MUSIC VIDEO: Bill MacKay, 'Powder Mill Park'
“Chicago guitarist Bill MacKay has shared the stylish, monochrome video to ‘Powder Mill Park,’ a moody guitar instrumental from MacKay’s latest long player, ‘Esker,’ released last Friday through Drag City. There’s a charming realness and warmth to both video and song that lend an appeal all of its own.”
“Visually set in the austere backdrop of monochromatic black and white visuals, Bill MacKay’s ‘Powder Mill Park’ is, contrastingly, bright and full of life! Shot on site in MacKay’s home state of Illinois, director Dan Mohr captures the serene and harmonious composure of euphonious guitar in his video for ‘Powder Mill Park,’ from Bill’s freshly released album, ‘Esker!’ ”
“Già attivo con i Darts & Arrows e con interessanti collaborazioni tra cui quella con Bonnie Prince Billy, MacKay suona la chitarra con una poesia tutta Made In U.S.A., e ad essere magicamente descritta è l’estasi della solitudine in terre così vaste dove la malinconia viene spazzata via dal puro piacere. PREZIOSO. ”
“Editors picks, video”
“Video of the day”
Yesterday, I was excited to mark the release of my first official music video.
In March of this year, my friend (and client) Bill MacKay and I traveled to Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie to film a video for Powder Mill Park, a track from Esker, his debut release on Drag City Records. We spent the windy, sunny day shooting introspective footage of Bill exploring the decommissioned munitions bunkers that pepper the Midewin landscape.
Perhaps driven to excess ambition by my recent acquisition of a Wacom Intuos tablet and free illustration/animation software Krita, my initial conceptual impulse for the video was to create 'hand-drawn' animations over the Midewin footage. Upon viewing the first edit of the video, however, Bill insisted that he loved it as-is, and that no further changes or extras would be necessary. In the end, I capitulated to his wishes; I am excited to employ the animation ideas I explored for PMP in a future project.
Here's an example of a test animation I made before the Midewin shoot, and some animated end credits that ended up on the cutting room floor.