03 Mar 2010, Posted by David Torcivia in Articles,Filmmaking,General, 0 Comments

OK Go’s Rube Goldberg Machine

Ok Go’s latest music video for “This Too Shall Pass” off of the album “Of the Blue Colour of the Sky” is a masterpiece of pre-production, meticulous planning, and steadicam work. The music video is a 3:50 long continuous shot of an intricate Rube Goldberg machine similar to the famous Honda Commercial Cog. Over the course of an empty two-story warehouse, the device winds it’s way around singing band members (through intricate steadicam work), down a floor, and to the ultimate conclusion while remaining carefully synced to the song – an impressive feat that has garnered nearly 1 million YouTube views in 48 hours. The machine was constructed by members of the band and Syyn Labs. The video was directed by James Frost, OK Go and Syyn Labs and produced by Shirley Moyers.

To offer a deeper look into the construction of this music video (which apparently cost $100,000), one of the constructors has started an AMA (Ask Me Anything, essentially a virtual interview) on social news site Reddit. She details the construction project and addresses the inevitable question of whether or not the video was actually shot in a single take (which she claims it was, though some debate remains as seen here). The page is a fascinating read and offers you the opportunity to interact with and ask questions of one of the builders of this intricately fascinating video.

[The Video on YouTube | The Interview on Reddit]