The Greatest Rube Goldberg Chain Reaction Rock Video Ever Made

[Greg Tito]

The Greatest Rube Goldberg Chain Reaction Rock Video Ever Made

With dominoes, bowling balls, smashing TVs and paint guns, OK Go outdoes itself with the most elaborate chain reaction rock video ever created.


OK Go, a rock outfit originally from Chicago but now based in L.A., first gained notoriety in 2006 with the video for "Here It Goes Again." That video featured the band members dancing around on treadmills and was performed live at the 2006 MTV Music Awards and parodied everywhere from The Simpsons to my basement. That video helped popularize the Youtube phenomenon and currently ranks 49th in the most viewed videos on that site.

OK Go kept up their creative video trend with several other songs including the wallpaper version of marching band version of "This Too Shall Pass" [http://vimeo.com/8528144] which lifted my spirits every time I listened to it. There's something great about watching the band prance around a field with a full marching band.

But with this chain reaction video for the same song, the band have topped themselves, with a little help from filmmakers James Frost and Syyn Labs. I love watching Rube Goldberg machines [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rube_Goldberg_Machine] like this but the sheer scope of the chain reaction depicted in this video absolutely blows my mind.

For almost 4 minutes, my mouth hung open in awe and tears filled my eyes.

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[Katherine Kerensky]

Heh, I watched this earlier when it was posted on Escapist IRC
It truly is awesome Would of been terrible if there had been any mistakes...
It must have taken bloody ages to get something that complicated set up...
*watches again because it is so good*

 

[Windu23]

How come no one ever remembers "Get Over It?"

They've always been a pretty spiffy band. They just added their quirkiness to it.

 

[Dublin Solo]

Indeed, the protective goggles are mandatory! I was wondering at first why they were wearing them, but with all the stuff flying around (and the paint), it's self-explanatory.

And they actually built a LEGO car, that's a nice touch!

 

[Jack and Calumon]

Truly sheer dedication, and truly awesome design.

Calumon: I wanna go! I wanna go!

 

[j1-2themax]

I have to imagine that took a LOT of takes to get just right. Epic such as this cannot be created easily.

 

[Silk_Sk]

I'm a little unclear as to how some of those reactions happened. Unless something happened off camera that golf club at the beginning seemed to move on it's own. As did the globe after the TV smash and a few others. I won't call shenanigans but I would like an explanation for some of those.

 

[tsu-money]

Awesome. I wonder how many takes they went through before they got everything just right?

 

[Daniel Cygnus]

Wow. This could easily be one of my top 5 favorite videos ever. Thanks for showing me this, Escapist!

 

[facade]

Well, at 2:40 into the video you can actually see how many TV's were destroyed in the making of the video.

 

[Sporky111]

I think this easily tops the treadmill video. It looked like barely controlled chaos at some parts, especially the end, but it was pulled off damn well. I did like the part where they smashed the TV right after dragging one of the members through a pile of boxes.

 

[EMFCRACKSHOT]

This makes me want to play mousetrap XD
awesome stuff

 

[Jared]

Hat was certainly unique lol

 

[The DSM]

Its so beautiful...

*Sheds single tear*

 

[fd18e3d0-816e-11e4-b4a9-0800200c9a66]

Amazing, i wonder how many takes that took. I think my favorite bit was the swinging guitar and the glasses of water

 

[Jaebird]

As cool as the Rube Goldberg one was, I think I like the marching band version over it.

 

[reg42]

This is... So... Awesome...
I finally think I've seen God.. And he is a music video.

 

[buggy65]

The Mythbusters would cry if they saw this. Especially since it took them forever to get theirs to work.

 

[orangeapples]

I like how this was at least their second completed take.

They were covered in paint in the beginning, and in the background you can see the paint splatter thing.

 

[LeonLethality]

w-was that a newtons cradle with sledge hammers? I need one!

also this was by far the best thing I have seen in a long time.