Video Directors 2

This is a list of notable music video directors whose body of work has been considered exceptional. Here are some examples of their videos...i tried to get a range of genres and artists:

• Chris Applebaum

Natasha Beddingfield, Unwritten:

The Pussycat Dolls, I Don't Need A Man:

Rihanna, Umbrella:

• Steve Barron

Micheal Jackson, Billie Jean:

• Samuel Bayer

Green Day, St Jimmy:

Pink, Who Knew:

My Chemical romance, Black Parade:

• Dion Beebe
• Burning Vision


• Marty Callner


• Mariah Carey


• Peter Christopherson


• Roman Coppola

Coppola has also directed clips for artists including Green Day, Fatboy Slim, The Strokes, Phoenix, Daft Punk, The Vines, God Lives Underwater, and Wyclef Jean.

• Anton Corbijn

Metallica, Mama Said:

• Chris Cunningham


• Patrick Daughters

Snow Patrol, Hands Open:

• Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris


• Brian Philip Davis


• Nigel Dick

The artists and bands Dick has directed to date include Oasis, The Backstreet Boys, Toni Braxton, Good Charlotte, Green Day, Il Divo, Elton John, Ricky Martin, Paul McCartney, Amy Lee, Tina Turner, Celine Dion, R.E.M., Gloria Estefan, NSync, Pussycat Dolls, and Ozzy Osbourne.

• Fred Durst


• David Fincher

Fincher directed big budget music videos for artists such as Madonna (including "Express Yourself", "Vogue" "Oh Father" and "Bad Girl"), Billy Idol ("Cradle of Love"), Jody Watley, Rick Springfield, Steve Winwood, George Michael, Michael Jackson, Aerosmith, Paula Abdul, the Rolling Stones (including "Love Is Strong"), Nine Inch Nails ("Only"), the Wallflowers, The Outfield and A Perfect Circle

Madonna, Express Yourself:

• Andrea Giacobbe


• Jonathan Glazer


• Michel Gondry

Wyclef Jean, another One Bites The dust:

• Godley & Creme

Sting, If You Love Somebody Set Them Free:

• Lasse Hallström


• Sanaa Hamri


• Rob Heydon


• Paul Hunter

TLC, Unpretty:



Britney Spears and Madonna, Me Against The Music:

• Ian Inaba

Eminem, Mosh:

• Spike Jonze

R.E.M, Crush With Eyeliner:

Ludacris, Get Back:

• John Jopson


• Joseph Kahn

BackStreet Boys, Everybody:

Brandy & Monica, The Boy Is Mine:

• Ray Kay

Destiny's Child ft T.I. & Lil Wayne, Soldier:

• Tony Kaye


• Marc Klasfeld

N Sync, Girlfriend:

Bon Jovi, Misunderstood:

Avril Lavigne, When You're Gone:

• David LaChapelle

No Doubt, It's My Life:

Britney Spears, Everytime:

Amy Winehouse, Tears Dry On Their Own:

• Francis Lawrence

Will Smith, Black Suits Comin' (Nod Ya Head):

• Diane Martel

Omarion, Touch:

Christina Aguilera, Genie in a Bottle:

• Leah Meyerhoff


• Dave Meyers


• Chris Milk

Kanye West, Jesus Walks:

• McG


• Mike Mills


• Sophie Muller

Annie Lennox, Keep Young and Beautiful:

No Doubt, Don't Speak:

Lily Allen, Smile:

• Jake Nava

Big Brovaz, OK:

Natasha Bedingfield, Single:

Beyoncé & Shakira, Beautiful Liar:

• Marcus Nispel


• Tommy Pallotta


• Mark Pellington

The Fray, How To Save a Life:

• P.R. Brown

MeatLoaf, Cry Over Me:

• Tim Pope

The Cure, Boys Don’t Cry:

• Brett Ratner

P Diddy, Diddy:

Mariah Carey, We Belong Together:

• Herb Ritts

N Sync, Gone:

• Chris Robinson

JoJo, Too Little Too Late:

Boys II Men, Color of Love:

• Matthew Rolston

Eternal, Just A Step From Heaven:

Destiny's Child, Bootylicious:

• Mark Romanek

Coldplay, Speed of Sound:

• Zbigniew Rybczynski
  
• Jake Scott


• Stéphane Sednaoui


• Dawn Shadforth


• Shynola


• Marcos Siega


• Floria Sigismondi

Christina Aguilera, Hurt:

• Wataru Takeishi

Takeishi has created videos for Japanese superstars such as Ayumi Hamasaki and Every Little Thing

• Julien Temple


• Patric Ullaeus


• Marc Webb

O-Town-These Are The Days:

My Chemical Romance, I'm Not Okay (I Promise):

• Hype Williams

Aaliyah, Rock The Boat:

Hoobastank, If I Were You:

Kanye West, Stronger:

• Bille Woodruff


• Little X


• Adam Yauch


• Jonas Åkerlund

Christina Aguilera, Beautiful:

