The Boy Who
Played The Harp
A Music Video By Sam Moore.
In May 2026, I entered my music video for Dave’s The Boy Who Played The Harp into my very first film festival, the Pop Shock Music Video Film Festival. I didn’t expect much going into it, especially with around 300 submissions from filmmakers and creatives from all over the world, each with their own incredible stories to tell.
After being officially selected, the film was screened at the festival in Los Angeles, which was already a huge achievement for me. To then find out that the music video had been nominated for an award — and ultimately went on to win the ‘Best of Fest’ Award — was something I genuinely didn’t expect.
Winning my first ever festival award for a project that I poured so much time, creativity and care into is incredibly exciting for me. More than anything, it’s a reminder that the work I’m creating can connect with people beyond my own circle, and that the ideas I have in my head can mean something to others too.
It’s given me even more confidence and motivation to keep pushing my work further, experimenting with new ideas and taking on bigger challenges. I’m incredibly proud of what this project has achieved, and more inspired than ever to see where the next one takes me.
This music video is a performance-led, narrative and conceptual piece that explores identity, morality, and generational responsibility. The video follows a young black man who questions what kind of person he would have been in key moments throughout history, and what that means for who he is today.
The video reflects on ancestry, faith, activism, and silence. At its core, it asks how progress is made and what responsibility the current generation carries.
The video is broken up into three different 'realms' or moments. The first is the performance element, where the character performs the song directly to camera much like the classic rap music video of today. The next element is surreal vignettes. This is where we see dream-like, surreal 'memories' that give conceptual insight into the song, and its deeper meanings. The third element focuses on objects that reflect power, strategy and belief.
Here we see items that create a story of change, power and evolution, matching the lyrics and message in the song. Boxing gloves, chess pieces, & the Bible are some examples of the objects included.
These three 'realms' are intercut with each other throughout the music video, creating a visually striking music video that puts importance on the message of the song.
I created this music video for my Final Major Project in Film & TV Production at South Essex College. When deciding on my project, I discovered that I really wanted to create something with genuine emotional and social weight. While listening to Dave's new album (also titled 'The Boy Who Played The Harp'), I realised that I could pair my love for music and my love for creating visually striking films, and make a music video that pushes the boundaries on social challenges, historical injustices.
The song (The Boy Who Played The Harp) touches on many historical events that shape the way we live today. From the Battle of Karbala, and stories from the Bible to Israel’s occupation of Gaza and the 7/7 London attacks, the song is fuelled by these painful stories. I wanted to match that with my music video, using strong imagery and metaphorical visuals to capture and present the struggle and pain people around the world have experienced throughout their lives.
The song also surrounds Dave's constant attempts to speak out and do more for people in challenging times. I wanted to do a similar thing with this project, telling more than just a story but aiming to spread awareness for standing in the face of adversity rather than just passive observation.