Park Pictures' Vincent Haycock Captures the Long Walk Out of Prison for U2

U2’s Bono chose acclaimed director Vincent Haycock of Park Pictures to helm the video for the band’s emotional new single “Song for Someone.” Starring Academy Award-nominee Woody Harrelson, the film viscerally captures the experience of an inmate who is startled by freedom when released from a lengthy prison sentence.

Known for forging powerful cinematic journeys in videos for the likes of Paul McCartney and Florence and the Machine, Haycock contrasts the inmate’s reflections in his tiny yet familiar cell, with his  ‘long walk to freedom’ through a fenced pathway in the open air. Defying stereotypes, Haycock’s prison landscape is one where guards are unimposing family men, and Harrelson the prisoner is not hardened but vulnerable in the face of the unfathomable change that freedom presents. The clip concludes with the inmate being reunited with his grown daughter whom he hasn’t seen since she was a tot, convincingly played by Harrelson’s real life daughter Zoe Harrelson.

Vince explains, “Bono is very respectful of the [directing] process. He was a close collaborator but at the same time let me pursue what I wanted. I did a lot of research and preparation to tell this story in an authentic way, and what I found was that some freed prisoners feel like they can’t survive on the outside. For some it’s harder on the outside than on the inside, because the regimented prison life is so ingrained. With the reunion of the freed father and his estranged daughter, I wanted to explore what these characters would be feeling.”

Haycock shot the video on location in California in two days and edited the video himself. Some of the extras he cast for the prison setting are former prison guards.

Haycock notes that he is excited to be among a new generation of filmmakers at Park Pictures. Prior music video work from Haycock includes award-winning pieces for Florence and the Machine, Raffertie and Calvin Harris, among others.