Editing Penny Lane (section)

==Promotional film==
The Beatles' low public profile since completing their [[The Beatles' 1966 US tour|1966 US tour]] in late August caused concern for [[Brian Epstein]], their manager, who feared that the band's popularity might suffer. Wary also of the threat presented by [[the Monkees]], an American television and recording act formed in the Beatles' image,{{sfn|Gould|2007|pp=373, 377}} Epstein conceded to pressure from [[EMI]] in January 1967 and approached Martin for a new single by the band.{{sfn|Miles|2001|p=255}}{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|p=196}} Martin told him that they had recorded "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane", which he considered to be the group's best songs up to that point.{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=656}}

[[File:Stratford Broadway.JPG|thumb|left|upright=1.2|Street view of [[Stratford, London|Stratford]], east London, in 2008. Stratford's Angel Lane filled in for Penny Lane in the Beatles' promo clip.]]
The promotional film for "Penny Lane" was, together with the clip for "Strawberry Fields Forever", one of the first examples of what became known as a [[music video]].{{sfn|Austerlitz|2007|pp=17–18, 19}}{{sfn|Frontani|2007|pp=132–33}} The films were directed by Peter Goldmann, a Swedish television director, and produced by Tony Bramwell for Epstein's company Subafilms.{{sfn|Winn|2009|p=85}}{{sfn|Davies|2016|loc="Beatles on TV" > "Penny Lane (promotional film clip/Subafilms)"}} The clip for "Penny Lane" includes footage of Liverpool<ref name="Harris/Mojo">{{cite magazine|last=Harris|first=John|title=The Day the World Turned Day-Glo|magazine=[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]|date=March 2007|page=80}}</ref> – such as the number 46 bus to Penny Lane, the shelter on the roundabout, and a fireman riding a white horse{{sfn|Winn|2009|p=87}} – but street scenes featuring the Beatles were instead filmed in and around Angel Lane in [[Stratford, London|Stratford]], in the east of London.<ref name="Wawzenek/UCR">{{cite web|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/beatles-strawberry-fields-forever-penny-lane-videos/|first=Bryan|last=Wawzenek|title=How the Beatles' 'Penny Lane' and 'Strawberry Fields Forever' Videos Changed Everything|website=[[Ultimate Classic Rock]]|date=11 March 2017|access-date=20 May 2019}}</ref> This filming includes the band members riding horses and took place on 5 February.{{sfn|Miles|2001|p=255}}{{sfn|Ingham|2006|p=165}} Another street scene features only Lennon, walking along [[King's Road]], Chelsea<ref>{{cite news|url=https://lonestar925.iheart.com/content/2021-02-05-on-this-day-in-1967-the-beatles-filmed-penny-lane|author=K, Jeff|title=On This Day in 1967 the Beatles Filmed 'Penny Lane'|website=[[KZPS#Lone Star 92.5|Lone Star 92.5]]|publisher=[[iHeartRadio]]|date=6 February 2021|access-date=10 June 2021}}</ref> among a crowd in a manner that author Robert Rodriguez terms "as if in a nostalgic reverie".{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|pp=200–01}}

More filming was done in [[Knole Park]] in [[Sevenoaks]],{{sfn|Ingham|2006|p=165}} where the clip for "Strawberry Fields Forever" had been filmed the week before.{{sfn|Winn|2009|p=85}} Shot on 7 February, this footage includes further horse-riding scenes, with the band members dressed in matching red tunics, and the closing scene, when they arrive at a table set up in the park, bearing a large candelabra.{{sfn|Miles|2001|p=255}}{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|p=200}} During the horse ride, they pass by a stage filled with their guitars and drum kit, the latter bearing the familiar Beatles logo.{{sfn|Courrier|2009|p=164}}{{sfn|Greene|2016|p=35}} The musicians sit at the table, where they are waited on by two attendants (played by Bramwell and [[Mal Evans]]){{sfn|Davies|2016|loc="Beatles on TV" > "Penny Lane (promotional film clip/Subafilms)"}} dressed in [[Renaissance]]-era costumes and wigs,{{sfn|Ingham|2006|pp=165–66}} and presented with their musical instruments.{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|p=200}} According to music critic Chris Ingham, the film appears to be "little more than an extra-curricular afterthought" relative to the surreal and experimental "Strawberry Fields Forever" clip. He adds that it nevertheless closes with "another iconoclastic gesture" as Lennon overturns the table and scatters its contents.{{sfn|Ingham|2006|p=166}}

[[File:Penny Lane 1967 promo clip.jpg|upright=1.2|thumb|The clip's closing scene, in which the Beatles drink tea at an outdoor table and are presented with their guitars]]
In their avoidance of any performance-related content, the clips developed the promotional medium the Beatles had introduced in 1966 with their clips for "[[Paperback Writer]]" and "[[Rain (Beatles song)|Rain]]".{{sfn|Hertsgaard|1996|p=8}}{{sfn|Austerlitz|2007|p=18}}{{refn|group=nb|The non-performance aspect of the two 1967 promos was in response to the [[Musicians' Union (United Kingdom)|Musicians' Union]]'s ban on miming on television.<ref name="Wawzenek/UCR" />{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|p=200}}}} According to Hertsgaard, since the band avoided any attempt to play or sing, the clip for "Penny Lane" consists of images that "amplify or somehow comment on" the song's themes. He says the "most arresting" scenes are Lennon's walk along the sun-lit city street, the Beatles riding their horses through a stone archway, and the four band members "sitting at an immaculately set table in the middle of a field, where they are served tea in what is very plainly bitterly cold weather".{{sfn|Hertsgaard|1996|p=392}} Journalist and broadcaster Joe Cushley described the film as "Lewis-Carroll-goes-to-Liverpool".<ref>{{cite book|first=Joe|last=Cushley|chapter=Boys on Film|year=2003|title=[[Mojo (magazine)#Special editions|Mojo Special Limited Edition]]: 1000 Days of Revolution (The Beatles' Final Years – Jan 1, 1968 to Sept 27, 1970)|location=London|publisher=Emap|page=21}}</ref> McCartney predicted at the time of the single's release: "In the future all records will have vision as well as sound. In twenty years' time, people will be amazed to think we just listened to records."{{sfn|Hertsgaard|1996|p=8}}