Arcade Fire released the music video of their 2010 song “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)” yesterday, and as I consider putting together a best music videos of the year list, this video unlike anything I’ve ever seen, or better yet experienced, just jumped to the top of my list.
It’s an interactive web based music video directed by Vincent Morisset (he also directed this year’s “Inni,” an art house concert film) in which the viewer makes the video come alive by dancing or moving in front of a web cam, and it can be found at www.sprawl2.com. It’s constructed using still frames and HTML such that as the user moves faster or slower to the song, the characters on screen move accordingly in their patterned choreography.
“For a long time, I’ve been wanting to do an interactive project without any interface. Something really primitive and fun. A web experience free of clicks or buttons,” Morisset said on his website. “The idea is to affect the pacing of the film with your movements. You are invited to dance in front of your webcam. There is no specific rules, no complicated “minority report” tricks. Just an invitation to move your arms or your butt on the music. The quicker you move, the faster the frames play. You slow down, the characters in the video slow down. You freeze and the video starts to loop on the beat, creating a new choreography in the choreography.” Continue reading “Arcade Fire Sprawl 2 Interactive Music Video”