"I am not a performing monkey" said no Coldplay band member ever. Instead they put on motion sensors and other gear to create these CGI monkeys.
The British rock band's latest video for the track Adventures of a Lifetime, part of the new album titled A Head Full of Dreams, features a group of dancing monkeys – chimps to be precise – with some really stellar moves.
While the band members themselves are not present, the monkeys reflect their characteristic traits: lead singer Chris Martin's blue eyes and Johnny Buckland the lead guitarist's green hat can be spotted amidst the dancing primates.
The video originally started out with different characters – a chimp, pixie, a Mexican wrestler and robot – but then "in no time they all wanted to be an ape", reported The Guardian, featuring also behind the scenes footage of its making.
"The video, which took six months to make, began with a studio shoot with the band in full motion performance capture rigs. Animators Mathematic then collaborated with motion capture experts Imaginarium to transform the four musicians into 3D chimpanzees," the Coldplay website reports.
Rolling Stone magazine has likened the video to Stanley Kubrick's classic film 2001: A Space Odyssey. The video though also works as an advertisement for the Beats Plus portable speakers – the one that the monkeys discover right in the beginning.
The band seems to have a propensity for animals. Their 2011 track Paradise featured the members in elephant suits.
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