Music Video Auteurs

Michel Gondry’s Background• Gondry was born in Versailles, France, May 8th 1963.• He started his career as a movie make by creating a

music video for French band Oui Oui. Before Gondry created a music video for the band, he was in fact the band’s drummer.

• Now, Gondry creates feature length films as well as creating music videos.

Gondry’s Style

• Gondry has directed music videos for a variety of bands, including Foo Fighters, The White Stripes and The Rolling Stones. Gondry’s style of filming is widely recognised for it’s unrealistic nature. Gondry’s filming is extremely unconventional and is often said to be representative of a dream world rather than the real world. An example of this would be Gondry’s music video for Foo Fighter’s “Everlong”. In this music video, Gondry represents the real world in black and white and the dream world in colour.

Gondry’s Genre

• Gondry does not have a specific genre for which he makes music videos for. Even though Gondry has made music videos for bands who are mainly associated with the genre of rock, he has also made videos for artists such as Kylie Minogue. Gondry’s style may be very unconventional but it is also very diverse. Gondry also directed Gary Jules’ cover of Tears For Fears’ “Mad World”.

Similarities• There are certain similarities between Gondry’s music videos. For example,

Gondry’s video for The White Stripes’ “Button To Button” is set in the real world but what the audience are shown is unrealistic. The audience are shown the band being duplicated over and over, making it appear that the band is multiplying. The effect this gives to the audience is that the band are moving from one location to the other, but in reality they are not moving at all. In Gondry’s video for Gary Jules’ “Mad World” the narrative is also set in the real world. The audience are stood on top of a building looking down at the streets below. On the pavement, people draw what is being said in the song by using their bodies. Again, this is a very unrealistic aspect of the song, as it is not often that the audience are shown narrative through body language. The editing of “Mad World” is very slow as there is no action. The editing allows the audience to take in what they are being shown and to reflect upon it. There is similarity between the mise en scene of both “Button to Button” and “Mad World”. Both videos are shot in a real life location, both are shot within the city and both show the band or artist wearing normal clothes. Gondry has done this in an attempt to compare and contrast reality with his dream world.

Differences• There are also differences in Gondry’s work. For example, Gondry’s

music video for Foo Fighters’ “Everlong” jumps between the real world and Gondry’s created dream world. Gondry uses black and white in order to represent the real world to the audience and uses colour to represent the dream world. The dream world is not seen in videos such as “Mad World”, which is entirely set in the real world. The editing of “Everlong” is extremely fast and rapid, due to the action the audience are being shown on screen. The mise en scene is a major difference in “Everlong” when comparing this music video to one such as The White Stripes’ “Button To Button.” In “Everlong”, the predominant setting is in the dream world and the characters are not wearing conventional clothing. In “Button To Button” however, the band members and everybody who appears in the video are wearing normal clothes.

Similarities to my Music Video• There are similarities between Gondry’s work and my own music

video. For instance, the mise en scene which Gondry uses will be very similar to the mise en scene I use in my own music video. The setting of narrative in Gondry’s conventional music videos will be similar to mine as I intend on filming my narrative in the town I live in. The editing of Gondry’s “Everlong” will be similar to mine as I am also doing a very fast and high tempo song. Therefore, the editing for my music video will be quite fast and rapid in order to keep my audience entertained. There will be similarities between Gondry’s band performance and my own. I want my band performance to be equal to the amount of narrative I show my audience. Gondry has made the band performance in “Everlong” equal to the narrative which the audience are shown.

Differences to my Music Video

• There will be some differences between Gondry’s work and my own music video. For example, in some of his music videos, Gondry splits reality and creates his own dream world. I shall not be doing this due to the fact it won’t fit in with my song and I do not have the financial stability to do so. Gondry also uses slow editing and cuts in some of his music videos, which I will be avoiding at all costs. I cannot afford to have slow cuts and editing in my music video as it is a high tempo song and I don’t want my audience to get bored or tired of watching it. Therefore, I will definitely have differences in my mise en scene and editing when comparing to some of Gondry’s work.

Michel Gondry; Auteur or Not?• In my opinion, Michel Gondry should be considered a music

video auteur. I feel this because of Gondry’s interesting style in filming, one which is very easily recognsied by the audience. Gondry’s use of splitting reality into a “real world” and a “a dream world” gives his work a different yet intuitive style. Gondry has a very diverse style of filming and editing and many of his music videos are unconventional. Music videos such as “Everlong” and “Button To Button” show Gondry’s genius as a music director as he uses his unconventional style to attract and draw in his audience. Gondry’s focus on visual effects and mise en scene allows him to make his audience interested by watching his music videos and makes the audience want to carry on watching.