"Window in the Skies" (Modernista Version 1) [04:14]

Links to Video

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Video Information

This video is made up of other musicians pieced together to make it look as if they are performing the song. U2 appear, but in a crowd of people watching this concert. There is no footage of the Beatles in this initial cut of the video. When the video was being edited, permission to use their images had not yet been granted, and they were left out. They would appear in a second edit of the Modernista video.

Filming for Window in the Skies was directed by Gary Koepke, one of the founding partners in advertising agency Modernista!. New footage consisted of crowd scenes at the Corner Hotel in Richmond, Melbourne, where 300 lucky fans got to be part of a general admission crowd with Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen.

Mill Creative Director Angus Kneale discussed the process of editing the video: “Dan Williams along with a sizeable team at The Mill New York integrated all the footage and carefully finessed the lip-sync to match the lyrics. It was important to maintain the magic of the spot by producing mouths that felt natural and unaffected. A range of techniques were used, mostly simple time warps and speed changes. In some rare cases, complex mouth manipulations were performed in order to achieve the required sync. It was important that the work generated did not detract from the integrity of the video. In addition to the seamless effects work, the theme of light and red was used to tie everything together. Extra light effects were added to emphasize the melody of the piece and give the images their own rhythm.”

A whole lot of famous musicians make an appearance:
Frank Zappa, Billie Holiday, Simon & Garfunkel, Roy Orbison, Bjork, Ella Fitzgerald, Bob Marley, David Byrne (White shoes from “Stop Making Sense” video), Willie Dixon, Louis Armstrong, John Bonham (Led Zeppelin from “How the West Was Won”), Run DMC (Shoe), John Bonham (Led Zeppelin from “How the West Was Won”), David Bowie, Angus Young (AC/DC), Lou Reed, Frank Sinatra, John Stirratt (Wilco), Kanye West with John Legend, Mick Jones (The Clash), Nat King Cole, Audience at Led Zeppelin Concert (Live at the Royal Albert Hall 1970), Topper Headon (The Clash), Keith Moon (The Who), The Rolling Stones, Nina Simone, Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, Ozzy Osbourne, Four Tops, Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Elvis Costello, The Ramones, Jimi Hendrix, John Bonham (Led Zeppelin), Krist Novoselic (Nirvana), Dave Grohl (Nirvana), Kurt Cobain (Nirvana), Joe Strummer (The Clash), Johnny Cash, Iggy Pop, Thom Yorke (Radiohead), Mary J. Blige, Perry Farrel (Jane’s Addiction), Elvis Presley, Art Neville (?), Morrissey (The Smiths), Beck, Beyonce (Destiny’s Child), Elton John, The Police, Wu-Tang Clan, Sharon Corr (The Corrs), Beck, The Temptations (?), Jack White (The White Stripes), Meg White (The White Stripes), Sly and the Family Stone, Kurt Cobain (Nirvana), Bono, Larry, Adam and the Edge in the crowd, Charles Mingus, Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath), Arcade Fire, Keith Richards, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Chrissie Hynde (The Pretenders), Alicia Keys, Ray Charles, Little Richard, Joe Strummer (The Clash), John Bonham (Led Zeppelin), Sam Cooke, Keith Moon (The Who), David Bowie, Billie Holiday, Smokey Robinson, Elvis Presley, Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin), Vladimir Samojlovic Horovic (Mosca Recita, April 20, 1986), Ronnie Spector (The Ronettes), James Brown, Krist Novoselic (Nirvana), John Bonham (Led Zeppelin), MC5, Queen, Muddy Waters (?) (Newport Jazz Festival), Jackie Wilson, Beastie Boys, Parliament-Funkadelic, David Byrne (Talking Heads), Chuck D (Public Enemy), MC5, Flavor Flav (Public Enemy), Adam Clayton in audience, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bono in audience, Jay-Z, Larry in Audience, Patti Smith, Jesse Gallagher (Apollo Sunshine), Stevie Wonder, From Documentary: When We Were Kings, Krist Novoselic (Nirvana), Frank Zappa, Edge in Audience, John Entwistle (The Who from Monterey Pop Festival), Adam in Audience, Edge in Audience, Movie: The Constant Gardener, Frank Sinatra.

The video debuted on U2.com on the same day that the Nexus video, an alternate animated video, debuted on the page.

Video Shooting Locations

Additional Screen Captures

Video Credits

Director: Gary Koepke, Modernista!
Art Director: Nathan Naylor
Director of Broadcast: Charles Wolford
Associate Producer: Joyce Chen
Production Assistant: Alejandra Ravassa
Editors: David Brodie and Max Koepke
Assistant Editor: Julian Wadsworth
Post-Production: The Mill, New York
Creative Director: Angus Kneale
Producers: Verity Grantham and Dan Roberts
Lead Flame Artist: Dan Williams
Flame Artists: Dirk Greene, Richard de Carteret, Westley Sarokin, Gavin Wellsman, Mark French, Aska Otagke, Cole Schrieber
Smoke Artists: Jeff Robins and Tristian Wade
Combustion Artists: Jeanette Willford, Anu Nagaraj and Winston Lee
Telecine Artists: Fergus McCall and Sall Malfitano
Support Artists: Gigi Ng and Mary Casey
3D Animators: Ben Smith, Pete Hamilton, Kevin Ives, Jin Choi, Emily Meger, Wyatt Seavarese