Number 5. ‘Imitation of life’ R.E.M
Directed by Garth Jennings; set at a wild pool party using ONLY 20 seconds of actual footage. This was achieved using a technique called pan and scan where a video is filmed widescreen allowing the editor to punch and focus on specific areas and pull out for the wide shot while playing the video forwards and in reverse. This carefully choreographed video is as innovative as it is entertaining and with every watch there’s always something new to see.
Number 4. ‘Single Ladies’ - Beyoncé
Directed by Jake Nava who used long takes and powerful choreography inspired by Bob Fosse’s ‘Mexican Breakfast’. The unique visual style comes from its fantastic live lighting changes and stylish black and white. Even though this was one of the most innovative music videos of its time it was Ironically the cheapest and quickest made of Beyoncé’s videos
Number 3. ‘Sledgehammer’ - Peter Gabriel
Directed by Stephen R. Johnson who used pixilation and stop motion to create its unique look; it was an ambitious production that has yet to be met. Although it was not the first music video to use stop motion it did make the biggest impact.
Interesting fact: the stop motion scenes were animated by Wallace and Gromit’s very own Nick Park!
Number 2. ‘Gangnam Style’ - PSY
Directed by Cho Soo-hyun and shot over a gruelling 48 hours in Seoul South Korea featuring a range of South Korean celebrities. The flamboyant K-pop style, fun comedy moments and fearless performance from Psy made this one unforgettable Music Video catapulting ‘Gangnam Style’ into the history books as the first video on YouTube to reach 1BILLION views.
At Number 1 it has to be ‘Thriller’ - Michael Jackson
Directed by John Landis of Animal House, The Blues Brothers and An American Werewolf in London he was one of the first big screen directors to make a music video. Created to combat falling sales of the Thriller album Michael contacted John Landis after seeing An American Werewolf in London. The combination of transformation horror with what would become one of the most iconic choreographed routines helped catapult Thriller to the highest selling album of all time (32 million copies) This wasn’t just a Music Video, it was a short film creating a trend for others to follow.
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