Adventure of a Lifetime

Synopsis

The CGI animated video features a group of chimpanzees that come across a Beats Pill speaker under a pile of leaves. The primates then discover the power of music and form a band that resembles the members of Coldplay.

The video begins with a similar layout with Coldplay's 2011 music video, "Paradise". As it opens, four chimpanzees (played by the band members) are sitting in a forest. The opening verses begin after a chimpanzee (played by Jonny Buckland) finds a Beats Pill speaker under a pile of leaves. Another chimpanzee (played by Chris Martin) listens to the music and calls the rest of the group (played by Guy Berryman and Will Champion) to gather. It then slaps its chest and jumps to a path inside the forest alone.

The character sings the song and swings on the willow tree vines. Then, the four chimpanzees dance together during the chorus. After the chorus, they find an electric guitar, a bass and a drum set. The chimpanzees bang on the instruments before they realize their proper use. The characters play the instruments and form an "ape band". Buckland's character gains a hat and Berryman's gains an earring.

During the bridge of the song, the band is surrounded by other chimpanzees (also played by the band). The rest of the video features the dance movements of the other chimpanzees and the performance of the ape band. At the end of the video, Martin's character climbs up to a tree and overlooks the view of the forest which also features some Indian temples, a reference to the Indian inspiration of the associated album, A Head Full of Dreams.

Background and production

According to The Guardian, the video was shot at The Imaginarium, where the reboot series of Planet of the Apes and parts of Avengers: Age of Ultron and Star Wars: The Force Awakens were filmed.^[9] English choreographer Holly Blakey was responsible for creating the band's dance moves.^[10]

Hannah Clark, the producer of the video commented, "As creatures go, chimps are one of the more difficult to animate. Not only are they quite human in their movement, but they are covered in hair. Add to this that we had no backgrounds shot, and we were asking an awful lot of any post-collaborator." The band's faces were covered in a special, reflective and light-catching make-up that allowed the computers to appropriately interpret the video feed and create renders of the chimpanzees' characters. The band members weren't playing real instruments, but similarly shaped objects that enabled creation of realistic body positions.^[9]

The animation, visual effects and motion design of the video was carried out by Mathematic – a Paris-based production company. Mat Whitecross filmed the band using a special camera. Each of band members also wore a head-mounted camera system that was configured into a three camera solution. The camera systems provided multiple video streams from which the production team was able to recreate 3D points.^[9]

Release

A 15-second teaser named "#AOALvideo November 27" was uploaded on the band's official YouTube account on 12 November 2015. The teaser consisted a short excerpt of the video, behind-the-scenes video and animated video of the single artwork. The geometric pattern and the representative pattern of the album, Flower of Life appeared at the end of the teaser. The music video was uploaded on the official page of the band at 8:00 a.m. (UK time) on 27 November 2015. On 29 November 2015, the video was uploaded on the official YouTube account.

Reviews

"Adventure of a Lifetime" received generally favourable reviews from music critics. Writing for Idolator, Bianca Gracie and Robbie Daw rated the song 7/10 and 8/10 respectively, stating that the song is "incredibly vibrant in an almost childlike, blissful way that gives such an energetic rush" and that it is "the best Coldplay single in seven years".^[12]

Rankings