Behind The Scenes: Phoenix - "Trying To Be Cool" by CANADA

"We wanted Thomas at some point to be singing holding a chimpanzee." - Nicolás Méndez, CANADA

Phoenix's latest music video for their track "Trying To Be Cool" was directed by CANADA and used the unusual and challenging premise of filming the entire thing live in full takes of the song, with two film crews continuously swapping shots roughly every 25 seconds. This method turned it into sort of relay race between the two crews as they switch back and forth capturing their footage before a timer runs out.

Naturally something as complex as this took quite a lot of planning and skill when it came to executing it. In the behind the scenes video above CANADA talk us through this impressive, and risky, undertaking. They recount how the concept came about from a mix of thinking about doing a live music video along with a desire to experiment with the format. "We have a language but we don't always want to be doing the same." they remark.

To help with the filming they mapped out what they were going to shoot on a timeline so they knew what needed to be captured and how long they had to capture it. The end result makes for a very memorable experience and as the directors mention, creating the right vibe in a music vid is integral, because a good (or really bad) video and the song become entwined in an eternal embace, forever fused in the minds of all those who watch it.

"We feel that when you do a good music video you have the feeling that it's something that lasts a little bit more," CANADA note. "And on the other hand, it lasts forever."