One shot music videos are hard. They usually depend on the charisma and camera presence of one artist, and can fall pretty flat or just seem lazy if not done right. However, when it works, it works really well.
For instance, Coldplay has done a lot of music videos, but the only one I seem to remember is "Yellow" from 2000, directed by James & Alex, a one shot video that stands out in a music video canon spanning more than a decade. So today, let's check it out.
The whole concept of this video is, of course, really simple: Chris Martin of Coldplay walks down a beach (more specifically, the beach at Studland Bay), and sings "Yellow" in slow motion. As he is walking, it turns from night to morning. The weather is pretty overcast, and Martin wears a raincoat and his hair is visibly wet.
According to Martin Roach in Coldplay: Nobody Said It Was Easy
The result is something that really doesn't look like anything Coldplay had done up to that point, or would ever do again. Chris Martin looks ridiculously young, even more so in his rain jacket and wet hair. In a few years he'd be the husband of Gwyneth Paltrow Chris Martin that we know today, but this video manages to capture him at a really youthful, energetic, and idealistic place. It's also a really stubbornly minimalistic video that forces us as viewers to concentrate on Martin. The beach is empty and the only change is the gradual change from night to morning. Martin stares right at us and we don't really have a lot of choice but to give him our attention.
This video also set the tone for Coldplay-as-Chris-Martin that Chris Martin, to his credit, has done a lot to dissipate over the years. "Yellow" was Coldplay's mega hit that they built the rest of their career on, and the video only featuring their lead singer probably didn't help the general public to see Coldplay as a four piece instead of just Chris Martin and four invisible band mates. Martin has stuck with his band mates over the years, however, instead of embarking on Rob Thomas-like solo gigs.
Coldplay has made some great videos since this one, but the video for "Yellow" managed to capture something special about Coldplay in the same way the song managed to. It's nowhere near their top most viewed video, but it's an important artifact from their begininngs.
