RM - Music Vid Auteurs

Spike Jonze

Spike Jonze is an American director, producer and actor. He was originally born called Adam Spiegel in October 1969. He has produced music videos for Beastie Boy, including Sabotage, Ricky's Theme, Sure Shot and Time for Livin'. Jonze also directed Beastie Boy's "Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win" which, like Michael Jackson's "Thriller", is a short movie that lasts 11 minutes. As well as directing music videos for Beastie Boys Jonze has also directed videos such as Daft Punk's Da Funk. As well as creating music videos Jonze had produced a number of films such as the Jackass franchise and Being John Malkovich. The most recent video Jonze produced is Arcade Fire's The Suburbs.


In videos Jonze has produced they appear in the style of a short film or programme. The shot lengths used in his music videos tend to be long, although he does uses quicker takes as well. As well as Jonze uses diegetic openings, breaks and endings in music videos.

Beastie Boy's Sabotage:

Beastie Boys' Dont Play No Game That I Can't Win



Daft Punk's Da Funk:

Arcade Fire's The Suburbs:

Anton Corbijn

Anton Corbijn is a Dutch photographer and film and music director, born May 1955. Corbijn has directed music videos for such as several of Depeche Mode's singles such as Strangelove, Never Let Me Down Again, Enjoy the Silence, Personal Jesus as well as Joy Division's Atmosphere, U2's One and The Killer's All These Things I've Done. Corbijn has also produced a film called Control which is about the life of the Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis. The most recent music video Corbijn produced was Coldplay's Viva la Vida.

Throughout Corbijn's music videos he has intertextual references with a previous one, he has done this in Coldplay's Viva la Vida where he makes references to Depeche Mode's Enjoy the Silence as the protagonist walks around several locations. Another example is in Joy Division's Atmosphere where hooded figures feature, similar to the ones which feature in Nirvana's Heart Shaped Box. Throughout Corbijn's filmography it is clear that he keeps special effects to a minimum, although he does use them.

Depeche Mode's Enjoy the Silence:

Coldplay's Viva la Vida:

Nirvana's Heart Shaped Box:



Joy Division's Atmosphere: