Anthony Mandler

Background…

• Anthony Mandler was born on April 18th, 1973 in Los Angeles. He was raised in Hollywood with celebrity classmates and industry people all around him. He graduated from the USC Film School Graduate. whom then studied with the late great Michelangelo Antonioni. Mandler knew early on in life what he wanted to do as he realized his passion for film. His love of movies set his course to grow into today's most promising film directing talent!

Other aspects of His Career..

• Mandler started off his career as a photographer and his work has featured on a number of magazines such as: ‘Entertainment Weekly’, ‘Esquire’, Men’s Health and ‘ESPN The Magazine.

Artists He has Worked with..

• Fergie• Akon• Eminem• Spice Girls• Mary J Blige• Drake• The Killers• One Republic

His work includes…

Videos for the likes of

Rihanna:

• ‘Man Down’, ‘California King Bed’, ‘Only Girl’

Jay-Z’s:

• ‘Young Forever’, ‘D.O.A’

Beyoncé's:

• ‘Irreplaceable’, ‘Get Me Bodied’

Usher’s

• ‘There Goes My Baby’, ‘O.M.G.’

Analysis of ‘OMG’ Usher featuring

Will.I.Am

• When Usher says the words ‘Baby let me love you down’-points his finger down

• ‘Love ya’-touches his heart• ‘Break you down’- camera tilts around• ‘Oh my God’-points his fingers upwards• ‘Fell in love with shawty’-women are shown• ‘Pop, pop, pop’- the women's dance moves are in sync with the music. So

this is an example of the relationship between music and visuals.• ‘Drop it low’-women go down• ‘Honey got a booty like, pow, pow, pow- the women bounce their bums,

which is also to the beat of the music• ‘Honey some boobies like, wow oh wow’- women accentuate their assets

with hand gestures• ‘Sexy from her head to her toes’- Camera focuses on usher’s face then

moves to women’s feet.

• ‘Baby let me love you down’ –pulls his sunglasses down’

• When he says ‘oh, oh, oh, oh’ his dance moves are in sync with the beat.

• Words such as: ‘Baby’, ‘Honey’, ‘Booty’ and ‘Sexy’ are words that are usually

used in most R n B Songs. He also uses slang words like ‘Ya’ and ‘Boobies’

• There is also reference to the notion of looking as we can see the women

dancing through usher’s sunglasses

• There is also voyeuristic treatment of the body as the women as dressed in quite sophisticated clothing and their dance moves are quite ‘sexy’. Also the camera tends to focus on particular parts of their body which links to the lyrics, as Usher is referencing parts of their body when he sings.

• The special effects used in this video are also very smart:

• Women seen dancing on the sunglasses.

• Usher dancing with shadows behind him (picture below)

• The effect of the lights, makes the video quite edgy

• The video contains characteristics typical of this genre

• The women dancing around in sophisticated costume

• A lot of dancing- particularly freestyle

Comments on the Video..from AnthonyMandler

• Anthony Mandler said: “The video is a spectacle. It really emphasizes what we love about Usher and the character and the icon that he is, and most importantly, it’s really a video that showcases his superstardom.”

According to Mandler, the original idea for the video was citing Max Headroom a fictional artificial intelligence character from 1980s British television and film. The reference is made when Usher is seen on a flickering television at the beginning of the video. Mandler specified, commenitng, "Max Headroom was always in his room," he continued, "this unidentifiable room, '80s shapes. I used that for inspiration.“

• Mandler described the visuals in the clip as ‘Hitchcock-ian’, as well as simply capturing Usher in his element, as he said he wanted the R&B singer's talent to take over. He further explained, stating,

• "The concept was to create a world where we put Usher in a space where he does what I think he does better than anyone else in the world, which is perform at a level and magnitude of a superstar and take us, the viewer, whether audible or visually, on a journey, not a ride. And, in that, I wanted to create an unpredictability, so one set leads to another and another, and you never know what's gonna happen. Along the way, Usher becomes our guide. We're so focused on him, we don't notice the change. The thing is unfolding little by little, and you can't quite see far enough ahead to know what's gonna come next.