Music Video Director

Spike Jonze

Fatboy Slim - Weapon of choice

The Beastie Boys - Sabotage

Kanye West - Flashing Lights

Bjork - It's oh so quiet

Christopher Walken has a history in musical theatre and dance, and was therefore envolved in making this video with Spike Jonze. There is a care-free and humorous feel to this video with details such as ringing a bell, kicking papers off a table, and obviously flying through the air in the final sections of the video. A theme throughout the video is the idea of a continuous movement as he dances past the camera every shot and therefore each cut rolls into the next. This adds to the feeling of movement and energy in the video. There are also clever details such as a portrait of DJ Fatboy Slim (Norman Cook) in the background at 2 mins 24 seconds, which make this video interesting and original. Cut transitions characterise this video, with long tracking shots that follow his dancing. The filter is very drab and his suit reflects this idea of a dull boring life - this enhances the shock factor when he starts dancing as at the beginning he appears to be a tired, old man.

This video also has a humourus side to it as the members of the Beastie Boys play a range of characters including cops and criminals, with titles appearing on screen to introduce these characters to the audience. This is an unusual concept for a music video as this is presented as more of a trailer. Quick cuts and very short clips with a lot of movement in them give the video a fast pace which matches the song and idea of a police investigation. This shows a theme within Jonze's work as he likes to create a comical concept which enhances the song rather than just matches it. Both coloured and black and white shots are used making the video more interesting, and as one of Jonze's earlier works you can see a development in quality from here to future pieces such as Kanye West's Flashing Lights video.

This video differs greatly from the previous peices I have discussed, not only because the genre of music is completely different, but because it is a very simple video with a total of 3 shots. Each shot is obviously very long and tracks the woman as she moves. The plot of the video is a muder and very strong images are used such as bright cars lights in the middle of the night, a blaze of fire as she sets her fur coat alight on the ground, and a very graphic shot of her in her underwear firstly being very caring towards the man in her boot and then brutally attacking him with a shovel. While this video is very simple it also has a glamours feel becuse of the big car and fur coat. Jonze reflects the title of flashing lights by setting this at night and having the majority of lighting from the car or a fire, two very dramatic sources of light. The video is finished with a black screen that displays the words FLASHING LIGHTS in red in time with the music, linking back to Jonze's previous work where he has used titles in the video for effect.

Bjork's video for It's oh so quiet shows another element to Spike Jonze's directing style. One element he uses in this video to differentiate the fast and slow sections of the song is lighting, it is much darker and softer in the quieter parts of the song, but when the orchestral music begins and the past increases, harsher and brighter lighting is used. This video also links to Weapon of Choice as it uses long tracking shots from both front and side angles to follow dancing. A reccuring theme in all Jonze's videos is humour, and this is prjected through the playful nature of the dancing, and inanimate objects such as a mail box coming alive and dancing with her. Close up shots are used in the slower sections as it makes the audience pay more attention to her and increases the impact of the large brass sounds when the camera zooms back out or cuts to a full body shot.

"Immediately after his graduation from high school, the 17-year-old Jonze moved to Los Angeles and began working as an editorial assistant atFreestylin', a biker magazine. In 1991, he helped found Dirt, a short-lived spin-off of the popular teen magazine Sassy, aimed at teenage male readers. His first music-video gig came in 1992, when he was hired to shoot video footage of skateboarding for Sonic Youth's "100%."

Jonze's breakthrough video, for the song "Sabotage" by the Beastie Boys, was an inspired take-off on 1970s cop shows; the video earned four MTV Video Music Awards, including one for Jonze (best director). That same year, Jonze cemented his reputation for innovation and creativity with his eye-catching video for Weezer's "Buddy Holly," in which the alternative band performed their hit single in the middle of what appeared to be an episode of the 1970s sitcom Happy Days.

Throughout the 1990s, Jonze directed music videos for many other prominent artists—including R.E.M., the Breeders, Puff Daddy, the Chemical Brothers and Björk—as well as a number of memorable television commercials for companies like Nike, Sprite, Nissan, and Coca-Cola. His interest and talent also extended to the other side of the camera: He was dragged behind a van in a TV spot for Levi's 501, and played bit parts in the films Mi Vida Loca (1993) and The Game (1997).

In the 1999 video for "Praise You," the hit single by British DJ Fatboy Slim (which he co-directed), Jonze starred as spastic community dance-troupe leader Richard Koufey, racking up three more MTV awards and showing up at the ceremony as Koufey (whom Jonze still maintains is another person). Additionally, Jonze directed a number of short features during this time." - http://www.biography.com/people/spike-jonze-9542284#music-videos (6/11/14)

"Spike Jonze was born on October 22, 1969, in Rockville, Maryland. His breakthrough video for the Beastie Boys song "Sabotage" earned him four MTV Video Music Awards. Throughout the 1990s, he directed music videos and commercials. In 1999, he acted in and directed Three Kings. Jonze's first full-length directorial effort, Being John Malkovich, earned him an Academy Award nomination. He went on to produce Human Nature in 2000 and Her in 2013, with the latter film earning him the 2014 Oscar for best original screenplay." - http://www.biography.com/people/spike-jonze-9542284#synopsis (06/11/14)