February 11, 2016

Watch this: OK Go "Upside Down & Inside Out" — and maybe like me you'll be laughing by the end.

OK Go - Upside Down & Inside Out

Hello, Dear Ones. Please enjoy our new video for "Upside Down & Inside Out". A million thanks to S7 Airlines. #GravitysJustAHabit

Posted by OK Go on Thursday, February 11, 2016

30 comments:

Etienne said...

A lot of talent there! Original, fun to watch, and I love all the moves.

Paul Snively said...

Wait... do they actually expect anyone to believe that was filmed in an actual aircraft, without manipulation? To name just the most obvious problem, the famous Vomit Comet only simulates weightlessness for 20-25 seconds at a time. To name the second most obvious, there are numerous instances in the video where the effects of either gravity or inertia (granted that you can't tell the difference without an external frame of reference—thanks, Albert) are working in inconsistent directions.

There's a lot more, but it all adds up to: not buying it.

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

re those S7 stewardesses? If so, that is pretty accurate description of the smoothness if an S7 flight. Flying S7 into Novosibirsk us like riding a bronco.

Anonymous said...

There's no flight profile that could provide zero G's for this length of time, nor is there any way the balls could be stuck to the floor while the caterwauling hipsters are flying through space.

averagejoe said...

It got better when I turned the sound off, but still no laughs and overall- meh....

Xmas said...

No Green Screen or wires, but that doesn't mean there weren't edits and cuts. I love the practical effects these guys do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MejbOFk7H6c

Fernandinande said...

Howcum not "downside up and outside in"?

MisterBuddwing said...


It's as labored as it is ingenious (not unlike "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" - you never lose sight of the effort involved, which takes a bit of the fun out of it).

Wince said...

Don't planes simulate zero gravity by flying repeated undulating up and down patterns, so that you could string together more than 30 seconds on one flight?

They may cut and hold the video during the troughs and rises, and resume from the peak through the drop.

Titus said...

those flight attendants can really spread their legs in the video.

Carter Wood said...

Excellent Adweek piece explaining the video and OK Go's decision to go to Facebook for its release.

And yes, there were cuts and computer manipulation to smooth over the transitions between them:

Is this all one take?
"Yes, it's all one continuous take, but there's a bunch of time removed. Again, the longest stretch of zero gravity we can get is about 27 seconds, and then it takes five minutes to reset to do it again. We wanted the whole video to take place in weightlessness, so we designed the routine in 27 second chunks, scenes that start and end right at the moments gravity is going and coming back. After we filmed a scene, when gravity returned, we stayed as still as we could for the five minutes of the plane climbing, and then began the next scene as soon as we were weightless again. When we were done, we chose our best take and cut out all of the long reset periods, so the routine is continuous and feels seamless."

Smilin' Jack said...

Looks like they didn't go all the way to zero G but to maybe 5% G...that's why stuff is bouncing along the floor while the performers are leaping through the air. The fake part is the stewardi--real stewardi don't look like that.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

And the award for editing goes to...

That's going to be one hell of a "Making Of" video, man.

Obligatory: Archer - Vomit Comet

virgil xenophon said...

An inventive band. I've always liked them since the Toronto-based blogger "Raymi the Minx" introduced me to their vid "A million ways to be cruel." in 2009. (via Merkley???--who's now strictly on flicker)

virgil xenophon said...

erm, flickr

Curious George said...

OK Go for Meade
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHlJODYBLKs

Freeman Hunt said...

They make the best music videos.

jr565 said...

They consistently make great videos. I like their first album a lot. There follow ups are good but have strange production values so the vocals always sound like they are recorded in a echo chamber.

But their videos have only gotten better. They have a great video with dogs that is just incredible to watch. And even when the video is not groundbreaking they still do really cool thinks with color and movement.

jr565 said...

Curious George.
Yep White Knuckles is the video I was referring to. I could watch that 50 times in a row. And i like the song a lot more after watching the video.

john said...

So the 5 minute intervals between the 27 second zero G takes would seem to allow enough time to clean the vomit from, everywhere.

Bill Peschel said...

This is beautiful, and the fact that they snipped together 27-second scenes makes it even more incredible.

As I grow older, I'm thrilled to be able to be charmed by inventive, creative work and resist the urge to defecate all over it just because it didn't give me exactly the child-like delight they should give to me because they can read my mind.

(I only wish I could do more to restrain myself in political discussions, but I'm tryin', Ann. I'm tryin' real hard to be the shepherd.)

Static Ping said...

Awesome.

Don't care how they did it.

Knowing OK Go, there will be a "how it was made" video to follow.

Static Ping said...

Let me rephrase. I do care how they did it, in the sense that I like to see how they made something this awesome. I don't care if this was one take, or edited chunks, or if they lied and it is all CGI and wires. It remains awesome.

Pete said...

What's amazing is it only took Althouse commenters two comments in to disparage this wonderfully inventive video.

Douglas B. Levene said...

Awesome video by great band. Thanks, Ann!

Saint Croix said...

Amazing! I loved it.

Darrell said...

The paint balloons took it a step too far. Now clean it up!

Phil 314 said...

The paint splatters harken back to the video "this too shall pass",

Edmund said...

Don't planes simulate zero gravity by flying repeated undulating up and down patterns, so that you could string together more than 30 seconds on one flight?

Yes. I worked on a project that did some experiments on NASA's Vomit Comet, but wasn't chosen to babysit the equipment on the flights, alas. They can also simulate Martian and Lunar gravity force by modification of the parabolas.

ex-madtown girl said...

You must get tired of the old coots in the comments section from time to time.