The Academic - "Not Your Summer"

Everyone knows music videos are an art form, but sometimes you need to know the backstory to really appreciate them. That’s certainly the case with BBDO New York’s live animated experience for Irish indie band The Academic. You may remember that BBDO already joined forces with the band back in 2017 for a kaleidoscopic video that exploited the slight delay on Facebook Live. This time, on July 15, the agency took the group’s jangly guitar pop hit “Not Your Summer” and (with the help of the animation studio Open the Portal) created a live animated video using Google Slides. It worked because on Google Slides, any changes you make are visible instantaneously to all those who are sharing the document. Even so, pulling off the feat required 20 people, all adding content in a virtuoso online choreography. At this rate, The Academic will displace OK Go as the kings of innovative music videos.