Apparently the world has been waiting for new material from Arcade Fire for quite some time, now. At the beginning of this week, though, they released a new single in mp3 format, but also as an interactive music video.
Just a Reflektor, as the song is called, has a more than impressive music video that was created as part of Google’s Chrome Experiments. If all the bands out there would release such incredible videos after taking a break, the music industry would have a totally different face. What this music video basically does is enable the spectators to participate in it. Do you want to be just a reflector? Get your smartphone and visit the Just a Reflektor website.
As mentioned before, this music video is part of Chrome Experiments, so it’s only logical that the website only works on Google’s browser. Upon getting there, you will have to also visit it from your smartphone’s browser. On this side, it does not matter what browser you use, as any of them will do the trick. On my Android device, I tested this using Opera Mobile, but Dolphin Browser, Chrome or Firefox for Android should do the trick, too. In case you don’t want to use your smartphone as a reflector, the website allows the use of a mouse instead. Next, you have to enter the 5 letter code in your smartphone’s browser, and after that, click Start in Chrome.
So what’s all this about being just a reflector? Well, at first your smartphone is perceived by your webcam as one. You also get to play with wireframe later on, and at the end of the video, the smashed display that you see in Chrome will be the image seen through your webcam. The music video is not the only amazing thing about this experiment. The song is pretty catchy, too!
Below is a behind the scenes video, in case you want to find out more details about how Arcade Fire and their team brought the Just a Reflektor music video to life:
The actual music video of the Reflektor single can be watched below. I don’t know why Arcade Fire didn’t want the following video to be a Chrome Experiment, but if they wanted to do something entirely new, we can’t blame them, can we?
If you liked this post, please check the Halo music video and Jon Marco’s music video that features all sort of geeky movies from the ’80s.
