Meeting The Director: Jake Wynne

Jake Wynne is a director who has worked on music videos for Geri Halliwell and Stereophonics. We were fortunate that he came to talk to us about his experience in the media industry, in specific his work as an editor and director. It was a great oppurtunity to get to know him before our music video shoot.

The key things I learnt from Jake's talk are:

• Beauty shots are very important, and most often need to be included in music videos to promote the singer/band in the most positive way possible. Beauty shots are composed to make the singers face appear almost flawless, with minimal shadows and excess lighting. These shots are something I will try to include in the music video I make next year.

• Work days are long and tiring, but it's the directors job to keep the energy and enthusiasm up, to produce the best video possible.
• That a lot of the creative control lies with the record company paying for the video, and the band have little input themselves, especially when they're first starting out in the industry.
• He taught us the importance of creating a brand for the artist, and you are practically selling the artist by making them as appealing as possible.
• I learnt that it takes lots of time and input to become a recognised figure in the industry, and that work experience is one of the most useful ways into the industry.
• He made the Nojahoda video as his showcase music video, as it was his first time directing. It was an adventurous video with a complex narrative and it highlighted his editing and story telling talents. He suggested however that we do not create something like this for our own music video as it becomes very complicated and time consuming.
• It's beneficial to get lots of shots and more footage than you think you need as then you always have options when it comes to editing and you don't have to re-shoot (which could cost a lot of money).

Here is his Nojahoda video which is very visually interesting and well edited: