--Jonathan Glazer--—Jonathan Glazer is the music video director I have chosen to study for

task 11 of my Media A2 – Music Video project.

Jonathan Glazer is an English director and has only made a few music videos and mainly focuses on adverts, short films and campaigns. However the music videos he has made have been exceptionally creative and original. He won the ‘MTV Director of the Year’ award in 1997 after a hit with Radiohead’s ‘Karma Police’ video. He has also gained status through the Sony Bravia advert which featured a tower block with paint exploding all over it. I have chosen his videos and him to study because I like the simplicity of his work and how he uses special effects to enhance an otherwise simple concept.

Video One - Radiohead – Street Spirit (Fade Out)- 1996

The first video I looked at was Radiohead’s ‘Street Spirit (Fade Out)’, directed by Jonathan Glazer. The video immediately took my interest because of the unusual style of filming.

The most poignant technique used is that of different speed frequency cameras. This means that within one frame, two objects can be moving at different speed. I felt that this style gave the video a dreamlike quality that intrigued me very much.

The black and white filming makes the technique even more interesting as it is simple and clean.

Jonathan Glazer has said that the video was ‘a turning point’ in his work, where he felt that he had portrayed the emotion behind the song effectively. I think that the concept of slow motion vs. real time in the same frame is what evokes such an emotional response in its viewers.

The music is of a slow tempo, and the slow, flowing visuals reflect this as does the simple lighting and basic mise en scene. The slow moving gracefulness of the video supports the tempo and lyrics of the song.

There is a minimal relationship between lyrics and visuals within the video, but there is a link nonetheless. The repetition of ‘fade out again’ in the lyrics is reflected by people ‘fading’ in and out of slow motion.

Dreamlike images are used to create the surreal atmosphere. Dancers is black cloaks, a man with blood/tar dripping down his face and a black horse are not things we would normally see in such a day to day location and this evokes a sense of the surreal within us.

There is no voyeurism within the video, and although many of the frames are of Thom Yorke ( Main singer), I don’t think it is performance based as the band are not playing behind him and it is not in a ‘gig’ setting. I think that the concepts of time and movement are more important aspects of the video than the actual performance.

Video Two- UNKLE – Rabbit in Your Headlights-1998

I absolutely adored this video when I first saw it. The use of natural, bland lighting and such a simple concept makes is just as poignant now as it was ten years ago.

The video features a man (Denis Lavant) walking through a tunnel. He is mumbling incoherently and shouting as he walks. 54 seconds into the vide o he is hit by a car, he gets back up again and keeps walking.

He is hit a total of 5 times and keeps getting back up. At one point a group of

men in a car attempt to talk to him and give him a lift to where he’s going but he just keeps mumbling and they give up. After the fifth time he gets hit, he takes his coat off. Then he assumes the position of Christ on the cross in front of the traffic, the next time he gets hit, he remains standing and obliterates the car. This is the climax of the video.

The mise-en-scene is simple. He wears a simple parka coat, and the tunnel is lit blandly with normal, everyday cars driving past. Throughout the video we can hear the diagetic sound of the traffic and his muttering, placing us in the tunnel and getting us involved with the video. We wonder who the man is, and what his purpose is. He has the demeanour of a crazed man on a mission and I think this is why none of the cars stop and notice him beyond an object of irritation. It could symbolise the mentality of people who just pass by and prefer to look the other way rather than help someone, because of fear for themselves.

It created mass discussion when it was first released and there are theories about what it means all over the internet. Neither UNKLE nor Thom Yorke have ever confirmed or denied any of the theories, which leads me to believe it is a video about whatever you

believe it to be. It is closely linked with the film 'Jacob's Ladder' but I think it is far too thought provoking and moving to just be a movie trailer.

The visual editing is of a slow tempo which suits the music, so they link well. There is also a link between the lyrics and visuals as the video is strongly linked with the film Jacob’s Ladder and the lyrics sample dialogue from the film. There is use of voyeurism, we see him from the perspective of inside a car at a few points in the video.

Video 3 – Jamiroquai- Virtual Insanity- 1998

This video follows the style of Radiohead’s ‘Fade Out’ video. From looking at three of Jonathan Glazer’s videos I have gained a knowledge of style’s that he often replicates.

He is fond of optical illusion, as seen in both the Radiohead video and this Jamiroquai video. He also uses a lot of natural lighting and simple concept to put forward a potent visual.

In this video, Jamiroquai is seen to be dancing in a room when the floor is moving and the furniture is moving around him. The visuals emphasise Jamiroquai’s famous dance moves extremely well as he appears to be gliding along while the room moves around him.

The lighting is clear and bright, and the mise en scene is again washed out and bleak as in both the previous video’s I have looked at. Images which we would not expect in the video are also used again as they are in the Radiohead video. There is the use of an eagle, a big of some sort (earwig?) and blood. The song is quite upbeat so these macabre images don’t seem to fit.

However, they could link into the title ‘Virtual Insanity’ as they create a dreamlike illusion. They whole video is designed to twist our perception of reality. The moving furniture and walls throw out perspective off and the use of macabre images confuses the audience.

The link between the lyrics and music to the visuals is all in the concept of warping the audience’s perspective.

The video had no use of voyeurism, the camera is always focused on Jamiroquai. There is use of star power as there is a shot of Jamiroquai in front of the rest of the band who are being ‘blown away’

down the corridor with Jamiroquai remaining at the front. This shows that his dance moves allow him to stay upright.

From these three videos I have found that JonathanGlazer prefers to use simplistic ideas that are enhanced by visual/special effects. He favours naturalistic lighting and use of out of place imagery to create a dreamlike representation. The artist or band is rarely the centre piece of the video, they tend to centre around the visuals or concept more.