Meet The Director: Jake Wynne

Picking up from where my last post left off, I was lucky enough to meet the director of the Mark Ronson 'Just' video (amongst others) Jake Wynne. Jake talked about how he got into the industry from guerilla filmmaking beginnings to directing Geri Halliwell's 'It's Raining Men' and another number of iconic music videos. He explained to us the roles on set including first AD, camera man, cable bashers, props and art department, a gaffer (lighting) and a grip (technicians often operating the dollies). He explained the directors role as a motivator, trying to keep energy up on set (which are traditionally 18 hour days) and advised us to approach situations with positivity and enthusiasm to coax the performer to unleash their full potential and give a confident convincing performance. We also talked about budget: the Geri Halliwell video he did was about £250000 (from which he receive £12000) whereas nowadays £50000 would be considered a huge budget for a video. One of his more 'experimental' pieces for Nojahoda was made for just under 10k.

He also explained how he achieved this very cool technique in the Super Furry Animals Golden Retriever video by speeding up the track and getting the band to play it quickly and shooting it at 18 or less fps to create a jumpy jolty appearance. He also said how he used the dropping frame technique whilst editing videos for a similar effect; both very simple but effective techniques and something possibly to bare in mind when we make our music videos.

In addition to this, he also explained other technical aspects of music video production including using a performance bed (shot the whole way through) and laying clips on top of each other to create the most interesting arrangement of narrative and performance. Jake also talked about the importance of a 'beauty shot' and how to achieve it; with impeccable lighting- often a ring light to reduce shadows and a back light to bring out hair and face from background.

Above all, Jake emphasised how the director needs to look at the bigger picture to ensure the video will all make sense. If the video includes a narrative, it should be able to make sense on its own and does not need to include everything, rather snippets to convey a story. The performance aspect of a video however is still extremely important- it could be a very simple set up with the band just going crazy (e.g Nojahoda in the carpark, previous Latymer Students viral success 'I Kissed a Boy') and performances with concepts (e.g the Super Furry Animals or Stereophonics videos) can be incredibly effective. A good location can make a video look very professional and is worth spending time considering. Finally, Jake stressed the importance of developing a pure reason behind your video and the look you're trying to achieve. His parting words? Keep it simple: 'the best music videos can be described in one line'.

Thanks Jake for a very entertaining and valuable talk and we look forward to working with you on the workshop!