Analyze Music Videos Directed by Michel Gondry
INTRO: Michel Gondry is a director with a unique visual style. After studying Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind with all of its filming techniques, we are primed for looking at music videos in a different way -- as a film student instead of a music fan. Specifically, we'll be analyzing the music videos directed by Michel Gondry.
DIRECTIONS: First, print off your music video analysis sheet; then work through each step of the guide. Listed below are the artist's names -- song titles -- and the intertextual aspects you will need to research. If that last column is empty, that means I don't know the connection, but you might, so go for it. Additionally, keep this window open to access the lyrics to each song.
POINTERS: Use your own ear phones. You'll have to watch the video several times to see everything. Put all work in your notebook. Enjoy!
DIRECTIONS: First, print off your music video analysis sheet; then work through each step of the guide. Listed below are the artist's names -- song titles -- and the intertextual aspects you will need to research. If that last column is empty, that means I don't know the connection, but you might, so go for it. Additionally, keep this window open to access the lyrics to each song.
POINTERS: Use your own ear phones. You'll have to watch the video several times to see everything. Put all work in your notebook. Enjoy!
ARTIST MUSIC VIDEO INTERTEXTUAL REFERENCE
Beck Devil’s Haircut the character Joe Buck in the
movie Midnight Cowboy
Beck Cellphone’s Dead Post Modernism
Film Noir style
White Stripes Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground --
White Stripes Hardest Button to Button --
White Stripes Fell in Love with a Girl LEGO toy
Kanye West Heard 'Em Say --
The Vines Ride --
Steriogram Walkie Talkie Man King Kong
ARTIST MUSIC VIDEO INTERTEXTUAL REFERENCE
Radiohead Knive’s Out "Operation" game
Punch & Judy puppets
Wyclef Jean Another One Bites the Dust original song by Queen & Freddy Mercury,
Agent 007 in James Bond movies,
Get Smart TV show (Agent 86 & Agent 99),
Wild Wild West TV show
Gary Jules Mad World Donnie Darko (movie/soundtrack)
Bjork Bachelorette sequal in epic tale written by Bjork
Bjork Human Behavior "Goldilocks and the Three Bears,"
Alice in Wonderland,
Russian Moon Landing.
Kylie Minogue Come Into My World --
Lacquer Behind Director, Lars Von Trier
"Highway of Love," by the Danish band
Laid Back, American landscape from
west coast to east coast
Chemical Brothers Let Forever Be --
Chemical Brothers Star Guitar (French landscape)
Mia Doi Todd Open Your Heart (Los Angeles landscape)
Check This Out!
The following are interesting short articles or video clips interpreting music videos, talking about filmmaking , revealing problems working with artists, what its like to work through Gondry's ideas, and other interesting 'minutiae.' You might even find interpretive help/info here:
1. The story behind the White Stripes' "Hardest Button" video
2. Lacquer's "Behind"
3. Chemical Brothers' "Star Guitar"
4. Oliver "Twist" Gondry's work
5. Gondry explains how he did the 'Hardest Button' video (video clip)
6. White Stripes and Gondry talk about making the LEGO video, 'Fell in Love' (video clip)
7. See this interviewwith Doi Todd about making the video with Gondry