Some big-name movie directors have tried their hand at music videos in between directing movies, including Spike Jonze, Paul Thomas Anderson and Martin Scorsese. Music videos offer directors a chance to try out some ideas in a shorter format. Rather than directing just one movie, a director could decide to shoot several music videos with different styles and different artists, just to keep things feeling fresh.
In some cases, Hollywood directors have helped create iconic music videos. The Beastie Boys, Michael Jackson and Madonna can all thank movie directors for some of their biggest hits, even if these directors have only tried out one or two music videos. For some directors, a music video can act as a warm-up for a movie, while others are just as involved in music videos as they are in movies.
10 Blue Song – Mint Royale
Edgar Wright
14 whole years before directing Baby Driver, Edgar Wright first developed the idea of a getaway driver who listens to music while he waits for a music video. The video for Mint Royale’s “Blue Song” mirrors the opening sequence in Baby Driver, in which Baby listens to “Bellbottoms” by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. The Baby Driver is a little flashier, benefiting from Wright’s experience and a much larger budget, but the core concept is the same.
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The video for “Blue Song” features The Mighty Boosh and The Great British Baking Show star Noel Fielding as the driver. His crew is made up of other British comedians: Fielding’s Mighty Boosh co-star Julian Barratt, Cornetto trilogy actor Nick Frost and Michael Smiley. Since the music in Baby Driver is so important to the story, it’s nice to see that Wright had been thinking about the idea for over a decade.
9 Vogue – Madonna
David Fincher
David Fincher has always been directing music videos, and he has worked with an impressive line-up of stars, including The Rolling Stones, Justin Timberlake and Paula Abdul. Fincher has worked with Madonna on a few occasions, directing the music videos for “Oh Father,” “Bad Girl” and more. “Vogue” is the most iconic video he directed for Madonna, and arguably his best music video of all.
David Fincher has worked with an impressive line-up of stars, including The Rolling Stones, Justin Timberlake and Paula Abdul.
David Fincher’s best movies are characterized by his precise focus on his subjects. He frames characters differently depending on morality, power and appeal, and he does the same for “Vogue”. The black-and-white music video also takes inspiration from the Golden Age of Hollywood and German expressionist cinema. This links the queer positivity of the song with the glamour of stars like Rita Hayworth and Grace Kelly – who are mentioned in Madonna’s lyrics – prompting the question of why queer identity looks so out of place in classic American mainstream culture.
8 Under The Bridge – Red Hot Chili Peppers
Gus Van Sant
Gus Van Sant has directed music videos for David Bowie, Elton John and Tracy Chapman, among others. His video for the Red Hot Chili Peppers song “Under the Bridge” is his most famous of all, however, and it marked a big turning point for the band. “Under the Bridge” won two awards at the 1992 MTV VMAs, highlighting how it helped put the band on the map.
Gus Van Sant directed My Own Private Idaho in 1991, which features Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea in a supporting role
Van Sant is probably most famous as the director of Good Will Hunting, but he has made several critically-acclaimed indie films. One of these is My Own Private Idaho, which features Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea in a supporting role, just a year before the “Under the Bridge” music video was filmed. Van Sant uses a lot of superimposing in the video, creating a dreamlike atmosphere that blends images of the band with Los Angeles landmarks, natural features, and the skyline of Portland, the director’s hometown.
7 Sabotage – Beastie Boys
Spike Jonze
Spike Jonze has been a prolific music video director over the years, creating plenty of unforgettable, award-winning videos for artists in various genres. He filmed an entire video in reverse for The Phracyde’s “Drop,” created a short film to expand on his idea for Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs,” and brought fans of Fatboy Slim the image of Christopher Walken’s iconic dance in the “Weapon of Choice” music video. Amid all this success, his video for “Sabotage” by the Beastie Boys stands out.
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“Sabotage” is filmed to resemble the opening credits of a 1970s cop show like Hawaii Five-O or Starsky and Hutch, with the Beastie Boys donning dark sunglasses and some laughably bad wigs. “Sabotage” is a hilarious video, although the performers play it straight. The joke is baked into the premise, as well as the total commitment from the Beastie Boys. It’s a simple style of faux-serious comedy to Documentary Now, The Lonely Island and Eric Andre.
6 Hip Hop Hooray – Naughty By Nature
Spike Lee
Spike Lee’s movies often take inspiration from hip-hop culture, so it makes sense that he’s directed music videos for Public Enemy, Eminem and Naughty by Nature. Lee gets in front of the camera in the music video for “Hip Hop Hooray,” just as he does in some of his movies. He introduces the video in front of a crowd, and he can also be seen near the end of the video as the audience carries him away.
Spike Lee’s movies often take inspiration from hip-hop culture, so it makes sense that he’s directed music videos for Public Enemy, Eminem and Naughty by Nature.
