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Music video/commercial directors Jonze, Cunningham and Gondry got together to produce these 3 DVD’s, each containing not only examples of the directors’ music video work, but also loads of extra material such as storyboards, interviews, short films and a beautifully made booklet to accompany each director’s DVD. Michel Gondry is my new hero!
I got the Spike Jonze DVD for Christmas and was already familiar with some of his work such as the Fat Boy Slim videos for Praise You and Weapon of Choice (featuring Christopher Walken dancing through a deserted hotel). I don’t like everything he has made, but his good stuff is really excellent and he has a great talent for coming up with simple but very original concepts (like him leading a dance group outside a cinema in L.A. to the beats of FatBoy Slim).
One of my personal favourites is Drop by The Pharcyde which was filmed entirely backwards with some very amusing results. Also What’s Up Fatlip? by Fatlip who seems to be one of the few rappers that dares to appear on camera without four models hanging off each arm. In fact, he cycles through suburbia with a kiddie seat on the back of his bike, lets his 6 year old cousin kick him in the balls and raps on the street clad in nothing but a dirty raincoat and a diaper.
Listening to Jonze’s commentary about making some of the videos is very revealing and, accompanied by the candid descriptions of failed attempts in the booklet, helps you realize that even highly successful directors like Jonze and Cunningham make mistakes too. Chris Cunningham in particular is very critical of his own work which unfortunately resulted in his DVD containing less videos than the other two.
Cunningham’s style is very dark and ominous and in some cases downright scary, as in Come To Daddy (Aphex Twin). You’ve probably seen it and if so, you will probably never forget it as it depicts a deformed character in a TV set screaming “Come to daddy!” at children who all have Richard D. James’ grinning face (Aphex Twin himself). I can barely watch it as it is exactly the kind of thing my nightmares are made of, but Madonna obviously liked it as she asked Cunningham to direct her video for Frozen after having seen it.
Probably the most notable video on the Cunningham DVD is Bjork’s All Is Full of Love in which the Icelandic songstress is a white, plastic robot on an assembly line who ends up passionately kissing an identical robot, therefore kissing herself. The movements are so fluid and well done that it’s almost arousing to watch, despite all the machinery surrounding them. Bjork is the common denominator in this set of DVDs as all directors have worked with her. It is Michel Gondry however who has the most Bjork videos to his name.
Joga, Bachelorette, Hyperballad, Army of Me, Isobel and Human Behaviour are all on there, along with other artists such as Kylie Minogue, The Rolling Stones, Daft Punk and Oui Oui (a band that Gondry himself played drums in for a while). I had never heard the name Gondry until this set came out, but as I mentioned before, he is my new hero now! Wow, he makes some jaw-dropping videos which, besides pioneering new video compositing techniques, prove the guy is a genius in creative concepts. He has such a good feel for which images go with the track. Take Fell in Love With A Girl by The White Stripes for example: entirely animated out of blue, yellow, red, black and white lego blocks! It works so well particularly because he sticks to very rough shapes and doesn’t overdo the details.
Gondry is the man responsible for the Rolling Stones video “Like A Rolling Stone” in which Patricia Arquette crawls through Manhattan in a drugged haze. That video had a very strong “how the hell did they do that?” quotient as it appears to be made up of still photographs morphed into eachother, yet has the fluidity of film. Many of his videos make you wonder “how the hell did he do that?” and how did he come up with the idea in the first place? The video for the Chemical brothers’ Star Guitar is worth buying this DVD for on its own. A view from a speeding train, the landscape rushing by as you might expect it to, until you realize that the landscape is in time with the music. Buildings. bridges and trees fly in and out of the frame on the beat, almost putting you in a trance. Pure genius again (sorry to keep repeating myself).
The booklet accompanying the Gondry DVD contains background information on the making of certain videos, but also pages of personal polaroids and drawings and stories which Gondry faxed from L.A. to his 6-year-old son, Paul in Paris. There’s a collection of home-movies and experiments and a documentary about Gondry, named I’ve Been 12 Forever, a very apt title. My favourite page in the book is one with photos of every car Gondry’s father ever owned. I love that kind of wacky stuff.
Technical Problem
There is one really weird technical problem I have with the Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry DVD’s. Playing the DVD on my Pioneer DV444, I thought the interface was completely crap on the main menu page as all I saw was a black screen with VIDEOS in red text. After some key-pressing on the DVD remote I discovered the other menu items, but thought it was surprisingly badly made for this kind of DVD. Then I discussed the DVDs with a friend who commented on the great menu interface. Was he kidding?!! To check it out, I popped the Gondry DVD into my computer DVD drive and lo and behold, there was a very funny menu interface of Gondry playing the drums with menu items on various tom-toms and cymbals. It was indeed really cool, but I apparently only see the ‘top layer’ when playing back on my Pioneer DVD. Does anyone have ANY idea what could cause that?
In terms of eye-candy + inspirational material and despite the technical problem: 
– brilliant!
suzero (90 posts)Suzanna Noort - TV/video director/editor and multimedia something. Amsterdam, Netherlands
6 Comments
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there is actually an article in the current issue of OOR magazine about these directors and their DVD’s…. reading Cunningham wasn’t satisfied with Madonna’s Frozen was unbelievable since I think it is her best video like ever… Besides ‘All Is Full of Love’ bt Bj’rk is also amazing!
Comment by arjan — Sun January 25, 2004 @ 20:34Three of the most inspirational film makers around as far as I’m concerned. I can’t wait for Chris Cunningham’s first directed full length feature. Apparently he’s FINALLY decided to do something. Michel Gondry’s first feature was ok, (Human Nature) and very quirky, but perhaps too much so. However, having seen the trailer for his new film, The Eternal Sunshione for the Spotless Mind I am well and truly excited. Even though it stars Jim Carrey!
