Park Pictures director Vincent Haycock interprets the incredibly personal new single by Sir Paul McCartney to a beautiful and poetic end. The song, “Early Days” is an intimate reflection by McCartney about his childhood with John Lennon. Haycock takes one of the most important friendships in the history of music and draws a parallel to the beginning of many childhood friendships, which may not have the same ending but start the same with a bond and passion. Johnny Depp also appears briefly in one of the jam sessions, marking his third cameo in a Paul McCartney video.
Vince explains “Their (Paul & John’s) story at its core is a universal one, two young kids who bond over their passion for music and form a band and friendship. This video is about them, and every band, and every kid who has suffered the ups and downs of starting a band, whether or not they became successful. The universality of their story was a big inspiration of setting the film in Mississippi during the 50s. This is a time period that inspired The Beatles – American Rock and Roll and the Mississippi Delta Blues of the 50s. Early Days is about the spirit and inspiration young musicians find in each other.”
“It’s a memory song for me, about me and John in the early days,” McCartney says in a Rolling Stone interview. “But Vince came up with this great idea: Instead of having young lookalikes of me and John walking the streets of Liverpool, guitars slung over our backs, and literally acting out the song, what if it was any two aspiring musicians? I thought that was such a cool idea.”
Vincent Haycock spent a month location scouting, and casting for the video’s primary storyline in Mississippi and Louisiana. He filmed the jam session between McCartney, Depp and other special guests in Los Angeles.
Prior music video work from Haycock includes award-winning pieces for Florence and the Machine, Raffertie and Calvin Harris, among others.
Credits:
Artist: Paul McCartney
Title: “Early Days,” 5:13
Commissioned by MPL Communications
Commissioner :: Paul McKee
Directed by Vincent Haycock
Produced by Anna Rau & Corbett Jones
UK Agent :: Alexa Haywood
Director of Photography :: Evan Prosofsky
Production Designer :: Jay Hougaard
Stylist :: Natasha Newman-Thomas
Casting Director :: Carmela Makela
LA Casting :: Lisa Roth @ HMH Casting
New Orleans Casting :: Laurel Coyle @ The Cast Station
POST PRODUCTION
Editorial Support from Whitehouse Post
Editor :: Vincent Haycock & Shane Reid
Producer :: Joanna Manning
Telecine from Ntropic
Colorist :: Arnold Ramm
Producer :: Jordan Freedman
Special Thanks to the Natchez Convention and Visitors Bureau