OK Go have released an incredible music video – well, spectacle, for their single I Won’t Let You Down. They are riding the Uni-Cub, a self-balancing unicycle and they actually dance in formation with it! Shot in one take – it’s absolutely mind blowing! The video was filmed in Japan, in a huge warehouse outside Tokyo, with a lot of help from Honda. One comment on YouTube said “That’s the Japan 2020 Olympics opening ceremony already sorted.” And you will see how appropriate that comment is when you’ve watched the video.
(To watch this video in Creation 5, just tap here.)
In just one day the video has manage to notch up over 2.5 million views! OK Go have always been pioneering in their approach to videos but this one takes things to the next level. The four band members glide around the shot amongst dancers with umbrellas and some brilliant aerial videography. As well as the Uni-Cubs, Honda also contributed a “multi-copter” camera that was used to shoot the video.
Frontman Damian Kulash chose the director, Morihiro Harano, who then linked the band with Honda’s Ad Agency and Japanese choreographer Airman. Kulash said that the dancers were incredible to behold – “they were like automatons. One of [Airman’s] deputies would shout something to this whole battalion of Japanese schoolgirls, and they’d run like they were in military school, and nail it every time. It was a real treat to behold.”
Although the video was done in one shot it took 60 tries to get it right! It was filmed in double-time evoking Hollywood choreographer Busby Berkeley’s signature style. For the final scene, filmed in a parking lot, Harano cleverly set up huge speakers playing the song at half speed which “allowed for more precise movements even with the complicated choreography,” he said.
The single is from the bands 4th album – Hungry Ghosts which was released on October 14 via OK Go’s own label. Available for pre-order in the UK via iTunes and Amazon.
