Virtual Insanity

Jamiroquai "Virtual Insanity" (Jonathan Glazer, dir.)

I don't think I'm bursting any bubbles here, but the floor in Jamiroquai "Virtual Insanity" is not moving.

The set is on wheels and it got pushed around on a plain grey floor by a bunch of grips. The camera was locked to the set, so what you see is an illusion. Seems like the floor is gliding Jamiroquai singer Jay Kay around as he does his gypsy-funk dance thingamajig, but it's really the "room" and the camera moving in tandem.

What about the couches? Sometimes they're bolted to the wall, so they seem to be still [actually they're moving], and sometimes they seem to glide across the floor [actually they're still].

And the bird and the bugs? That, I have no idea. But everything else here is correct, as it comes straight from an interview with director Jonathan Glazer.

Also unexplainable? The bathroom attendant version, or how the video made any sense at all as a Cup of Noodles commercial.

And what's really amazing was how big Jamiroquai and this song got in 1997, all thanks to a clever clip that:

  • Won multiple MTV VMAS, including Video of the Year
  • Made Jamiroquai the 1997 verion of OK Go —there's even a certain congruity in how both OK Go and Jamiroquai had to recreate their famous video performances for the VMA stage
  • And essentially defined Jamiroquai for the general public