How a S’porean crew pulled off that shot of Coldplay jamming on the Marina Reservoir in just 2 weeks

When Coldplay suggested shooting a segment of their music video on a barge in the middle of Marina Reservoir, Alex Teh was understandably a little “worried”.

The shoot date was just two weeks away, and launching a barge into the reservoir waters would have required a byzantine amount of paperwork, permits, and preparation.

The what-ifs were mounting: What if they couldn’t get the barge on the reservoir in time? What if the shoot was delayed?

The pressure was on Teh’s production service, The Hummingbird Co., to deliver.

While brainstorming for alternative ideas, a producer on Teh’s team stumbled across an image of a tennis tournament being held on a floating platform.

When the team dug around a little further, they discovered that the people who had worked on the tennis platform were also behind the iconic floating platforms for the artillery guns for Singapore’s National Day Parade.

That was when Teh’s team had their eureka moment: Why not a floating platform instead of a barge?

After all, such a platform would be smaller, easier to secure a permit for, and, crucially, a lot cooler looking than a barge.

The team then reached out to the contractors who built the platforms for NDP to figure out how the whole process would look.

Things then began to come together.

With the floating platform idea underway, the logistical nightmare of floating a whole production crew with one of the most popular bands in the world in the middle of the Marina Reservoir started looking a bit more manageable.

Just a bit, though.

Not unlike actually getting a “man in the moon”

Spoiler alert: the crew pulled off the video without a hitch, and it was a massive success.

Coldplay’s “Man in The Moon” video has, as of Apr. 2, racked up 7.7 million views on YouTube.

The music video was produced by Pulse Films, a video production company based in London, who engaged The Hummingbird Co. for production services in Singapore.

And if you haven’t seen it yet (in which case, where have you been? The moon?), the video is set entirely in Singapore and features both iconic local landmarks and lesser-known sights.

T-minus two weeks to launch

The days leading up to the shoot, however, were rife with uncertainty.

“There were a lot of doubts as to whether it was even possible, and also because weather-wise, it wasn’t looking good, man,” Teh shared.

I asked Teh if the team had contingency plans in the event of stormy weather. Teh replied that the crew had “no time or resources for a solid plan B”.

So, they were going all in, rain or shine:

“A lot of times during that process of getting the float ready, we didn't know whether or not we would actually make it, but we still pushed on with it.

So it was like a do-or-die kind of situation.”

"A very intricate dance"

At the time of the shoot in January 2024, Coldplay had been on the six-day Singapore leg of their Music of the Spheres concert tour.

The floating platform scene was to be filmed on the band’s rest day, and Teh wanted to keep the shoot as short and efficient as possible.

“So, we set up for the whole day. We ran all our transport plans, and then in the evening, at sundown, we started the shoot,” Teh said.

This meant, however, backbreaking work under the sweltering afternoon sun in the middle of Marina Reservoir – all in pursuit of getting that dazzling money shot of Singapore’s skyline.

Teh explained:

“It was a very intricate dance, so to speak, of coordination and making sure the creative team had what they wanted at the end of the day.”

At one point, while managing the hectic morning prep for the shoot, one of Teh’s producers suffered a serious sunburn.

Thankfully, it wasn’t life-threatening, and she was treated for it the next day.

All this sounded pretty intense to me.

But, when I asked Teh about the challenges of the shoot, he was quite laconic about it: “Yeah, it was difficult.” Such sangfroid.

Good old “kampung spirit”

Well, sangfroid and teamwork played a part.

Teh emphasised how much the production crew coordinated their efforts and worked as a cohesive unit.

“It's very rare to get a project where everyone in the team was pulling 100 per cent in the same direction for the whole two weeks,” he explained.

What kept the team together, especially on the Singapore side? Teh said:

“It was something we wanted to do together, because how many times do you get to do a Coldplay video in your life?”

There was also a ton of behind-the-scenes collaboration by various agencies and organisations, including Warner Music Singapore, the Singapore Tourism Board and PUB.

The crew also secured the support of Singapore Flyer’s management, which provided holding areas for the production team, extras and the band.

“[The shoot] really couldn't have been done without them, because they gave a lot of support,” he said.

Learning opportunities on all sides

Teh noted that the production was a very constructive learning experience for all the teams involved.

Fun fact: the director of photography of “Man in The Moon”, Jonathan Sela, is a Hollywood big-shot whose credits include John Wick, Bullet Train, The Fall Guy and Deadpool 2.

Teh shared that, at first, it was a little challenging for the Singapore-based crew to work with their Hollywood-seasoned counterparts, but that the experience was valuable:

“I think the kind of exposure to how global talent works, with regard to producing shows at that level, is very important for our local talents to continue to grow and develop.”

Broadening horizons

Teh said he was proud that his team was able to showcase, via the video, many sides of Singapore - from its heartland landscapes to its various subcultures.

Teh is a veteran of international collaborations like the Coldplay music video, having previously worked on similar projects that featured Charlie Puth, Steve Aoki and JJ Lin.

He thinks big projects like the “Man in The Moon” video can have positive spillover effects for local industries since they spotlight Singapore’s talents and infrastructure on a global stage.

They also help grow an international audience for local productions and content, he noted.

Excited by all this, I asked Teh what ought to be the next step for the local film industry to fully ‘take off’.

A Netflix original, he replied – something that’s been achieved in other Southeast Asian countries, but not in Singapore.

For Teh, getting Singaporean content up on “one of the biggest content platforms in the world today” would be the ultimate dream.

Well, since Teh’s team already managed to get Singapore up “on the moon”, I suspect a Netflix show isn’t that much of a long shot.

This story is brought to you by the Singapore Tourism Board.

Top photo from Anna Lee & The Hummingbird Co.