Anton Corbijn and Hype Williams direct Coldplay
Viva La Vida video by Hype Williams
While some bands may scrabble to get one video made for a new single, Coldplay have two official ones for new single Viva La Vida, directed by Hype Williams and Anton Corbijn respectively. But are either of them any good? We’re not sure…
Viva La Vida video, directed by Anton Corbijn
Both the videos reference the album cover of Viva La Vida (Delacroix’s painting Liberty Leading The People), with the Hype Williams version (shown top) finding the band playing in a painterly setting, while Corbijn’s shows Chris Martin dressed as a king carrying around the same Delacroix painting. The latter is also a remix of/tribute to Depeche Mode’s video for Enjoy The Silence, also by Corbijn - but we’re not sure what the link is here, apart from the director.
Depeche Mode, Enjoy The Silence, directed by Anton Corbijn
As is so often the way with Coldplay, their work brings to mind Radiohead, and in particular the latter’s recent promotion of In Rainbows with lots of films and other stuff for fans. But Coldplay’s videos lack the intimacy and immediacy that Radiohead’s films have, making the whole enterprise seem a straightforwardly commercial one. Especially when combined with Mark Romanek’s Apple ad for the album, released earlier this year, and the fact that EMI seem to be scrambling to remove the videos from YouTube as soon as they’ve been put up…
Coldplay Apple iTunes ad, directed by Mark Romanek
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Two words - oh dear.
Misguided and poorly thought out I’d say. I’ll be they are sick of the constant Radiohead comparisons, but again they’ve come up way short. Not that sales will be affected all that much, but what about legacy?
Good little video Coldplay’s marketing team should have watched can be found here:
Edward Lamb
05/Aug/08, 12:30 pm