MICHEL GONDRY Directer study

MICHEL GONDRY

born in Versailles, France in 1963 (49 years old) Michel Gondry is an Academy Award-winning filmmaker, whose works include being a commercial director, music video director, and a screenwriter. He is noted for his inventive visual style and manipulation of mise en scène.

òHis career as a filmmaker began with creating music videos for the French rock band Oui Oui, in which he also served as a drummer. The style of his videos for Oui Oui caught the attention of music artist Bjork, who asked him to direct the video for her song “Human Behaviour”.

Filmography	Music Videos        1993 - 2006	Advertisements
Human Nature (2001)	Hardest Button to Button – The White Stripes	Adidas Aftershave – Released From Work
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)	Come Into My World                          – Kylie Minogue	Air France – Le Nuage
The Science of Sleep (2006)	Dead Leaves and The Dirty Ground – The White Stripes	BMW – Pure Drive
Be Kind Rewind (2008)	Star Guitar – The Chemical Brothers	GAP – Holiday Campaign
The Green Hornet (2011)	Let Forever Be- The Chemical  Brothers	Coca-Cola – Snowboarder
The We and the I (2012)	Joga - Bjork	NatWest – Zoom
Mood Indigo	Deadweight- Beck	Nike – I Can Play

Successes

òAcademy Award for the screenplay of Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind.

òHis Levi’s 501 Jeans “Drugstore” holds the record for “Most awards won by a TV commercial”.

òDirected and made a cameo appearance in Paul McCartney’s video for “Dance Tonight”.

Style

òGondry’s music videos often relies on videography and camera tricks which play with frames of reference.

òHis music video style is usually concept based.

ò“Remarkable creative energy and the ability to innovate has resulted in some of the most visually stunning music videos in the history of the medium, and his wild imagination and organic, childlike imagery raised the bar of what one could achieve in the short format.”

Levi’s - Drugstore

Some shots faded around the edges to give the emphasize the era of the 1930s “Great Depression”.

The music reflects the depression up to when he pulls up to the ‘drugstore’ when it changes to a more modern beat.

The concept of the video is easily interpreted by the audience which is good because it’s an advert that targets a younger audience. It attracts this audience by implying sexual activities.

Opinion

Gondry's work is very unique an due to this can be seen as very desirable, His videos and movies almost hold a playful element to them. And it's this which draws me in as a viewer of his work.  Due to this unique style i's made me try to think outside of the box for my music video however a vast amount of  of the ideas i have revolving around his work are complex and would take too long to execute. He is still an extreamly influential artist who's work i admire greatly.