Synopsis
In a bleak, sparsely populated future, Tunde Adebimpe's character moves through a world drained of color and connection. He and Joy Bryant's character are separated by distance and circumstance, but a bulky homemade virtual-reality rig lets them enter a vivid shared space where intimacy seems possible. The device offers an escape from loneliness, yet the video keeps questioning whether the reunion is genuine or only a carefully designed memory. Its emotional turn comes from the tension between technological fantasy and the desire for real human contact.
Factoids & Trivia
- "Will Do" was released in March 2011 as the first single from TV on the Radio's album "Nine Types of Light," which followed on April 12, 2011.
- The video stars TV on the Radio vocalist Tunde Adebimpe opposite actor Joy Bryant.
- The virtual-reality goggles were specially created for the production by Nikolai Haas and Simon Haas. Their deliberately bulky, improvised appearance gives the technology a handmade science-fiction quality rather than presenting it as sleek consumer hardware.
- Visual effects were supplied by BEMO, while David Myrick handled cinematography. The production credits also list Ashley Fenton and Megan Fenton as production designers.
- "Will Do" was included in "Nine Types of Light," an hour-long visual companion film containing a separate video for every track on the album.
- The band discussed the video's technology theme in terms of alienation, instant communication, and the anxiety created by unanswered messages. That places the virtual-reality romance within a broader concern about technology connecting people while also making them feel more isolated.
- The video's virtual-reality premise was frequently compared with "The Matrix" in contemporary coverage, although its emphasis is less on action than on longing, memory, and emotional escape.