06 Jan 2022

VFX for Kelsea Ballerini's "HEARTFIRST"

In April 2022, this Ballerini’s song was the most added-track into rotation – around 80 radio stations added “HEARTFIRST” into their daily playlist upon release. And just in the spirit of the uplifting country hit, the song is accompanied with a sweet lovely music video in the form of a serendipitous love story.

Kelsey Ballerini 'HEARTFIRST'

Ballerini’s new music video for ‘HEARTFIRST’

‘HEARTFIRST’ tells a story of the ever-recurring conflict of mind and heart. We’ve all been there – when we go for love against all odds, not listening to logical arguments, but rather trusting our gut feeling. “That voice in my head says to slow down // But it can't see the way you're looking at me right now”, a perfect depiction of the situation is right there in the ‘HEARTFIRST’ lyrics.

No wonder that in the music video Kelsea is lifted into the clouds, going on the rollercoaster high in the sky, taking a gamble and rolling dice on the odds of winning a guy, eventually taking a leap of faith and falling from the skies right back on the earth. Here’s where her love interest is looking at her, his smile prompting Kelsea to make a first move.

visual effects for Kelsey Ballerini 'Heartfirst'

Shooting process of Kelsea Ballerini’s ‘HEARTFIRST’

Ballerini was actively involved into the shooting process. She was the master behind the ideas in the video, she was also extremely productive – the whole shooting of ‘HEARTFIRST’ was taken in one day! The site was located in Nashville, Tennessee with a local team – no wonder, as Kelsea is herself a Tennessee-native.

Fun fact about the video: the team considered a real tiger to be used on the set. But if you don’t know, filmmaking is all about last-minute tweaks, so the tiger was eventually composited onto the original footage. By the way, quite realistic work from your truly FRENDER team.

visual effects for Kelsey Ballerini 'Heartfirst'

As we mentioned earlier, ‘HEARTFIRST’ is about having your head in the clouds. Not because it’d be harder to hear the reasons of Kelsea’s skeptical mind, but because love takes her to cloud nine. FRENDER created beautiful shots of Ballerini flying and rollercoasting high in the sky, so lovely that viewers would unintentionally smiling while watching the video (we checked!).

Watch ‘HEARTFIRST’ by Kelsea Ballerini with FRENDER VFX

We strongly believe into the famous ‘It’s better to see something once that to hear about it a thousand times’, so please watch ‘HEARTFIRST’ by extremely talented Kelsea Ballerini and check out VFX shots we created, inspired by her vision.

Watch ‘HEARTFIRST’ by Kelsea Ballerini with FRENDER VFX