The music video I have chosen to present is The Scientist by British rock band Coldplay.
Directed by Jamie Thraves, this music video debuted in 2002 prior to the first leg of the A
Rush Of Blood to the Head tour, named after the album the song was featured on.
Around this time, Thraves knew he wanted to create a music video that began and ended
happily, with the final product being about “rewinding to that happy ending”. After hearingColdplay’s The Scientist repeating the phrase ‘go back to the start’ in its chorus, Thraves knew he had found a song to match his idea. The music video was inspired by SpikeJonze’s 1995 music video for The Parcyde’s Drop, however Thraves knew he wanted to add an extra layer to the concept of a reverse narrative. At first, the idea was to have the narrative without the artists in the music video, but lead singer Chris Martin was so enthusiastic about it that he ended up taking the time to learn how to sing the song backwards so that he could appear to be singing as the film reverses. In reality, the film runs forward while the film of Martin singing runs backward. Having Martin commit to performing in this way was the distinctive difference Thraves needed to make his video truly unique.

The music video was filmed in London on a relatively small budget. Martin appears in a simplistic outfit with neutral make up alongside Irish actress Elaine Cassidy (whom only appears in the video for a short time). There is no use of special FX make up to dramatise the injuries resulting from the car crash that supposedly kills Cassidy’s character. All of the extras (the basketball players and bike riders) were locals. The most expensive part of this video would have been the various camera set ups needed for the tracking and overheard panning shots used in the railway scenes, as well as the visual effects used to portray the car crash and the subsequent event of Cassidy’s character falling through the windscreen.

By 2003, The Scientist music video had won the MTV Video Music Awards for Breakthrough Video, Best Direction and Best Group Video prior to being nominated for a Grammy in 2004 for Best Short Form Music Video. Despite losing the Grammy to Johnny Cash’s video for Hurt, The Scientist music video still earned glowing appraise and the song has remained relevant through its various adaptations in Coldplay concerts, covers and its use in TV shows such as Glee. Christ Martin even directed a parody of the video for MadTV entitled The Narcissist.

The Scientist is a hauntingly beautiful song, and I think this music video matches the
melancholic tone perfectly by combining a cautionary tale as the narrative with simple but effective editing. This music video has stuck with me ever since I saw it one Saturday morning on RAGE. I love the cinematography and think the concept is brilliant. In working with my group towards our own music video, I hope to explore unique ways to use and manipulate editing techniques to take risks and try something new.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB-RcX5DS5A