THIS TOO SHALL PASS TOO: You may like OK Go and you may not, but you cannot deny that they make videos that demand your attention. A month or so ago, I posted about their one-shot video for "This Too Shall Pass," as filmed and performed with the Notre Dame marching band. Now here's an
entirely different version of the video, featuring mostly the album version of the song (with a
really cool cameo by some ambient sound from the video), and the greatest Rube Goldberg machine I've ever seen. When you can make a Rube Goldberg machine that is humorous, visually arresting, occasionally musical, and actually builds to a crescendo (notice how the moving parts get bigger, and the collisions get more explosive), you are at the top of your game.
I'm a long0time Rube Goldberg fan, so of course I loved it. One of the most genius things, to me, was that the guys appear in the paint-soaked outfits all the way through, and at the end, you get to find out why. Loved that.
ReplyDeleteyeah, it's a Rube Goldberg contraption that actually solves a mystery. A work of engineering genius. The tinkling of the glasses in the middle was inspired too. On the album those are chimes.
ReplyDeleteFor those who are RG fans and want to infect their kids, I heartily recommend I Spy School Days. The book is so far above the rest of the I Spy series, and includes four perfect layouts - one alphabet one, one letter one, one Venn Diagram, and one Rube Goldberg machine. I have bought about seventeen over the years, and while I generally buy it for people about 42 inches high, I have seen it entrance people both shorter and taller.
ReplyDeleteWhen my Dad was an engineering student at Berkeley in the 50s, there were a number of original Rube Goldberg sketches in the department but they had been filed and disappeared and forgotten about. But in the last couple of years - through his work with the department these days - my Dad made it a crusade to have them dug back up and rehung. I still have to go check them out.
ReplyDeleteI remember that The Bravery did a RG device that was pretty clever for "An Honest Mistake" -- with the ending fairly appropriate. But this is so much better. Loved the crescendo, the length of the RG and the creativity. High merit points all around.
ReplyDeleteRelatedly, I thought this was kind of interesting.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/20/opinion/20kulash.html
http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2010/03/things_that_are_great_day_cont.html
ReplyDeleteNice follow up by Miss Ali here, including links to the making of videos, and a shocking It's Your Move reference.
[Note for those who are about to go check...No, It's Your Move is still not on DVD/Hulu/etc...Grr arg.]
Lou W - I did the same thing. I loved that show growing up...
ReplyDeleteThe chimes were my other favorite part. the fact that they got this thing to work so that not only played the right thing, but did it at the right time in the song is incredible.
ReplyDeleteThat was a great way to wrap up a busy day -- thanks, Isaac!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. I wondered how many times they had to try it to get that at the right moment.
ReplyDeleteVery much so. And it explains all those "at the request of such-and-such, this video is no longer embedded" messages I've been confused by.
ReplyDeleteAlso, if you have the bandwidth and video capacity, I strongly suggest the HD version, which makes it much easier to follow the series of interactions, especially at the beginning.
ReplyDeleteI just want to say that I was one of the first 40,000 views on the video, since this is bound to get tens of millions.
ReplyDeleteIf you are in Los Angeles, and OK Go is your thing, then clear space on your calendar from 8p-12a this Friday. They're doing an aucostic set at LACMA West, along with a viewing of the video, displaying pieces from the device used in the video, and ending the night with a DJ set by OK Go's Tim Nordwind.
ReplyDelete$20 bucks gets you in the door, seems like it could be an interesting night, and did I mention photo ops, yes there will be photo ops!
(and it's a fundraiser for LACMA Muse, so that's not a bad thing, either)