What would happen if you combined inventiveness and creativity with alt-rock music creators? You’d probably get something that resembles the likes of OK Go. OK Go is an American rock band from Chicago that’s shaken the internet with their elaborate and creative music videos. Their first music video that caught major attention, “Here It Goes Again,” featured the band executing a choreographed dance using treadmills. The low-budget work was a viral hit, and has grossed over 34 million views to date.
Other videos from the group include a Rube Goldberg machine that syncs to the song, a one-take video showcasing different optical illusions placed throughout a large warehouse, a motorized unicycle and umbrella flash mob, and even a performance in zero gravity. Their newest video, however, takes a slower approach.
It took intense calculations and planning, as well as fine-tuned pyrotechnics, but the result is nothing short of impressive. The video for their song “The One Moment” was uploaded on November 24, 2016. The video itself is about four minutes long, but most of it only takes place in about 4.2 seconds. No, it’s not a short song, it’s just slowed way down.
By using different frame rates and utilizing an extremely high-speed camera, the band was able to slow down the rapid fire of explosives and paint-spilling into a comprehensible, synchronized masterpiece. The untouched footage seems to go by in the blink of an eye, but every single moment is visible slowed down. Whether it be combusting guitars or paint cannons firing bright colors, it works with the song flawlessly.
Over 300 individual actions are used, and every single one of them is timed perfectly and is clearly distinguishable in the final product. Don’t let the loud, action filled original take feel overwhelming, because it’s quite breathtaking when each event unfolds in slow motion.
After the slow motion has gone through, the singer takes a walk while lip syncing at a normal pace with a yellow umbrella for the final breakdown of the song. The video was funded by Morton Salt’s “Walk Her Walk” campaign, which would explain the choice of the yellow umbrella resembling that of the company’s logo.
The video itself is accompanied by a rather average alternative rock piece with upbeat tones and lyrics depicting the importance of living the moments that really matter. While the song itself isn’t anything extraordinary beyond that, the video itself is definitely worth a watch. It’s currently live on YouTube, and it may be the most impressive four seconds ever recorded.