Monte Vista-based singer-songwriter, Tayla Hunter, 18, has released the music video for her latest hit song What If.
Tayla, who is a pupil at Edgemead High School, is on a meteoric rise in both the charts and in the industry.
What If, co-produced by and featuring respected singer Lee Cole, is a brilliant song whose theatrical visuals, released on Saturday April 9, complements it to complete the song’s beauty.
The lyrics allude to love, loss, frustrations and closure. Lucinda Ohlson, who directed Tayla’s previous hit Out of Mind, oversaw the direction of What If.
The song has charted KFM’s top 40 recently, according to Tayla’s publicist Melissa Conradie.
“Since creation, this song has been has been a personal journey for me … more so than my previous songs,” Tayla told Tabletalk.
“I wanted to keep on that personal path, so I chose locations for the video that were also personal to me.”
The main location of the video was shot at her high school hall and the pool scene was shot at her grandparents’ pool.
“With a lot of planning and co-ordinating and a brilliant team, we managed to shoot the entire video in one very long but fun day,” Tayla said.
Asked why visuals are important to teen music consumers, Tayla said: “I think love and relationships are very much a focus among teenagers at the moment and this shows them that they aren’t alone in the ups and downs of young relationships and their fight to stay on the same path as they mature and each find their way in life.”
Tayla and Mr Cole had a camaraderie during the creative process of the song.
“Lee and I had a great time making jokes and playing around on the piano,” Tayla said. “It was so intriguing to see him work with a professional dancer, and the way the rest of the dancing team all fell into place as soon as the cameras started rolling. It was an unforgettable shoot and I’m so grateful for everyone who played a part.”
Speaking of the video, Ms Ohlson says: “Tayla and her team sent me the song What If and when I listened to it, I was immediately drawn into this world of beauty and elegance, yet it was youthful.
“As I resonated with the lyrics, there was this push-and-pull energy I felt coming off the story of the song. Taking that into consideration, I scribbled a messy drawing of a stage and two lovers struggling to commit to one another.
“From that I then created a world I believed would suit their dilemma and visualised the play of an artistic metaphor of their entire tug-of-war. It’s a theatrical piece with a touch of modern flare.”
Touching on the cinematography and editing process, Ms Ohlson said both processes were based on old-school framing and angles where they shot and cut based on emotion and performance leading up to the reveal.
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