Hasta La Ideas

We tend to think of interactive music videos as a clever way to lure audiences into listening to a new track. But as this excellent new promo for Bob Dylan’s classic song Like A Rolling Stone shows, they can be a great showcase for old music too…

Like A Rolling Stone didn’t have a music video to promote it when it first came out in 1965, so this serves as its first promo, and its release coincides with the launch of Dylan’s The Complete Album Collection Volume 1, a boxed set of 35 studio titles.

The video, which can be watched here, is set up like a mini TV screen, with users invited to flick through the channels using their computer’s up and down keys. The shows featured are littered with stars of US reality TV or gameshows – Drew Carey from The Price Is Right is up there, alongside Jonathan and Drew Scott of Property Brothers and the characters from Pawn Stars on the History Channel. The twist is that while they all look like they are taking part in their normal shows, they are in fact mouthing along to the lyrics of Like A Rolling Stone, not matter how incongruous the setting. The trailer below gives you a hint of how it looks:

The video features 16 different channels, so the experience of watching it varies with every viewing. The charm of the project lies both in the surprising appearances by the TV stars and in its seamless production, with viewers able to shift between the channels with none of the usual buffering or slowness that can often hamper the experience of playing with interactive videos. The video is directed by Vania Heymann and is hosted by Interlude, a new patented technology platform; in many ways it serves as a showcase for the platform’s capabilities.

Interlude partnered with Pulse Films and Walter Pictures to create the films, and the plan is to keep adding to the content so that the video continues to change over the coming weeks. To play with the full video, go to bobdylan.com.