Michael Gondry.

Michael Gondry.•Michael Gondry was born may the 8th, 1963 in Versailles, France.

•He began his directing career when he made his first music video for French rock band “oui oui”.

•His key style caught the attention of singer Bjork, whereby he went on to create a video for “human behaviour” and from that point on he became a well known music video director. •His career does not only consist of music videos but also films, documentaries, advertisements, television and screen writing where he has gone on to win academy awards.

Auter Theory.Michael Gondry was an Auter Theorist. This meant as a director he would use commercial and technical apparatus to show case his own personal factor in artistic creation as a standard of reference and this factor would continue throughout his work.

Many other Directors do this and in can be used in film (for example Tim Burton’s personal factor is gothic, dark films featuring Johnny Depp) as well as being used by other music video directors (such as Chris Cunningham's personal factors are dark, shadowy, low key lighting, grey filters).

Michael Gondry’s personal factor is the idea of ‘fun’ mainly, many video’s that he has directed have a playful, non-serious, light hearted element within them. This feature is used is the majority of music video’s he makes making him an Auter theorist.

Daft Punk – “Around the world”

Daft Punk – “Around the world”

The Daft punk video is an extremely good example of the fun personal feature Gondry conveys in many of his music videos.The music video for this dance song is abstract as it has no relation to the song however all the abstract elements within the music video are in sync with a different element and beat of the song. The use of the range of bright colours against a black background makes them stand out and helps the audience to notice each element whilst identifying that they all play equal roles within the video.The use of different costumes represents different genres of music for example the extra tall men in tracksuits is representative of Hip Hop and the Skelton costume representative of the rock genre. These all help to emphasise the non-serious Auter feature of Gondry’s directing.The fact the video is playful through mise-en-scene allows the audience to have fun, however the fact that each playful element matches the song also conveys the deeper message of how detailed a song is to make and how many micro-elements go in to making it one macro sound (dance) the use of high angle and wide shots capture this feature.

Wyclef Jean – “Another one bites the dust”

Wyclef Jean – “Another one bites the dust”Immediately this narrative video opens with a Zoom in shot, capturing a comical shot of the artist, establishing to the audience that this video is going to be humorous which is the ‘fun’ and ‘light hearted’ feature Gondry wishes to show case.The unrealistic scenario is made up of costume and character performance as well as the setting in this video which is another element that Gondry captures in a good-humoured way. The cartoonist props (slime) and character performance (running) makes the video witty and funny which matches the tone of the music and makes the video more enjoyable for the audience to watch.This video also features inspiration from comical films such as inspector gadget (features in shoes) helps the audience relate the video to something else amusing emphasising the fun factor.Mainly wide shots and fast paced cuts are used throughout Gondry’s video, to capture all aspects of fun as well as keeping the atmosphere entertaining by not sticking to one shot for too long.

Foo Fighters – “Everlong”

Foo Fighters – “Everlong”

This narrative video also follows with the comical theme by presenting the video to be similar to a stereotypical comedy show, with the panning shots of overly joyous pictures and changing colour quickly from black and white (Real life) to colour (dream).The costume and character performance within this video is also key and it once again helps to convey the humorous theme.The lighting in this video is much different to the other two videos as it appears to be much darker, however this shows that as a director he is still aware of genre conventions.The unrealistic performance, being exaggerated (oversized hand) plays into the comical, slapstick, cartoonist elements that Gondry heavily features.Once again wide shots and props are prominent aspects within these videos as they stress the Auter feature captured within the video.The jump cuts are also in sync with the music, reiterating that this is a music video, even the it is mainly to amuse and humour the audience.The subtle message within this video is to stand up for yourself as the main artist/character does through the use of his comical oversized hand.

Evaluation.This use of Gondry’s “Fun” being used in majority of his video showcases his versatility as a director and he is still able to capture the humour, the artist whilst suiting them for different genres as well as style of music.The Auter theory also helps to make him more recognisable as an director as his feature is well known and well used making audience aware of who he is and his style.The fact that his feature is “fun” makes him and the artist he directs for much more friendly, enjoyable artists to watch, so therefore having a video of this style can be used as a promotion technique as it appeals to the audience in the most positive way making them want to listen, watch and find out more about the artist and director.Also Gondry always subtly conveys a message in many of his video and he does this use his mise-en-scene and technical apparatus.