2. WHO IS HE?
Michel Gondry is a French director who was
born on the 8 th of May, 1963. He has won a
collection of awards with his directing of music
videos, commercial films and his screenwriting.
His very unique use of the mise-en-scène seen
on screen was key in his success in engaging
and interesting a wide audience as it was often
manipulated. His work has been especially
credible as he has worked alongside A -list
artists ranging from The Rolling Stones to Kylie
Minogue.
3. HOW HE BEGAN:
Michel Gondry began his career in his French rock
band „Oui Oui‟ by making videos for his band to assist
their singles. He was then „scouted‟ by Bjork to direct
a music video for her song „Human Behaviour‟ [1].
After the success Gondry and Bjork gained after this
music video, they continued to create a total of seven
music videos in partnership. Gondry, following this
success, began to create music videos for other well -
known artists. He also directed a series of
commercials such as the famous Levis 501 Jeans
Drugstore one, which was later banned in North
America as it contained suggestive content involving
latex condoms.
4. INSPIRATION FOR HIS VIDEOS:
Gondry openly admits that his videos are inspired by his
memories of childhood which at times may have been
questionable as he was brought up in the sixties. His visual
effects and surreal settings contribute to his unique
approach to directing which as effect acts as a trademark
for his work as they reoccur in many of his videos. Gondry
had a variety of partnerships with different directors
including Spike Jonze and Chris Cunningham and together
the three of them released a collection of DVD‟s which
included all of the work of the directors. This was a
successful step in Gondry‟s career as his work was
recognized more by the public and he gained friendly
relationships with the directors and they all recommended
each other which worked in all of their favours.
5. QUOTES
“I have a lot of freedom and am very creative when it
comes to my videos”
“When people are very original,
sometimes they are original as a way
to resist the mainstream.”
The visual must be predetermined, but the
emotion can‟t be”
