Ahead (Music Video)

Ahead is a new music video featuring a moving song and some stunning landscapes. David Reynolds is an Alaskan Indie Folk Artist, as well as a filmmaker, and here he’s produced a short form work which is certainly functional as a piece of visual accompaniment. It does, however, lack polish. The film follows a woman wandering around the stunning snow-covered surroundings, traversing past mountains and navigating through forests.

The film’s cinematography is unconventional for a music video since it’s comprised of mainly handheld shots – potentially shot on a phone – but resulting in a fairly effective style. Perhaps the most original visual conceit of this piece is its inclusion of textural extreme closeups of natural phenomena; specifically, the rough bark of a tree, and the cracks of thick ice. It’s difficult to determine why and how this works so well in the contexts of a music video, but surely part of the reason is that the wistful characteristic of the music complements the sensory evocations of the imagery in question. Slightly less effective – yet still equally as intriguing – is the decision to include many shots that start out of focus, and either remain so, or slowly come into focus.

It’s not ‘original’, but music and nature are two things that go hand in hand, and Ahead is a work that capitalises on that idea. The aspect of the video that will appeal to most viewers is the way in which the Alaskan landscapes are photographed. There are a few utterly awe-inspiring compositions. And from an editorial standpoint, the filmmaker knows to hold on these shots and allow the viewer to take in the majesty of its expanse.

The music itself is a pleasant listen; although unlike the video’s visual construction, it’s very conventional. There’s a lot to like about the guitar and the spirit with which the lyrics are written. However, there’s not too much to digest here musically, as far as this’s critic’s concerned.

What this music video struggles with, unfortunately, is the slightly vloggy sensibility of the footage. As lovely as the landscapes are, and though the choice of shots is frequently intriguing, there’s just something technically held-back on the production side. To rectify this, slightly more deliberate, static shots and less handheld might provide the aesthetic that step towards a more consistent visual appearance – and something that feels more constructed, in a formal sense.

Having said that, and having expressed my reservations, it does bring me onto an important point: I would much farther watch a video like this – with all of its handmade flaws and idiosyncrasies – than any of the flat, glossy high-budget music productions that are churned out. The reason being is that Ahead has a truly personal edge to it. Images like these do not arise from the sterile, high-budget restrictions of a fully storyboarded, studio-filmed music video production. Is this messier? Yes. But it’s also far richer. This is not a flawless work, nor is it even especially refined. But it has a deeply positive energy to it, and many creative decisions to admire.