CMT.com (Dec. 24th 2002)

Blake Shelton Delivers “The Baby”

Blake Shelton spent most of a recent Saturday shooting video scenes for “The Baby” which is the first release from The Dreamer, Shelton’s second Warner Bros. album, which will be released Feb. 4.

This is the first in-studio opportunity for Shelton, having never done even a photo shoot in a studio. “This is the first time I’ve ever been inside the studio doing a full day’s work. I don’t know how I’ll come across with the lighting, the backgrounds and all this stuff.” His previous video was shot at the old Tennessee state prison in Nashville.

Shooting began early in the day at a Nashville production house under the direction of Peter Zavadil. “I put more weight on Peter Zavadil’s shoulders,” said Shelton told CMT.com during a break. “The last video we did was ’Ol Red,’ and we were right in there butting heads the whole time.” The two shared their ideas about the video treatment for “The Baby” with Shelton giving Zavadil a general direction of where he wanted the video to go.

Zavadil spoke highly of Shelton. “Being on camera, he’s very charismatic, plus he’s got good film-making instincts, good ideas. I love working with Blake.”

This time around, though, Shelton is a bit more relaxed. “I feel like I have the easiest job. All I have to do is set there and act like I’m singing a song.” All told, Shelton probably sang “The Baby” approximately 40 times during the day.

When Shelton’s parts were completed, other cast members’ parts were shot. Thirteen children, ages infant to 11, were part of the video cast. In the edit process, Shelton’s scenes were meshed with the other scenes to complete the video.