Bringing the Beatles back together again one last time: How Peter Jackson used ... trends now
It was a heartwarming trick of editing which left many fans in tears.
In the music video for the Beatles' final song, Now and Then, Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Ringo Starr were seen appearing to perform with John Lennon and George Harrison one last time.
Acclaimed director Peter Jackson - who was entrusted with the band's precious archives to create Disney+ documentary Get Back - cleverly used footage filmed for their 1967 hit Hello, Goodbye to make the scene work.
The Beatles recorded three bits of footage at London's Saville Theatre to promote the track. One - not that which features in Now and Then - then debuted on the Ed Sullivan show in the US in November 1967.
The Now and Then video also shows scenes from footage that was filmed for John Lennon's 1973 song and album Mind Games - after the Beatles had split up acrimoniously.
Among the other archive clips used was a short segment showing Lennon in an electronics shop in Japan in 1979, the Beatles at Twickenham in 1968 and footage of the band performing in Manchester in 1963.
The final scene in the video, which poignantly fades to black after the four Beatles have disappeared, is believed to have been created from a gig the band performed at Manchester's Ardwick theatre in 1963.
With the help of CGI, the video shows the four band members back together again as they perform alongside each other
In the music video for the Beatles ' final song, Now and Then, Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Ringo Starr were seen appearing to perform with John Lennon and George Harrison once again. Acclaimed director Peter Jackson cleverly used footage filmed at London's Saville Theatre for their 1967 hit Hello, Goodbye to make the scene work
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The Now and Then video also shows scenes from footage that was filmed for John Lennon's 1973 song and album Mind Games
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Jackson also included what he called a 'collection of unseen outtakes in the vault, where the Beatles are relaxed, funny and candid.'
Speaking in the short film that was released earlier this week about the making of the music video, he added: 'We wove humour into some footage shot in 2023. The result is pretty nutty and provided the video with much needed balance between the sad and the funny.
'I realised we needed the imagination of every viewer to create their own personal moment of farewell to The Beatles.'
The new music video was released early this afternoon. Emotional fans took to social media to hail the 'compelling, emotional and touching' compilation of footage.
Ending with a poignant fade to black, it is a fitting tribute to a band who brought joy to billions with music which continues to resonate nearly 50 years after they split up.
Just 15 minutes after the video was put on YouTube early this afternoon, more than 60,000 people had seen it. As of 6pm on November 3, it had been watched more than 2.1 million times.
The song itself was released yesterday and has already been listened to by more than 5million fans on YouTube and millions more on streaming platforms.
WATCH THE NEW BEATLES SONG BELOW
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It includes the earliest ever footage of the band, filmed in a Merseyside church hall in 1962, before they became the world's most famous rock stars and manager Brian Epstein convinced them to all wear smart suits
The footage has been provided by the band's original drummer Pete Best and his brother Roag. Pictured, the Beatles including Pete Best on drums
John Lennon smiles at the camera in the cleverly-constructed music video for Now and Then
Sir Ringo Starr is seen in the video performing a drum segment for the new song
Sir Paul is seen alongside his younger self and George Harrison
The final scene in the video shows the Beatles bowing before they disappear and the camera fades to black`
The video also includes the earliest ever footage of the band, filmed in a Merseyside church hall in 1962, before they became the world's most famous rock stars and manager Brian Epstein convinced them to all wear smart suits.
Pete Best, The Beatles' drummer before Ringo star, handed the cine camera footage - which shows the group dressed in leather - to his former band with the help of his brother Roag.
Roag said he purchased the silent footage from a man who filmed the performance at St Paul's Presbyterian Church Hall in Birkenhead in February 1962, eight months before they released their debut single.
'The lads are rocking backwards and forwards with guitars, mouths to the microphones, singing,' he said.
It is also the only video from before Pete Best was replaced by Ringo Starr in August 1962, but his brother says he is not visible in the footage.
'From a family perspective, I went, 'Ah, come on!' One of the guys is actually standing in front of Pete so all you can see is Pete's drum kit and Pete's hands occasionally with the sticks,' he said.
Three-time Oscar-winner Peter Jackson, who directed The Lord of the Rings trilogy, has improved the quality of the footage and Roag told BBC News 'it looks absolutely fantastic'.
Mr Jackson and his team were instrumental in the production of Now And Then. They used new technology and AI software – the same that was used on Jackson's innovative 2021 Beatles documentary Get Back – to isolate John Lennon's vocals from his piano so it could be used without distortion.
Jackson - who directed the 2021 docuseries The Beatles: Get Back - has used about six seconds of the film in the Now And Then video.
The original is almost a minute long and will be unveiled at the Liverpool Beatles Museum, which Roag owns.
Ahead of the launch of the video, Jackson told the BBC he discovered other 'unseen outtakes in the vault, where The Beatles are relaxed, funny and rather candid'.
Beatles superfan John Lennon, who changed his name by deed poll from Alan Williams in April 2022, holds the first copy of the newly released last Beatles song, Now And Then
