Music Director - Anton Corbijn

Anton Corbijn is a photographer and director from the Netherlands. He is well known for directing music videos, including Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus" (1989) and Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box" (1993), as well as directing the Ian Curtis biopic Control.He is widely acknowledged by the music industry, mainly for being the creative director of the visual output of prominent bands like Depeche Mode and U2, having handled the principal promotion and sleeve photography for both for more than a decade.

Anton Corbijn started his career as a photographer in the 70's with portraits of David Bowie, Lou Reed, Miles Davis, Peter Gabriel and Joy Division and the more recently The Killers , Green Day and many more.

Corbijn creates very unique and slightly rebellious music videos by subverting the typical codes and conventions that are expected by the mainstream. He tells very iconic stories, such as the Atmosphere - Joy Division music video as shown below on the other post.

Anton Corbijn's most significant work is that of U2. He is the one who created thier public image in the 80's and to this day continues to shape it. He has worked with them for many years directing several of thier music videos and even had a book published called U2 & i.

U2 - The joshua tree (1986)
He has also photographed many of thier album covers for the past two decades.
Joy Division would also be considered as very siginificant work of his but he is more widely recognised for working with U2 as he has done for so many years.

Favourite Music Video & Why?

I can't choose any specific music video of mine that is a favourite, so i am going to post a few and tell you why i like them.

Joy Divison - Atmosphere (1988)

I have chosen this video as one of my favourites as Joy Division are one of my favourite bands so it seems appropriate. This video was directed by Anton corbijn who also directed the film Control (which is also one of my favourite films) which was based upon Ian Curtis and his death. The first impression that this video gives is that it is a tribute to Ian Curtis who was the lead singer of Joy divison. However, Corbijn lets the music flow with the gritty, decayed black and white cinematography, and he displays the band and Curtis in still photographs, as if Joy Division are just a fading memory. I think the video captures and represents the moment when you lose a loved one but every thing around is not gritty and decayed but in absoloute detail.

I think this video is absoloutly beautiful however so simple. It also represents and displays something so meaningful in it's basic form. I would love to produce a music video with similar values and also using still images seems very appealing.

Johnny Cash - Hurt

I can't get the video so i posted the link below...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmVAWKfJ4Go

The reason i think this music video is so amazing is not just because it is a classic, but it rebels and represents everything a music video is not supposed to be. Music videos are ment to create a sense of escapism and captivate the viewer into an illusion and this one represents reality.

Romanek, who has directed videos for Madonna, Beck and Audioslave said he made the clip with no commercial expectations or calculations, fully expecting that it would not be shown on major video outlets. Romanek also said that the video intends to represent Cash's achievments but also be very candid about what Johnny's life is like right now.

Laura Marling - New Romantic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNxar07_9YA

Laura Marling is also one of my favourite artists and i love the music video to 'New Romantic'. I like this because it is so simple as it just shows her singing and playing the guitar which is promoting her as an artist and the narrative is represented by shadows on the walls behind her.

I love the simplicity of this as i think this video shows that less is more. I would love for my music video to create a simple effect like this taking into consideration we have no budget ect.

ORE TO COME...

Brief

For this coursework we have been given a brief of what we will be expected to achieve throughout the year.
We have to create a Band/Artist in which we will have to produce a music video for using an existing piece of music.
We will also have to produce a magazine/CD cover to promote and 'market' the band or artist.
I want to make a music video that tells a story, obviously, so i will be looking closely at many music videos that do this and will hopefully inspire me.
I will be using this blog as part of my planning and research for this whole coursework, I will post ideas etc.
Keep a look out for my next posts!