Director study on Michel Gondry!!!

So here is some basic background...Michel waqs born 8th May 1963 and is from Versailles in France. He not only directs short videos and music videos but is drummer for the pop/rock band Oui Oui which non-surprisingly he has done several videos for. Overall he has won 16 awards for his videos and had been nominated for 14. More recently Michel has been directing full legth features such as Be Kind Rewind and The Green Hornet which are both comedies where he has worked with big names such as Jack Black and Seth Rogen. He claims that he has worked with all the artists he could want to apart from Micheal Jackson.



Some of the artists he has worked with include:-

• The White Stripes
• The Chemical Brothers
• Bjork
• Oui Oui

One video wonders!

• Kylie Minogue-Come Into My World
• Foo Fighters-Everlong
• The Rolling Stones-Like A Rolling Stone
• Daft Punk-Around The World

Some key videos I feel he has directed were:






His other work includes short fi;lms like "La Lettre" and "One Day". He has also done advertising for Schmirnoff, Drugstore and Polaroid. Michel has had the chance to work with big names like Jim Carey in short sketch like films like "Pecan Pie". (Films he has directed are listed earlier)

His style I feel includes these features:

• Repetition (of images)
• Colour distortion
• Time and space (playing with the idea of)
• Modernism
• Filmed in urban areas, often cities
• Surreal settings
• Fast images (faster than like eg footage has been sped up)
• Transport is often involved whether it is a car or a train
• Point of View shots are used in some pieces

CGI is used in msot videos to distort, repeat or overlay images. Editing software can be used to fade and cross over images as well as make sure the edits keep in time with the beat of the music.
Lights are often used to make a video extremely dark to bring out a colour contrast or it is extreme bright colours so you almost don't know where to look. There are some videos where black and white images are used-often in short films and advertisments.

I think this director is a certain inspiration to us all. His videos are always wacky and out of the ordinary and for this I feel that he is to be admired for his creativity and imagination. His videos show good editing skills along with the flare that every director needs