The music video for "Yellow" was filmed at Studland Bay, near Swanage, England. The area is known for its beautiful beaches and is a National Trust location. The video is very minimalistic and simple, featuring only lead singer Chris Martin singing the song as he walks along the beach. He is wearing a raincoat with his hair wet, suggesting that it had just rained. The video is one continuous shot with no cuts. Also, the entire sequence is in slow motion.
Originally it had been intended for the whole band to appear in the video, in a sunny setting. However, band member Will Champion's mother's funeral was held on the day of the recording, so it was decided that only Martin would appear in the video. The weather also opposed the original plan, with harsh winds and rain instead of the sunny day that had been envisioned. It had also been originally intended for there to be moving stars in the sky, as if in a time-lapse. The directors however agreed that this would have been too distracting for the focus of the video, which was Martin.
The video was directed by James & Alex of The Artists Company. The video was shot at 50 frames per second, twice the regular speed. At the shoot, Chris Martin had to sing the song at double speed so that the audio and visual content would sync up. The final product is slowed to 25 frames per second, giving the slow motion effect of the video. The transition of the video from night to day was achieved through telecine. During the transfer from film to videotape, an operator manually adjusted the amount of lighting for blue in the beginning, red in the middle, and yellow at the end of the video. Shooting was completed in a single day, with five takes for the video.
Yellow is the track that propelled Coldplay onto the commercial airwaves and into the headphones of millions.
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