MOUNTAINCITY:: The Making of a Music Video

MountainCity Releases Official Music Video for Try Again

Try Again Official Music Video, screenshot

(Denver, CO)  MountainCity released the official music video for their latest single, Try Again on March 5th.

Shot on location just north of the Denver Metro area, the video has been viewed more than 11,000 times in the first 24 hours since it hit Facebook.

Try Again Official Music Video, screenshot

[MountainCity Lyrics: Try Again] click HERE

[MountainCity’s Try Again Liner Notes] click HERE

[MountainCity and Bokeh FX video storyboards] click HERE

Dave and Tara Powers, the married duo behind MountainCity, have written this song about the reality of relationships. Tension and conflict can happen. But the theme of the song, they say, is, “Forgive, then try again.”

Try Again Official Music Video, screenshot

Bokeh FX

Matt Short of Bokeh FX shot and produced the Try Again video, as well as MountainCity’s first music video, Being with You last year.

Bokeh FX is an innovative film production company based in Denver, CO that specializes in producing content for the local music industry.

We asked Matt about his experience in working with MountainCity for this video and he gave us some fun facts.

Q:: This is your second music video with MountainCity. How did these videos differ in how you approached them?

MATT:: “The Try Again music video is very different from Being With You, as we wanted to tell a story visually, this time.

In Being With You, we set up the stage and just had fun shooting creative angles of Dave and Tara performing.

This music video for Try Again included a long and beautifully fun pre-production and planning process. We spent time scouting locations, gathering props, planning outfit changes, the full gambit!”

Try Again Official Music Video, screenshot

Q:: Name some of your previous projects or artists you have enjoyed working with.

MATT:: “One artist that I have thoroughly enjoyed serving is our close friend, Eldeen Annette. She is an incredible photographer. I have filmed a handful of her promotional content videos. We actually used her studio for our ‘bedroom’ scene in this MountainCity music video.

Eldeen was very helpful as our hair and makeup assistant on the Try Again shoot. So a shout out to Eldeen Annette Portraiture for being a wonderful client, a magnificent, creative photographer and a good friend!” 

Q:: What’s it like working with MountainCity to shoot a music video?

MATT:: “I absolutely love it! Their passion for their music and marriage is inspirational! So naturally, it shows through their love songs. Creating this music video was an incredibly fun collaborative process for us!”

Try Again Official Music Video, screenshot

Q:: How much do Dave and Tara bring to the creative process in telling the story? How do your bring their contributions and yours together?

MATT:: “For this music video, I had MountainCity send me a rough recording of their song, one they made from their phone, recorded in their living room.

And for a couple weeks I listened to that recording on repeat, dreaming, feeling everything from compositions to body language. I loved the song! So it was easy to get lost in this dreaming process.

Tara and I spoke a few times over the phone and decided we definitely wanted a bedroom scene, but we knew that wasn’t where the conflict was happening. There needed to be visible, unspoken tension in the air between them. We needed to show pain and division, the way many fights or conflicts in relationships start out.

That’s where the concept of using uncomfortable compositions began. You see it in the first shots of Tara and Dave, facing out of the frame with lots of white space behind them. These are uncomfortable shots. They immediately give the viewer a sense that things aren’t right.

But I wanted to balance these uncomfortable shots with symmetrical shots like them sitting on the bed, centered, facing away from one another. From there, we had the tension and conflict established.

So all we needed to do was create a story on how to resolve it. We did this through body language, and meaningful posture.”

Q:: What’s your favorite moment in the video and why?

MATT:: “My favorite moment in the video has to be where Dave and Tara are sitting on the bed facing away from each other then, when they begin to lie down, we cut to the overhead shot. They don’t look at each other, they don’t touch each other. It’s apparent they’ve each just finished their individual, internal narratives of the day and they are going to bed. It’s so good. It says so much.

We do this without realizing it in our relationships. Yet we’re all so desperately in need of the resolve. 

Q:: Did you try anything that was new for Bokeh in this video?

MATT::  “The overhead shot of them in the bed was a new shot! That was fun. I had to create a special rig to suspend my camera perfectly centered over the bed. I also used Bluetooth and a handheld screen to view the image while filming.”

Q:: With all the planning, shooting and post-production, how many times would you say you have now heard the song, Try Again?

MATT: “Haha! Considering all the pre-production, on set, and post-production work, I’ve probably heard this song more than anyone else – except for the band and Dave Wilton, the song’s studio producer.

If I were to ballpark it, I’d say easily three hundred times!”

Try Again Official Music Video, screenshot

Q:: Just for fun – if MountainCity let you choose one of their songs to have complete creative control in doing a video, which song would you choose and why? What would we see?

MATT: “I don’t know which song I’d pick! But I do know I’ve got to film some drone footage of them on their motorcycle, riding some back country road on a sunny day! Motorcycle rides on country roads is their ‘happy place.’  So that really needs to make it into one of our future videos together – like, ASAP!”

If you’d like to know more about Bokeh FX or have more questions for Matt, you may reach him here:

Website: http://www.bokeheffects.com/

Contact: [email protected]

Watch the Try Again Video HERE

MountainCity, Try Again
Dave and Tara Powers (Cover art: Stormie Rhoades)

Please LIKE and SHARE the video with your friends and family! Thank you!

–♦♦♦–

Dave would like to thank his sponsor, Stringjoy!

Here is what Dave wants you to know:

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Besides great longevity, they are totally affordable! My hands sweat a lot when I play, so I need a string that can last a week or two under sweaty, rigorous playing conditions! Stringjoy strings crush it!

Stringjoy’s owner, Scott, is a really cool guy! He’s a good business man, REALLY cares about customer service, and wants guitar/bass players to be stoked about the sound of their strings. He and his team work hard at it and the strings are made in the U.S.A., which makes me very happy!

If you’re looking for a new set of strings to try out, give Stringjoy a shot! They also have picks, cables, and an assortment of other mischief! It’s a HUGE privilege for me to be a part of the Stringjoy Family of Artists! https://www.stringjoy.com

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