As for Spike Jonze, the guy’s work makes me laugh out loud more than any other. His concepts are simple, but they work wonders. The Daft Punk Da Funk video is one of my all time favourites.
These dvds are simply ESSENTIAL!
Comment by damian — Mon January 26, 2004 @ 11:04Great review! I’d heard of these and you make me want to buy even more. You’re costing me money, you
I agree with you on the Aphex Twin video: try to see it deep in the night… it’s one of the most unsettling pieces of film you’ll ever see (without it getting too explicit). I wonder if this guy also made the other A.T.-video (the one with the limo and the two chicks with masks). It does the music justice, as it is as equally original and innovative.
Let’s not forget that Jonze is the genius that brought us Jackass too
There are so many great videos on those. I also really like Weapon of Choice. Does the other Chemical Brothers’ video “Where’s your head at” (with the baboon-faces superimposed on humans and vice versa) also belong to this lot? That is a great video too!
Comment by Anonymous — Mon January 26, 2004 @ 15:06Haha – it is a lot of money, but money well spent as you’ll definitely watch these DVDs more often than once (unlike some feature films).
Yes, Cunningham made the video with the limo, Windowlicker. I didn’t like it much as it copied the Richard D. James mask thing from Come To Daddy and I didn’t get what was supposed to be so funny about the guys in the car… but then that might just be my problem
Here’s the contents of the DVDs:
The Work of Director Spike Jonze
Music videos:
California (Wax), Sure Shot (Beastie Boys), Drop (The Pharcyde), Cannonball (The Breeders), Sabotage (Beastie Boys), Da Funk (Daft PUnk), What’s Up Fatlip (Fatlip), Undone (The Sweater Song) (Weezer), Praise You (Fatboy Slim), Feel the Pain (Dinosaur Jr.), If I Only Had a Brain (MC 900ft Jesus), Sky’s the Limit (The Notorious B.I.G.), Weapon of Choice (Fatboy Slim), Buddy Holly (Weezer), Elektrobank (The Chemical Brothers), It’s Oh So Quiet (Bjork)
The Interviews
- Making of “Drop” with The Pharcyde
- Audio commentaries by the Beastie Boys, Fatboy Slim, Weezer, The Pharcyde, Daft Punk, The Chemical Brothers, Bjork, Christopher Walken, Puffy, and more
- Rarities: How They Get There, Mark Paints, The Oasis Video That Never Happened, Rockafella Skank, The Woods
- Documentaries: What’s Up Fatlip? (the documentary), Amarillo by Morning, Torrance Rises
- 52-page book with Spike’s photographs, drawings, and interviews
The Work of Director Chris Cunningham
Music videos:
Second Bad Vibel (Autechre), Come to Daddy (Aphex Twin), Only You (Portishead), Frozen (Madonna), Afrika Shox (Leftfield featuring Afrika Bambaataa), Come on My Selector (Squarepusher), Windowlicker (Aphex Twin), All Is Full of Love (Bjork)
Extras
Making All Is Full of Love: featuring behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with Bjork and Chris Cunningham
Other work: Monkey Drummer (video installation featuring music by Aphex Twin), flex (excerpt from video installation featuring music by Aphex Twin), Mental Wealth (Sony PlayStation commercial), Photocopier (never-before-seen Levis commercial), Engine (Nissan commercial featuring music by Boards of Canada), Windowlicker (bleeped version)
52-page book including photographs, storyboards, sketchbook drawings, record cover art, and interview
The Work of Director Michel Gondry
Videos:
The Hardest Button to Button (the White Stripes), Come Into My World (Kylie Minogue), Dead Leaves & the Dirty Ground (the White Stripes), Fell in Love with a Girl (the White Stripes), Star Guitar (the Chemical Brothers), Let Forever Be (the Chemical Brothers), Joga (Bjork), Deadweight (Bjork), Bachelorette (Bjork), Everlong (Foo Fighters), Around the World (Daft Punk), Sugar Water (Cibo Matto), Hyperballad (Bjork)
Extras:
I’ve Been 12 Forever (Part 2 age 12-12): a 75-minute film including interviews with Michel and the artists and collaborators
Stories and Things: La Lettre, One Day, Lacuna Inc, Drugstore (Levi’s commercial), Smarienberg (Schmirnoff commercial), Resignation (Polaroid commercial)
Videos: Like a Rolling Stone (the Rolling Stones), Army of Me (Bjork), Isobel (Bjork), Protection (Massive Attack), Lucas with the Lid Off (Lucas), Human Behavior (Bjork), Le Me (I Am), La Tour de Pise (Jean Francois Coen), Ma Maison (Oui Oui), Bolide (Oui Oui), Junior et Sa Voix d’Or (Oui Oui), Les Cailloux (Oui Oui), Un Joyeux Noel (Oui Oui), La Ville (Oui Oui)
I’ve Been 12 Forever (Part 1 age 12-12)
Stories and Things: Drumb and Drumber, Pecan Pie (a short film starring Jim Carrey), Three Dead People, My Brother’s 24th Birthday, Tiny, Spin Art, Oui Oui live concert footage, and more
52-page book of Michel’s stories, drawings, photographs, and interviews
Full-screen format
Comment by suzero — Mon January 26, 2004 @ 18:44Thanks, Suzanna, as it was my post without the name
One would almost buy these for the great music. OMG, so much to buy, so little money…
Comment by paco — Mon January 26, 2004 @ 23:39One would. And this one will. Yeah! this is soooo cool. It’s hard to find this kind of stuff in a decent quality. Great that it’s on DVD.
Comment by reisneus — Tue January 27, 2004 @ 18:53