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Meilyr Jones 'How To Recognise A Work Of Art' by Wils Wilson

David Knight - 26th Nov 2015

Meilyr Jones, former frontman of Race Horses, is releasing his first solo album shortly, and How To Recognise A Work Of Art is a characterically kooky but charming offering from that record - and now has a music video to match, a one-shot wonder directed by National Theatre director Wils Wilson, and shot by Ryan Owen Eddleston. 

The video is an ode to Fellini's 8½, and works like a walking dream through Jones's mind (who produced it himself, and recruited lots of friends to help him make the video). It starts with his song being mimed by an actor (Hugh Skinner from W1A and Poldark) who's soon killed off, when Jones is roped in as his understudy, walking through a series of strange scenes on set, encountering sycophantic art dealers, a Kurt Cobain impersonator (also played by Skinner) and a vision of the three muses before finally becoming a dictatorial emperor figure, who has his portrait painted... 

"I love getting people together," says Meilyr (above). "My grandmother was an amateur theatre director and I loved going to watch her rehearsing plays in the evenings when I was a boy. You'd see people from the town making the costumes, and singing, my granddad would have designed the set, and the spirit of the whole thing was great. We worked with a group of 12 actors, and over a period of four days, transformed a warehouse in Cardiff from scratch to a film set, building and painting the sets."

After days of prep and rehearsals, Ryan Eddleston, having suggested the idea of a single long take around the set, captured the action on an Arri Alexa Mini, stabilised with a MoVi M15 stabiliser and shot with vintage Zeiss Super Speed lenses.

"I knew we could achieve this on the MoVi - a similar beast to the steadicam," says Ryan. "I referenced a video by the band Phoenix, and Meilyr talked about Gurney Slade, the way being behind the scenes and being in the scene was quite seamless, and we tried to do that at the very start, and in-between scenes.

"I remember about three quarters through the take, thinking I haven’t messed anything up yet, and being full of adrenaline for the last sequence. It was 8:15pm and we were supposed to wrap at 8pm, so not bad going as we’d spent three days making the video. We were all huddled around a monitor watching playback on the last take and everybody was overjoyed."

David Knight - 26th Nov 2015

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  • Behind the scenes
  • One shot video

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Credits

Production/Creative

Director
Wils Wilson
Producer
Meilyr Jones
Production Company
Unochable Productions
Executive Producer
Pete Ingo
Production Manager
Matthew Davies
1st AD
Delmi Thomas

Camera

Director of Photography
Ryan Owen Eddleston
Focus Puller
Tom McMahon
2nd AC
David O'Connor

Lighting/Grip

Gaffer
Kiri Nicholetts
Gaffer
Mark Holownia

Art

Art Director
Natalie Parsons

Wardrobe

Wardrobe
Natalie Parsons
Wardrobe
Tessa Salt
Hair & Make-up
Laura Waters

Editorial

Editor
Pete Ingo

Grading

Colourist
Ryan Owen Eddleston

Commission

Commissioner
Meilyr Jones
Label
Moshi Moshi

Misc

Lighting Assistant
Lauren Jones
Stills
Kirsten McTernan

Other credits

CAST

Alwyn Humphries as Patrick Harrild

Hugh Skinner as Meilyr Jones and Kurt Cobain

Meilyr Rhys Williams as The Director

Darren Webber as the Stretcher Bearer

Hanna Jarman as Girl on Bed and Muse

Meilyr Jones as The Stand In

Matthew Bulgo as Art Dealer No. 1

Tori Lyons as Art Dealer No. 2

Melangell Dolma as Lady of the Trees

Rebecca Smith Williams as With the sun in her eyes

Robin Willingham as Cameraman and Artist

George Naylor as The Cha-Cha Artist

Jemma Roper as The collage artist

Mabon Idris as The Baby

David Knight - 26th Nov 2015

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