12 browser windows start to dance / GOOGLE "All Is Not Lost"

The problem

This was the third installment of "Chrome Experiments," a project testing how far HTML5 could go. The partner was OK Go, the band that had already stunned the world with treadmills and Rube Goldberg machines. Right after the earthquake, Google Chrome Japan reached out to them, and the band agreed to take part in this experiment, putting their hopes into a song called "All Is Not Lost."

The insight

OK Go's Damian Kulash said something like: the old 20th-century lines between different kinds of expression don't matter anymore. The goal wasn't to make a music video that was just promotional material, but to make the video itself an experience. Google, too, didn't want to explain the new technology, they wanted to show it as something you feel. Turning a tech demo into something moving, that's really what this whole project came down to.

The idea

They filmed from beneath a transparent floor, then split that footage into 12 browser windows. OK Go's members and the dance troupe Pilobolus, dressed in emerald green, moved together to form kaleidoscope-like shapes. At the end, they spell out the message the user typed, using their feet. The director was Trish Sie, the band member's sister. They spent three weeks experimenting endlessly with lighting and choreography.

What happened

At the 2012 Cannes Lions, it won five Lions across the Film, Cyber, and Design categories. It was also nominated for a Grammy in the Music Video category. It was viewed millions of times, and a Nintendo 3DS version was released at the same time.

Afterthought

One thing that's stuck with me in an odd way: Damian once let slip that "dance belt straps aren't made for comfort." I think that's exactly it, all that unglamorous effort behind the scenes was part of taking the playfulness seriously. A piece that's an ad, an artwork, and a tech demo all at once, split across 12 windows and shown to us in full.

Awards

• Cannes Lions Gold 2012

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