<P> The first release of "Take On Me" in 1984 includes a completely different recording, and was featured in the first video, which shows the band singing with a blue background . </P> <P> The second video, directed by Irish - born British film director Steve Barron, is the most recognized video for the song . It was filmed in 1985 at Kim's Café (now called "Savoy" cafe) and on a sound stage in London . The video used a pencil - sketch animation / live - action combination called rotoscoping, in which the live - action footage is traced over frame by frame to give the characters realistic movements . Approximately 3,000 frames were rotoscoped, which took 16 weeks to complete . </P> <P> The video's main theme is a romantic fantasy narrative . It begins with a montage of pencil drawings in a comic - book style representing motorcycle sidecar racing, in which the hero, played by Morten Harket, is pursued by two opponents, one of whom is played by English actor Philip Jackson . It then cuts to a scene in a cafe, in which a young woman, played by Bunty Bailey (Harket's girlfriend at the time), is seen drinking coffee and reading the comic book in a coffee shop . As the girl reads, the waitress brings her the bill . The comic's hero, after winning the race, seemingly winks at the girl from the page . His pencil - drawn hand reaches out of the comic book, inviting the girl into it . Once inside, she too appears in the pencil - drawn form, as he sings to her and introduces her to his black - and - white world which features a sort of looking - glass portal where people and objects look real on one side and pencil - drawn on the other . </P> <P> Meanwhile, back in the restaurant, the waitress returns to find the girl missing . Believing that the girl has left without paying the bill, she angrily crumples and throws the girl's comic book into a bin . This makes the hero's two opposing racers reappear, armed with a large pipe wrench and apparently aggressive . The racers smash the looking glass with the pipe wrench, evidently trapping the girl in the comic book . The hero punches one of the thugs and retreats with the girl into a maze of paper . Arriving at a dead end, he tears a hole in the paper wall so that the girl can escape as the menacing opposing racers close in on him . The girl, now back in the real world and found lying beside the bin to the surprise of restaurant guests and staff, retrieves the comic from the bin and runs home, where she attempts to smooth out the creases to learn what happens next . </P>

Who is the guy in the take on me video