One of my favourite directors, even before I started this project has been Michel Gondry. After watching most of his music videos, I have chosen six very different videos that I both really like and think epitomise his style.
From left to right, top to bottom, these are music videos for:
"Mad World" - Gary Jules
"Let Forever Be" - The Chemical Brothers
"Walkie Talkie Man" - Steriogram
"Knives Out" - Radiohead
"The Hardest Button to Button" - The White Stripes
"Around the World" - Daft Punk
From watching these and more videos from Gondry, I believe I have found some similarities that create his overall directorial style.
- Use of stop-motion, often with live-action people.
- Movements and editing put heavy emphasis on the beat of the music as opposed to the lyrics.
- Videos based around a surreal concept and sometimes performance.
- Very abstract use of mise en scène.
- Fond of long takes.
- Frequently set in familiar locations but with an unusual twist.
- Often manipulates time in editing.
- Usually require a lot of choreography and planning.
In our project, I would really like to incorporate some similar elements although I appreciate that we can't recreate any of his work.