Video Directors

I’ve found that no artist uses just one music director for all of their videos, no matter how successful the videos may be. This is mainly because in each video there are different meanings or preferred looks therefore they may require a different style. Here are a few examples:

Justin Timberlake
· LoveStoned: Robert Hales
· SexyBack: Michael Haussman
· Cry Me A Rover: Francis Lawrence

Nickelback
· Photograph: Nigel Dick
· Saving Me: Nigel Dick
· Far Away: Nigel Dick
· If Everyone Cared: Dori Oskowitz

Eminem
· Cleaning Out My Closet: Philip G Atwell
· Stan: Philip G Atwell
· Guilty Cconscience: Philip G Atwell
· Without Me: Joseph Kahn
· Mosh: Ian Inaba

Beyonce
· Crazy in Love: Jake Neva
· Baby Boy: Jake Neva
· Naughty Girl: Jake Neva
· Me Myself and I: Johan Renck
· Ring the Alarm: Sophie Muller

Fall Out Boy
· Thnks Fr Th Mmrs: Alan Ferguson
· Sugar, We're Goin' Down: Matt Lenski
· This Aint A Scene, It's an Arms Race: Alan Ferguson

In cases such as Linkin Park with such a creative group of people it is possible for some of the band members to either solely or help direct the music videos. For example What I've Done was directed by Joe Hahn who has also directed videos for others such as Static-X, Story of the Year, Xzibit, X-ecutioners and Alkaline Trio.

Well Known British Music Video Director

Dawn Shadforth is a British music video and documentary director. Shadforth is one of the foremost directors in her field and has directed and edited promotional music videos for artists such as Kylie Minogue, Oasis, Goldfrapp, Sugababes and Garbage. She has received several awards including Best New Director at The Creative Design Awards, Best Special Effects for Garbage’s "Special" at the MTV Video Music Awards and Visionary Video at the VH1 Awards. An exhibition of her work has recently been featured at the Creative Futures show. Her work is well known for its tightly choreographed performances and for liberating the movement of dancers rather than containing it.

In 1996 she was asked by a Mantronix band member to direct the music video for their underground hit "Hush" in New York. In 1997 Shadforth moved to London, England to work full time as a music video director. In London her work quickly received public and industry recognition. Her music video for the All Seeing I single "Beat Goes On" won for Best Dance Video at the 1998 Muzik Video Awards and for Best Editing at the 1999 Creative Design Awards. In June 1998 she signed to Black Dog/RSA Films, a music video production company based in England.

Shadforth edits all her own work, which is rare in the music video business. "I've always done it, right from the word go," she explains. "I find it impossible to communicate to somebody--it's just something that doesn't go through your conscious thoughts and, because it's music, it's different from cutting a story. When I have an idea, it's motivated by editing." Shadforth feels that the use of an editor will limit her creative ideas and just complicates the directorial process.

In 2001 Shadforth made her directing breakthrough with the Kylie Minogue video, "Can't Get You Out Of My Head". The video features Minogue in a computer generated futuristic city, arriving in a space-age car, seductively and rhythmically shifting the gearstick as she drives, before eventually dancing in a clipped pulsating style in front of a group of male dancers all wearing bizarre red plastic headgear. The video is well known for its tight choreography as well as for featuring Minogue in a deceptively revealing white costume with a plunging neckline and wide open front. The video was quickly picked up by many music video channels and is credited with making the song a number one hit worldwide. The exposure from the video quickly made Shadforth a "must have" director, and the film has been widely mimicked and parodied.

She also directed the award-winning promo film for "The Importance of Being Idle", the acclaimed second single from 2005's comeback album by Oasis, Don't Believe the Truth. The film was a clever pastiche of 1960's black and white kitchen-sink drama films, featuring a parade of high-kicking undertakers, led by the Welsh actor Rhys Ifans. (The name of the undertaking firm featured in the video is 'Shadforth and Sons'). The band themselves praised the video, and it was said by critics at the time to be the best video Oasis had ever made. It went on to win the award for Best Video of 2005 at the NME Awards in early 2006, and the song itself went to Number 1.

Videography

"Number 1" - Goldfrapp (2005)
"The Importance of Being Idle" - Oasis (2005)
"Ooh La La" - Goldfrapp (2005)
"French Kisses" - Jentina (2004)
"Chocolate" - Kylie Minogue (2004)
"Who Is It" - Björk (2004)
"Train" - Goldfrapp (2003)
"Miss Lucifer" - Primal Scream (2002)
"In Your Eyes" - Kylie Minogue (2002)
"Can't Get You Out Of My Head" - Kylie Minogue (2001)
"Weak Become Heroes" - The Streets (2002)
"Spinning Around" - Kylie Minogue (2000)
"Bag It Up" - Geri Halliwell (2000)
"King For A Day" - Jamiroquai (1999)
"What'Cha Gonna Do" - Eternal (1999)
"Sing It Back" - Moloko (1999)
"Special" - Garbage (1998)
"Beat Goes On" - All Seeing I (1998)
"Lights" - Scissor Sisters