Street View’s embedded videos

Phil Clandillon has a cool new video project featuring Google Earth mashups with panoramic images of specific locations relating to the background of the music on the Editors‘ new album.

After the break is more background info. Phil writes in:

To promote UK band Editors’ new album, In This Light And On This Evening, we’ve created a hacked version of Google Street View which allows users to preview the album in the areas of London which inspired it.

Users can travel to areas of the city where we’ve hacked in our own custom locations. The new additions consist of our own custom panoramic images, shot at night by photographer James Royall. Within each location the user will hear music from the album, which was inspired by the mood and magic of London at night. Each of the nine tracks on the album has its own location.

The images feature the band and a group of their fans performing surreal activities which have cryptic meanings relating to the songs. The locations are normally unavailable on the regular Street View. Editors modified version of Google Maps allows users to enter into these locations and make the transition from light to dark so fans can explore the band’s atmospheric vision of London at night.

Check out the application, and wander through this big heap o’ photos and screenshots.

Custom panoramas were shot by photographer James Royall in multiple parts using a 180 degree fish-eye lens, and stitched together using a piece of software called PTGui. The modified version of Google Maps uses a custom Flash and JavaScript wrapper which employs some clever hacks on top of the Google Maps and Street View APIs. The project is a collaboration between Editors, their record label and Sony Music’s award winning internal creative agency (from creatives Phil Clandillon and Steve Milbourne, who brought you AC/DC’s Excel music video and Calvin Harris’ Humanthesizer). Programming was by Davex in Edinburgh, UK.

This looks like another neat project from a prolific creative team!