Protection
Videography Of Protection
Director: Michel Gondry
Assistant Director: François Nemeta
Filming Location: Paris, France
Date of Filming: 21st December 1994
Video Length: 06:32
To accomplish the video, the set was constructed on the floor of an expansive soundstage. Tracy Thorn isn't standing, she's lying on her back. Upon first glance, the building appears quite tall and quite real. But a few of Gondry's tricks betray the fact that the structure, instead of being six stories tall, is actually six stories flat. A few mirrors and a few screen projections were used to produce long hallways and bustling outdoor traffic. Much less noticeable are the removable parts of the building, which allowed the camera to travel between rooms inside the building. With close inspection, you can see the steps move at the very end of the video.
This would be the first and only video directed by Michel Gondry for Massive Attack. It is also the second time Massive Attack have employed the one-take shot for a promo video, the other time being the video for Unfinished Sympathy.
The video for Protection won the MTV Europe Award for Best Video for 1995.
The video Protection was intentionally referenced in director's Marc Klasfeld's one-take video for Jay-Z's Girls, Girls, Girls. You can watch said video via MegaVideo by clicking here.
3D on the difficulty of filming the video for Protection - "The Protection video was one of the most memorable because it was one of the most difficult. It was an amazing idea and, for Michel Gondry, to pull it off was just the most amazing feat. The two days of rehearsal and shooting in Paris were just so hard. Everyone was suspended in an upside down position and shot from above in a flattened building which was meant to look like it was upright. It was one shot from a moving camera in a crane and he used pulleys and projection screens to give the effect of things moving" [The Raft - November 2001]
Michel Gondry succiently states why he wanted a one-take video for Protection - "I was trying to push further the concept of the one shot video" [The Director File - November 2002]
Download Original Video File
Duration: 06:32
File Size: 57.8MB
Download Original Video File
Duration: 02:27
File Size: 16.8MB
Notes: This clip was taken from the 1995 film "Hackers". Protection does not however appear on the soundtrack album for "Hackers".
Sabrina
Download Original Video File
Duration: 00:44
File Size: 13.4MB
Notes: This clip was taken from the 1995 film "Sabrina". Protection does not however appear on the soundtrack album for "Sabrina".
Top Of the Pops, London, UK - January 1995Download Original Video File
Duration: 02:41
File Size: 41.3MB
Notes: This is a one off performance of Protection filmed for Top Of The Pops, a BBC pop music show at the time of Protection's single release. This is also one of the very few times Tracey Thorn played live with Massive Attack.