Israeli artists bag VMA for Coldplay music video

MTV celebrates Vania Heymann, Gal Muggia’s ‘brilliantly weird’ visual effects in ‘Up&Up’ clip

Israeli directors Vania Heymann and Gal Muggia on Sunday won best visual effects for the music video to Coldplay’s “Up&Up” at the MTV Music Video Awards in New York.

The song from Coldplay’s “A Head Full Of Dreams” album has amassed over 75 million views on YouTube since being posted on May 16.

The Israeli artists worked with the visual effects company GloriaFX to make the video, which features surreal scenes such as synchronized swimmers in a teacup leaping off a diving board into a pool of puffy white clouds and a volcano popping popcorn.

Chris Martin, front-man for the British rock band, told the Radio station Beats 1, “I think it’s one of the best videos people have made,” Hebrew daily Haaretz reported.

“It’s made by these Israeli guys. These young guys,” continued Martin. “I can’t believe that that’s our video. If that was someone else’s video, I’d be so jealous.”

The “Up&Up” video, with its turtle swimming through a New York City subway station and a baby crawling across the wing of small airplane, was described by the Metro UK as “brilliantly weird.”

Heymann and Muggia were also nominated for best director, but lost out on that award to the artist of the night, Beyonce, who took home seven awards, including video of the year.