Video grows into glorious short film
Wayne Marshall’s song, ‘Glory to God’, which exudes a deep connection between God and man, has been dominating the music space inside and outside the church for the past few months. The visuals were released more than two weeks ago, and, according to Marshall, the music video is changing lives, much like the song did.
The music video’s length alone separates it from what is usually released by a local entertainer. The ‘short film’, as it has now been dubbed, is 14 minutes long. While that may seem a little too much to some, Marshall indicated that it syncs perfectly with the song and the messages he hopes to bring across..
Although the video turned out to be a short film, that was never Marshall’s intention. “I had a script for the video that was very set to the plan of four minutes, the regular song length. (Director) Jay Will heard that story I came up with and came in and said: ‘Bwoy Wayne, we coulda add different stories, different theme crossing over reminiscent of the movie called Crash,” he explained. “I said ‘Yow, that was one of my favourite movies, so it would be wicked if we could do that and make everybody life be connected, but dem not realising it until the end’. He said it could be a short film as opposed to a video because of all the ideas that I’m getting. Right there and then we wrote out the script and it kinda just came together in a very divine way, just like how the song came,” Marshall said.
SPIRITUAL ANTHEM
Marshall has had several encounters with persons who have been inspired by it. “The reaction has been amazing. Everywhere I go in the streets people are talking about the video. When I read the comments on YouTube, everybody is saying how it’s moving them in the spirit. I hear one man say: ‘Mi dash weh mi gun, mi done wid it, da video yah make mi change me ways, pray for mi’,” he said. “Some people say they have found it in themselves based on the visuals, and based on the song, to forgive the murderers of their children – and people aren’t making these things up. It’s been overwhelming. We were under a lot of pressure to get the visuals right and synchronise with the song based on the fact that everybody had the song as this spiritual anthem. I feel like Jay Will outdid himself and everybody just came together and did a great job and I’m really grateful,” Marshall said.
Marshall has dedicated the short film to his late father, who believed in him and the impact the song would have. “I remember telling daddy that I found the song that would change my life and he was like ‘aright, make wi see’, and eventually he got a taste of what the song was doing in Jamaica.
He felt the movement and he was moved by it and he’s no longer here, so anything I can dedicate to his life and memory, I’ll do it. I am so grateful for everything he did for me and I’m just trying to keep his memory alive in whichever way I can,” Marshall said.