Francis Lawrence

Case Study: Music Video Director

About Francis Lawrence

Lawrence was born in Vienna, Austria. His father is a physicist who taught at California State University, Northridge and his mother is V.P. Technology at a PR agency. He moved to Los Angeles at the age of three. Lawrence worked as 2nd assistant camera on the feature Pump Up the Volume directed by Allan Moyle prior to earning his bachelors degree in film production at Loyola Marymount University Film School. He went on to work as first AD on the feature Marching out of Time directed by Anton Vassil in 1993. Francis Lawrence then joined ex-classmate Mike Rosen in co-directing music videos. Lawrence shot his first music video for Michael Blakey President of Atco Records with the band Tidal Force which became a great success. Soon, Lawrence became known for his original and imaginative music video scripts and visual directing style.He eventually joined a major new production company and his successful career as music video director, having worked with stars like Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, The Black Eyed Peas, Jay-Z, Avril Lavigne, Aerosmith, Janet Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, Destiny's Child, Garbage, Gwen Stefani, Pink, Shakira, and Missy Elliott. He has also directed numerous commercials for clients such as Coca-Cola, L'Oréal, Calvin Klein, Pepsi-Cola, Maybelline, Kid's Footlocker, Bacardi, McDonalds, GAP, Bud Light, CoverGirl, Oldsmobile and Disneyland. In 2005, his feature film debut was Constantine based on the Hellblazer comic book, starring Keanu Reeves.In 2007, he directed I Am Legend (based on the Richard Matheson novel), with Will Smith. Lawrence will also bean executive producer of the new Fox series, Touch. He is currently signed to DNA Inc.

Why I chose Francis Lawrence?

I chose this music video director because I was eager in finding out who directed Beyonce’s “Run The World” video. I find this video very powerful and would now like to see if there are any similar music videos that he has directed.

Video that inspired me to pick Francis Lawrence?

Beyonce – “Run The World”

Signature StylesWhen you watch a music video you can normally tell who has directed it as many music video directors have signature styles. However, I feel that Francis Lawrence doesn’t have a particular style that he uses throughout his videos as he chooses a style that he feels will fit with each different artist. So I am going to split up each genre to see whether he has signature styles for each.

Signature Styles - RnB

Throughout these RnB videos it looks like some parts have been computer generated. This gives a more futuristic feel I think making the videos look modernised.

Examples in the music videos are:

Signature Styles - Pop

Throughout his music videos in the pop genre the signature style would be his use of close ups and extreme close ups. This makes the audience concentrate on the artist(s) making them known to their target audience.

Examples in the music videos are:

Signature Styles - Rock

In the rock videos Francis Lawrence has made the artists are shown standing singing there song as a band themselves. I believe this to be his signature style in the rock genre.