Lee and Naughty by Nature are joined in the music video by an array of hip-hop stars, including Tupac, Run-D.M.C. and Eazy-E. This reflects the lyrics of the song, which is a celebration of the genre, shouting out to other groups like A Tribe Called Quest and Leaders of the New School. The video is filmed to look like one big party in Brooklyn, intercut with a few domestic scenes that relate to the style and the lyrics.
5 Bad – Michael Jackson
Martin Scorsese
Very few artists, if any, have produced as many iconic music videos as Michael Jackson. “Beat It,” “Thriller,” “Smooth Criminal” and more showcase the immense impact that he had on music and fashion. His signature dance moves are obviously key, but Jackson also developed original and entertaining ideas for videos alongside some excellent directors. Spike Lee, David Fincher and Martin Scorsese all worked with Jackson at one point or another.
“Bad” was Martin Scorsese’s first music video, and it has gone down as a classic.
“Bad” was Martin Scorsese’s first music video, and it has gone down as a classic. The video puts the focus on Michael Jackson’s dancing, but it also takes inspiration from the street-dancing style of West Side Story, with dancers snapping their fingers and running toward the camera. Martin Scorsese’s best movies include biopics and crime dramas, yet he has often professed his love of musicals.
4 Little Of Your Love – Haim
Paul Thomas Anderson
Paul Thomas Anderson has directed music videos for Radiohead, Fiona Apple and Joanna Newsom, but his long-running collaboration with Haim is something completely different. Starting with 2017’s “Right Now,” Anderson has essentially become Haim’s resident director, creating 10 music videos for the band. Anderson also cast Alana Haim in his 2021 comedy Licorice Pizza.
Anderson has essentially become Haim’s resident director, creating 10 music videos for the band. ✕ Remove Ads
Even before they started working with Anderson, Haim developed a unique style in their music videos. They often shot outdoors using natural light, they used long takes, and there was a lot of power walking. Anderson has maintained these features in his music videos, but he has plenty of his own ideas too. “Little of Your Love” is a catchy song, so Anderson has Haim line-dancing in a Los Angeles bar, practically inviting the audience to join in.
3 Karma Police – Radiohead
Jonathan Glazer
Before making his film debut with 2000’s Sexy Beast, Jonathan Glazer started his career as a director by working on music videos. Throughout the 1990s he worked with bands like Massive Attack, Blur and Jamiroquai. His music videos tell short, abstract stories that invite the viewer to decipher their own meaning. This style is perfect for music videos, since fans will often watch them over and over again.
Throughout the 1990s he worked with bands like Massive Attack, Blur and Jamiroquai .
The video for Radiohead’s “Karma Police” starts with a long take that shows a car slowly pursuing a man down an empty road, shown from the perspective of the driver. It’s a simple composition, but it raises all sorts of questions about the relationships between the different characters, including Thom Yorke sitting in the back seat, watching on with a hint of boredom on his face. The enigmatic, disturbing tone of the video has a lot in common with Glazer’s 2013 sci-fi movie Under the Skin.
2 Dancing In The Dark – Bruce Springsteen
Brian De Palma
Scarface and Mission: Impossible director Brian De Palma directed Bruce Springsteen’s music video for “Dancing in the Dark,” but it would be impossible to tell based on the video itself. “Dancing in the Dark” is a simple performance video, with the added detail that Springsteen brings a fan up on stage to dance with him. The video was shot at one of Springsteen’s gigs in Saint Paul, Minnesota, with extra filming taking place the day before.
Brian De Palma directed Bruce Springsteen’s music video for “Dancing in the Dark,” but it would be impossible to tell based on the video itself.
Even though “Dancing in the Dark” is a simple video, there are still a couple of details which make it interesting. For example, the fan in the video is played by Friends star Courteney Cox, 10 years before the sitcom aired its first episode. Cox was just 20 years old at the time, and a completely unknown actor. In more sitcom trivia, Springsteen’s dancing in the video inspired Alfonso Ribeiro to create “the Carlton” dance for Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
1 Houdini – Foster The People
Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert
Oscar-winning duo Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert are most famous for the surreal sci-fi comedy Everything Everywhere All At Once, but they made plenty of creative music videos before transitioning to movies. Each of their videos is like a window into one of the parallel universes in their Best Picture winner that’s much stranger and more vibrant than our own. They mostly worked with indie bands during their music video days, but they also directed the video for DJ Snake and Lil Jon’s “Turn Down for What”.
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Foster the People’s “Houdini” has the same irreverent humor as Everything Everywhere All at Once, but it has more in common with an earlier movie directed by the Daniels: Swiss Army Man. “Houdini” starts with the band being crushed to death, but the band’s label are not deterred, and they decide to finish filming the video by puppeting their lifeless bodies. This seems like an early version of the idea behind Swiss Army Man, which features similarly dark humor.