Influences

When I was looking at music videos for inspiration for my own idea, Michel Gondry had directed some of the most interesting ideas when interpreting the music into visuals. I then researched what music videos he had directed, and lots of them had an interesting concept behind them.

Lots of the video were also unique from others making them stand out, making them more interesting. The music video from 'The White Stripes - City Lights' has an interesting concept as it told the story through condensation on a glass shower door. This gives the music video a unique element to it as the narrative is being told in a completely new way, not being the conventional shots of a character in a setting. The drawings fade away perfectly in time with the music so new drawings can be displayed. This is so the narrative can progress.

Another video that is very unique is 'Dick Annegarn - Soleil du soir'. Throughout the whole video, it tells a narrative of the journey of an old man going to the cafe and getting a drink. The video has a twist with the world around him going really fast, but him still making the same journey. This is to suggest that he does the same thing everyday making the viewer realize what the typical life of an older person is. This is to show his routine of everyday by drawing, reading an then walking to the cafe for a drink. This will then link to the music and lyrics as the narrative displays the meaning behind the song. The whole aspect of the world going really fast suggests that what his life is like. As he feels that the world is progressing quickly, due to his age and because he is doing the same thing everyday.

Another video is the 'White Stripes - The Denial Twist'. This video is also very unique due to the illusions and stretching of the image. This video also has a narrative but it is all shot in a studio. Using illusions and stretching the video is instantly made unique and represents the type of music.

The illusions within the set are used in the video, this makes an interesting concept. Also due to the stretch of the shot changing, as they move rooms, makes the video different. Using the stretch, can tell the viewer what type of music this is going to be, signifying the genre, and message behind the video. The stretch makes the viewer realize that something isn't quite right, disrupting the image and making them focus on certain aspects of the shot, as it is stretched.

All three videos have a directors style which is unique to all of his videos therefore, I have been inspired to make something completely different from the conventional video. Gondry's videos all have a unique aspect to the way the plot is told making the narrative interesting. This made me, as a viewer interested and watch the whole video, which is what the director and record label wants us to do. This director will have an influence on my idea, making it more unusual with a unique aspect.