Amazing Music Videos : Around the World by Daft Punk

A great music video usually builds on the strenght(s) of the song – powerful lyrics, intense vocal/musical performance, overall atmosphere, … –  to enhance it and convey emotions. That may be why so many successful music video directors are also movie directors. It’s the same idea in film, where directors enhance a script by creatively building on its strenghts.

But one might wonder how a music video director can succeed in enhancing, say, something like “club” music?…  I usually listen to singer/songwriters, so to me, getting inspired by beats and a few repetitive lyrics, however catchy they are, poses somewhat of a challenge… Yet, this Amazing Music Videos list already featured two success stories: Weapon of Choice and Praise you by Fatboy Slim, both directed by Spike Jonze. The video for “Around the World”, by French electronic band Daft Punk, is another great example.

The creative mind of French director Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Human Nature, several wonderful Bjork videos) came up with a world where squeletons, mommies, synchronized swimmers, robots, and giant though small-headed athletes dance around together on a vinyl record in a disco-style setting. The idea is quite simple: each group of dancers represent a specific sound/rythm. It’s a visual representation of the song itself. Clever indeed.

With the artistic direction Gondry and his team had taken, the thing they absolutely couldn’t afford to miss was the dancing. And they didn’t, it is very well-executed. The jerky moves fit really well with both the song and the characters portrayed (athough the mommies’ smooth moves at 1:28 is a memorable part of the choreography).

The overall result is a completely hypnotic video, which will make you “see” the song in a new light, so to speak.

 

Amazing Music Videos : Weapon of Choice by Fatboy Slim

Now that MTV, Much Music, MusiMax, and Musique Plus seem more interested in “reality” TV shows than music videos, I suggest we post about the coolest, most artistic and memorable videos of all time.

Let us start with Fatboy Slim’s award winning “Weapon of choice” video, produced by Spike Jones (Being John Malcovitch, Adaptation, etc.). What a concept : watching Chistopher Walken dancing alone in a hotel, in a swift business suit. And he’s got awesome moves too. There’s something cool and eerie about it, or is it Christopher Walken who’s cool and eerie?

Apparently the “flying” scene was the hardest to film and it’s ironically the least interesting.

What I like is the simple, original concept, reminiscent of old Hitchcock episodes, where something strange could happen out of nowhere, in what otherwise seemed like an ordinary day.