Inspiring Music Videos

I believe a good place to start would be to explore the music video's that have had the most impact on me, and why I like them so.

The Universal - Blur Dir. Jonathan Glazer

This video is almost an imitation and homage to Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, including a similar zoom-out shot of "Alex and the Droogs" as the film, and includes similar costumes and set to the milk bar scene. There are several other sci-fi styled references (such as the Red Man), in keeping with the lyrics of the song, and this continues to the digi-pack release, which is also a tribute to Stanley Kubrick's other sci-fi classic, 2001: A Space Odyssey

Karma Police - Radiohead Dir. Jonathan Glazer

A video shot almost entirely thought a point of view shot someone driving a down a straight road at night, chasing an unknown man. Thom Yorke, the singer of Radiohead, appears calmly lipsyncing in the backseat at regular intervals, until the man being chased sees an opportunity, and uses it to set the car on fire. What I enjoy most of this video is the overall simplicity, for example, having 35 seconds where the car is driving alone, showing nothing but the road, which fits the overall art-rock style that Radiohead adopt.

Everlong - Foo Fighters Dir. Michel Gondry

This video has more in common with a surreal fairytale than that of a music video. The overall plot contains that of a series of nightmares interacting with real life, and in turn, the mise-en-scene is bright, vivid and surreal, often using exaggerated props to create the sense of a dream. This video ends with the band coming out of costume, in somewhat inventive ways, such as the bed becoming a drum kit. This tounge-in-cheek pantomime style shows the band's lighter side, juxtaposed the serious messages and tone in their song.

I'm Not Okay (I Promise) - My Chemical Romance Dir. Marc Webb

Created in the style of a Hollywood film trailer, this video is an overall parody of American teen/high school movies in general, in which the band, cast as geeks and general outcasts, fight against the "Jocks" who harass them repeatedly, ending in a showdown between the two groups in a school hallway. Throughout, to make the video seem like a professional film trailer, it opens on an American "Green Band" information screen, and ends with a credits page, as well as taglines for the film disperced throughout. The sense teenage rebellion, as well as the punk fashion worn by the band members during performance scenes allowed the band to draw a large and loyal teen fan base before they reached mainstream success with their next album.

Virtual Insanity - Jamiroqui Dir. Jonathan Glazer.

One of the iconic pop videos of the 1990's, the video includes the singer Jay Kay performing in a plain white room, whilst the floor beneath him seems to be moving, sending himself, and furniture in the room seemingly sliding around a static room. At certain moments the camera will ether tilt up or down to show various abstract shots, for example, of the couch bleeding, as an elaborate way to disguise a cut to a new scene. This was hugely popular, winning several awards, winning the "Breakthrough Video" and "Best Video of the Year" awards at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards.

Treat Me Like Your Mother - The Dead Weather Dir. Jonathan Glazer.

Another popular video from Jonathan Glazer, and perhaps the simplest concept for any video I have analysed so far. It opens on a close up of an ignited bomb spinning, which matches the beat of the music once it commences. Explosions are seen, as it fades into clips of the two lead singers of the band dressed in matching black leather jackets and carrying rifles approaching each other across a field, before opening fire on one another in the chorus. Despite visible bullet wounds, they both continue to shoot until they run out of bullets, and walk away. What struck me about this was as one member walked away, you could visible see light streaming through the bullet holes in his chest, which was an extremely realistic and surreal effect.

As you can see, I have been inspired vastly by the work of Jonathan Glazer, for his vastly inventive and imaginative use of film to highlight the work of the artists who he works with. However, he is not the only one who I strongly admire, as Michael Gondry, Spike Jonze and Chris Cunningham have redefined music video's as an art form.