Director Case Study

Jonas Akerlund

• Born Nov 10th 1965
• is a Swedish film and music video director
• was a member of the black metal band 'Bathory' from 1983-84
• has won a Grammy for 'Best Music Video' and 7 other awards for his video for Madonna's song 'Ray of Light'

Artists he has worked with include:

• Ozzy Osbourne
• Paul McCartney
• Christina Aguilera
• Madonna
• Robbie Williams
• The Rolling Stones
• Lady Gaga
• David Guetta
• Rihanna

Some of his earlier music videos sparked controversy (e.g. The Prodigy's- Smack My Bitch Up) which depicted drug use, violence and nudity.

His more recent music videos have surreal settings and use various effects and colour. For example:

Lady Gaga- Telephone ft. Beyoncé:

'Who's That Chick?' - David Guetta ft. Rihanna:

Both of these videos use vibrant and distorted colours and quite surreal settings (e.g. space scene in David Guetta's video). They also both use lyrics on the screen at certain points, making the video seem even less naturalistic. These features and effects reflect the fast pace of the songs, and in both cases the visuals reflect the lyrics which is one of Goodwin's theories.

Both of these examples and many other videos by Jonas Akerlund feature scantily clad women and often depict nudity. This has sometimes caused controversy and Madonna's video for 'American Life' was banned because of its graphic content.

Jonas Akerlund's other work:

• directed a full-length film called 'Spun' in 2002
• directed adverts for Swedish clothing retailer MQ
• directed Madonna's documentary film 'I'm Going to Tell You a Secret'

DIRECTOR STUDY

• Now 42 years old, Hype Williams was born in Queens, New York and earnt his nickname 'Hype' because of his hyperactive personality as a child (his original name is Harold).
• He attended the Andrew Jackson High School of Music and Art, graduating in 1987 and then going on to Adelphi University.
• He first set off in his director career when he started working with Classic Concepts Video Productions, Lionel "Vid Kid" Martin & VJ Ralph McDaniels created Hype's first opportunity with the "Filmmakers With Attitude" moniker (FWA), which became Hype's first video company.
• Hype has worked with many artists, such as Kanye West (see video), Christina Aguilera and Coldplay but appears to be more involved in the hip hop/ R&B scene more than any other, with work with artists such as The Notorious BIG, Kelis, LL Cool J and Jay Z (etc.).

• As well as directing many music videos. Hype Williams was also the director and writer of a film called 'Belly' (1998). However this was unsuccessful. Likewise, he was an actor in TV programme 'Lil Jon Makes a Video: Snap Yo Fingers' alongside Sean Paul but this was even more unsuccessful.

The reason in which I found this music video from 1981 interesting is that it includes a lot of the expectations of a music video from that time. Firstly, the video includes all 3 aspects: narrative, concept and performance. At the beginning we see Phil Collins fade into our screen which immediately tells the viewer that he is dominant and important and also that it is he that the video is promoting as well as his music. The superimposition edits of him with an image behind him suggests that his thoughts and feelings are of key importance because after all, it is his song and probably his concept for the video. Similarly, the narrative story played behind Collins ties in with the lyrics of the song, backing up one of the mentions in Goodwin's theory. Nearer to the end, colour is experimented with to give an edge to Phil Collin's frame dominating face and would have been seen as 'different' and 'experimental' in the 80's when music videos were fairly new. Overall, I think the music video is interesting because it highlights the change in music videos from then to today and also backs up some theory, therefore proving it true.

A-ha- Take On Me

A-ha- Take On Me

1985

This music video was iconic because it was memorable and cutting-edge. Also, the pencil-sketch animation style used in the video had never been done before. This created a lot of excitement and interest in the song and the band.

   The song was released two times before this video was made and both times were unsuccessful. However, when the song was released for a third time with this music video on MTV, it immediately reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart. The video then won 6 awards, proving that it was iconic.