors float around in my head or I search around for pictures and photographs that remind me of that particular song.

For “Loaded and Loud” by Patton Sparks, the lyrics drove the storyline. When I heard the song, I immediately thought: 1.) hanging out with friends 2.) a lot of open space. The energy of the song rang fun and freedom. Old country western movies were my primary inspiration for this music video. I wanted dramatic wide angle landscape shots, combined with closeups. I even colored many parts of the video similarly to “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.”

My favorite part about the music video is how organic the different scenes were, which I attribute to the fact that 100% of the time we had fun. Our team camped onsite. We went wading in the river. We shared drinks around a campfire. These were real experiences and they translated beautifully into the final product.

Music videos are a lot more hard work than they appear, but it is these processes that make them so special for the entire cast and crew. I spent months with Daran Herrman from Coloredlion.com who found the project and produced it with me, scrutinizing over the pre-production details — everything from having a trailer onsite, to food for the team, to what kind of props to buy during our late night Wal-Mart run.

We cannot wait for the VIP party this Saturday, September 8. Come hang out with us at Speakeasy and slap a bag of wine with the team. It’s time to get #loadedandloud.