Joel Ansett - If You Really Knew (Live at Coalesce Audio)
Video by Thread Creative Company
"If You Really Knew" is track 2 from Joel's new album "Layers"
https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/joelansett/layers-2
Joel’s Notes:
It’s a rare joy to have a one take performance captured like this. It’s honestly not something I would have had the confidence or resources to put together without Zack Wilson having the vision to make it happen. He brought a fearless desire to capture a one take performance and he put a dream team together to set up all kinds of lights and one serious camera. Dave Wilton graciously wore several hats by inviting us into his space, learning the songs, performing the songs, and then engineering and producing the audio in A+ quality. All that was left for me then was to perform the song 😅❤️ so thrilled to get to share this with you. I hope you love it and if it’s hitting home, feel free to help us share it far and wide 🌻
Zack Wilson Director's Notes:
In over a decade of collaborating with Joel, I have never been able to truly recreate the experience of being in a small room with Joel & an attentive audience. If you’ve been in one of those spaces, you know what I’m talking about. That was my primary goal - to bring that experience to the screen. To, if possible, remove the barrier of time and space and technology in order to connect the viewer to the song, and beyond that, the songwriting.
When talking through the project approach, I really encouraged Joel to do these in one take. That felt important. I wanted the honesty and vulnerability of the performance to match the same attributes in Joel’s songwriting. Joel obliged, and I’m so thankful for that. Dave Wilton - @aboyandhiskite - masterfully created the sound, including that beautiful reverb live in the room. Dave is a legend.
I worked with DP @josh.heinrich to develop the visual approach, and the theme was the same. Make choices that match the honesty and vulnerability of the performance. We settled on Cooke Speed Panchros for the history, warmth, and character that’s baked into the image. Shooting them on full frame left us with somewhere near 4:3 in the middle of the frame. We embraced that aspect ratio, knowing that it would allow us to keep more of Joel’s face and instrument in frame at any given time.
Josh, @colorado_gaffer, and I worked to create a unique look for each of the 3 performances.
LYRICS:
You throw your arms open wide and I extend my hand
I’m running out of excuses not to let you in
Call it the burden of the human race
My deepest longing and my deepest fear
Are exactly the same
If you really knew me
Could you really love me
I keep on hiding out and holding it in
If you really saw me
Would you really want me
I don’t know how to let you love me again
And I extend my hand
I hear us talking around the words we ought to say
I’ll be a sketch of myself for now to play it safe
Still I can feel you pulling on my heart
And I could tell you what I want in the end
But I’m lost in my head at the start
If you really knew me
Could you really love me
I keep on hiding out and holding it in
If you really saw me
Would you really want me
I don’t know how to let you love me again
And I extend my hand
