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Taylor Swift Will Add to Growing List of Single-Shot Country Music Videos

The video for Taylor Swift's new single, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," will debut Thursday night (Aug. 30) on CMT, MTV, and VH1.

According to a notice posted on the Big Machine website, the video is directed by Declan Whitebloom and will feature Taylor in five different outfits--all shot unedited with one camera in a single take. 

If you can't wait until Thursday for the video's official unveiling, a short preview clip has been released that shows Taylor and a group of friends dancing happily to the 'girl power' song's bouncy beat. 

 

Complicated single-take videos obviously take some serious planning--just as such artists as OK Go, Erykah Badu, and Death Cab For Cutie. Though one-take videos have been around in rock music at least since Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues" in 1965, they haven't been as prevalent in country.

Toby Keith's ACM Award-winning "Red Solo Cup" has the appearance of a single-shot video, but watch it again and you'll see that it includes numerous edits.

Toby Keith - Red Solo Cup (Unedited Version) by TobyKeithVEVO on YouTube

Country, though, does have at least a handful of true single-shot music videos.

Craig Campbell's 2012 single "When I Get It" offers a humorous, on-the-ground perspective on the financial hardship many people are going through. The single-shot video for the song is fun while adding visual impact to Craig's message.

Craig Campbell - When I Get It (Official Music Video) by Craig Campbell on YouTube

The North Carolina band Delta Rae produced a one-take video that doesn't feature choreography anywhere near as fancy as what OK Go has done, but it is single-shot medley feature four of their songs: "Morning Comes," "If I Loved You," "Is There Anyone Out There," and "Bottom of the River."

Delta Rae One Take Live (Medley) by Songkick on YouTube

And in the video for Shooter Jennings' recent single "Outlaw You," director Blake Judd shows Shooter walking down a city street singing his song about all the so-called outlaws he sees populating today's country scene, and comparing them to what his father (Waylon Jennings) and others accomplished in the '60s and '70s. "Country ain't just about where you're at," Shooter sings, "It's about being true to what's inside of you."

Shooter Jennings - Outlaw You [OFFICIAL VIDEO] by Shooter Jennings on YouTube

Do you have any favorite one-take music videos? Or know of other country titles we missed? Share them in the comments below.

Watch the world premiere of Taylor Swift's video for her single "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" on Thursday, Aug. 30 at 8pm ET on CMT.com, MTV.com, and VH1.com. Taylor will also give a live introduction to the video at 7:49pm on MTV.

- Kurt Wolff, CBS Local

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