Louisiana-based artist Will Wesley recently released Honky-Tonk U.S.A., his latest single, which pays homage to his heroes and those who paved the way in the country/rock genre. Wesley once again partnered with director Jordan Fontenot, marking their third collaboration to date. According to Fontenot, he was brought in around three weeks before the shoot and had to coordinate locations and talent for the video’s narrative portion.
In Honky-Tonk U.S.A., Wesley sings about how things have changed. His lyrics call out the current music industry, and how songs are crafted for success rather than soul. The video opens with an “audition” for “the future of country music.” A panel of judges appears disinterested with many of the newcomers — that is until Will captures their attention. The video cuts between the comical auditions and Will and his band performing in a vintage barn.
The shoot took place in just a single day, with the barn performance being captured in the morning and the office auditions being shot over two or three hours in the afternoon. Fontenot used his Sony FX3 with a Sigma 24mm-70mm lens, shooting in 4K.
“On my end, the challenges would be locations...and then finding a cast that are not trained actors,” Wesley explains. The barn, as luck would have it, belongs to Fontenot’s family, making it readily accessible. The woman, who kicks off the audition, is Wesley’s wife, and the children that appear in the video are his step kids.
“We [needed] something Americana,” recalls Fontenot of the location. “And, we were looking forever. Then I realized, my parents have a barn. The music video is just the house that I grew up in.”
In addition to directing and serving as DP, Fontenot also handled the edit and color grade. The project marked the first time he used Blackmagic Design’s Resolve Studio, and he says the experience went surprisingly smooth, considering he is a 10-year user of Adobe’s Premiere Pro.
“I’m a very DIY kind of filmmaker, so I like to solve as many issues as I can myself, and then get things done affordably, cheap, fun and quickly,” says Fontenot, who describes Resolve Studio as a full-fledged suite of tools.
“Honestly, once I figured some of the things out, I edited this whole music video much faster than some of my previous [videos], I felt it just kind of all came together very organically.”
In the color grade, he added slight glows and color pops reminiscent of the videos shown on CMT. Will Wesley (www.willwesleymusic.com) has another video planned and is currently on tour through July.