Michel Gondry

Michel Gondry is an amazing Music video director. he just has such an incredible and unique imagination, and the short form of the music video has proven to be a wonderful outlet for his visions.
He's moved on to feature film now and for my mind hasn't quite nailed it yet, although Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind was brilliant. But personally I just get the feeling that soon a script is going to come along for Gondry which will be well suited to his visual style and when that happens the results will no doubt be incredible.
The thing that I particularly like about Gondry is that he is film maker who's firmly rooted in the tradition of cinema that does not shy away from it origins in the old time nickelodeons and optical illusions of the sideshow. A tradition which found its genesis as cinema through the work of Melies, (see my post on Smashing Pumpkins).
The fact that Gondry like Melies is French might suggest that its a French tradition particularly when you throw into the mix directors with such rich visual styles such as Marc Caro, Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Luc Besson.
But at the heart of all Gondrys work it seems is this kind of youthful enthusiasm for the optical illusion and the magic of cinema and all that makes possible.
The amazing thing about Gondry is that he chooses to do most of his tricks in camera rather then relying on CG. This no doubt just ads to his unique visual style.
I love this...For me Ive always been much more impressed by the magicians who use incredible sleight of hand rather then relying on the spectacle of fancy light shows and pyrotechnics.
No where is this more evident then in his clip for Let Forever Be by the Chemical Brothers. Which for the record is my Number 1 favourite music video of all time. Ive watched this clips so many times and each time I'm just blown away by just how complex the clip is visually. I think its the best music video ever made.



The other thing that Gondry does which I really like, is that in a lot of his clips he represents the music visually. Star Guitar is a classic example of this where the passing elements of a train journey come to represent an instrument or sound in the song. For instance a passing suspension bridge = the snare drum and so on.

The White Stripes

The White Stripe are another band who consistently do great clips. This really is due in large part no doubt to their association with Michel Gondry, who in my opinion is easily the best music video director ever.
In fact the first time I took notice of The White Stripes was when I saw the clip for Dead leaves and The Dirty Ground. It's just such a great concept to show two stories simultaneously within a clip and the way it is realized by using projection on the walls is amazing. Gondry really is a master illusionist.


My other favourite clip for the white Stripes is the one for 7 Nation Army. Its another Gondy clip which is just done brilliantly (very hypnotic). Mind you I reckon it would be every music video directors dream to be given a song this good. I reckon Gondry actually copied the Clockwork Orange Poster with regards to the triangular form of the composition of the clip.