They apparated.
Right. The 4.2 seconds cover the video up until that point. The full last minute of the video seems to be a separate set of shots. It’s impossible to tell how long that is in real time but probably more than a few seconds.
Not that anybody will ever refer to the actual video as more than 4.2 seconds. They’ve cleverly fixed the number into peoples’ brains, even though it ain’t so.
Somewhere along the line I blocked Facebook videos, but here it is on YouTube.
They clearly ramped* it so the beats would hit the right millisecond, but that’s a quibble, it couldn’t be expected to be perfect without doing that. Brilliant as usual.
*Ramping is speeding up and slowing down the video
In the article I linked above they say that each section of the initial sequence has a different speed. But that the speed in each section is constant.
Yeah, I read the article after I wrote that. I was surprised they actually got each sequence to hit on the beats so accurately. Still, ramping in between segments was what I was talking about, each being at a different speed.
They were on Colbert Wed. night doing this song. You could occasionally make out snippets of the video on screens behind them. The live “effects” they had included glowy confetti and a balloon drop. Wow?
Yeah, without the video stuff they’re just a generic pop band.
Sure, they had a few seconds of real time before the jumping, but that was still only a few seconds. That’s not very long to cross the room and do another sequence, right on cue.
They didn’t need very long. It’s a small set built in a semi-circle. The other bandmembers just needed to run from where they were after their segments to the launching platforms just off camera. The first guy appears about seven seconds into the finale, and he probably had three seconds after his bit ended. Ten seconds at full hustle? Most anyone well enough to run could do 100 ft. That set is significantly smaller. Repeat for the other ones who show up a couple of seconds later than the last.
Sure, it requires hustle and timing. But I’d bet that was easier than learning how fast to spin the flipbooks.
Interesting. I was wondering about that myself. Somehow I skipped over it in the article. But it did seem to me that some parts of the song were more in-sync with the video than others. The main one to me is the balloon dropping part after the exploding watermelons. That whole section feels to me like it lags a little bit visually from the music and I was wondering why they didn’t sync it better in post. I guess if they’re keeping each section a constant speed, that’s why.
At any rate, I do wonder how they got both flip book sections just right. That’s the part that astounds me the most if it wasn’t done with any post trickery.
An incredible artistic and technical feat overall. Just amazing.
I think the flipbooks had to use some effects. Exploding items and balloon drops can be timed with electronic controls, but there’s no way a person can time the flips to the millisecond.
I don’t think they did time the flips to the millisecond. I think they just accepted that they wouldn’t synch perfectly.
The flipbooks are lip synching to the music. If it’s not perfectly matched, it’s pretty damn close.
I’m imagining one of the members sitting at the next band meeting. He’s crossing his fingers and repeatedly saying, “Uncomplicated performance clip! Just four guys and some instruments. Please, uncomplicated performance clip!” And then the lead singer strolls in and says, “All right, our next video will have 50 trained elephants, a guy who juggles chainsaws, and we film on the surface of Mars. Plus, one of us will be clinically dead for about 30 seconds, but I know a guy who can revive people, like, half the time. Who’s with me?”
That’s brilliant! The ultimate fake-out. 
It’s on their official youtube now, folks.
Youtube is better for me at work and many other places.
Previous threads on their videos (I know they spell the band name “OK Go,” but for SEO I’ve mashed 'em together as OKGo):
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=567496
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=739640
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=783911
Aaaaand here’s their latest:
Woohoo! Awesome, as always.[Moderating]
Elendil’s Heir’s post was originally a separate thread. Since it contains the useful links to the previous discussions, I’ve merged it in rather than closing it.
Huh. Thanks. I looked over the entire front page of CS and didn’t see anything about this video.
Is it just me, or does Dan (the drumer) look like he’s lost a lot of weight? When he’s sawing the paint cans from around 2:20, I didn’t recognize him until I re-watched it.