-Spike Jonze (birth name: Adam Spiegel) -born October 22, 1969. He is an American director, producer and actor, whose work includes music videos, commercials, film and television . He is well known also for his music video collaborations with Weezer, Beastie Boys, and Björk. He was also a co-creator and executive producer of MTV's Jackass. Here are just some of the artists that Jonze has worked with and directed music videos for:- Songs:- Artists:- Year:- Otis Jay-Z & Kanye West 2011 The suburbs Arcade Fire 2010 Flashing Lights Kanye West 2008 Wonderboy Tenacious D 2000 Weapon of choice Fat Boy Slim 2000 Island in the sun Weezer 2002

Spike Jonze Mainstream or Underground: Jonze produces mainstream music, as he has worked for well-known artists such as Kanye West(bottom image left) along with many others. Music Genre: Spike Jonze doesn't specialise in a particular genre of music, as all of the artist’s he's worked with create different music. Kanye west, for example produces hip-hop and Rap music, whereas Weezer, produce Alternative Rock/Indie rock.

Narrative elements: Videos such as Arcade Fire and Fat Boy Slim both have a narrative storyline as the videos do not feature the artists, they are just pure narratives that tell a story. Whereas the Kanye west and Jay-z video features the artists lip sinking to the track.

Why I like his work: I like Jonze work as he doesn’t take himself seriously and this is reflected in his music videos. The praise you video by Fat Boy Slim is a live, natural perfromance with a handheld camera. The camerawork isn't professional and is of a poor quality, which portrays the fact that it isn't supposed to be taken seriously, and is just a bit of fun. There are no airbrushed or over exaggerated effects or fancy camerawork. It is just simple, yet effective. The arcade Fire video is also naturally filmed and has simple camerawork, with no airbrushed or over exaggerated effects. I think that sometimes this is more effective than a false so called “perfect” image.

Spike Jonze uses a variety of shots as part of his directing for music videos. It allows the audience to clearly visualise the landscape in which the set is filmed. There are a large amount of shots that allow us to view the whole setting(to the right). We can see that it is in the suburbs, possibly in America, because of the style of houses and large roads down an estate. The video is fairly simple and of a low budget as there are no special effects, it is naturally filmed in a built up area/town. The actors are all teenagers, causing trouble in the area in which they live. This is stereotypical of the way teenagers behave. What I liked about the video was how it is all natural, as if part of the teenagers everyday lives. When the song begins, there is a tracking shot of 5 teenagers on push bikes(top right) cycling down the middle of the road. This sets the scene of the type of area in which it is filmed. Throughout the video, Jonze introduces various shots of the boys cycling, including close ups of the wheels and peddles, shots from behind along with the front. This makes it more interesting than just seeing the view of the front of the bikes. Close-ups, and mid-shots of the teenagers are also used to portray facial expressions and identity throughout the video.

Arcade Fire- The Suburbs Editing Style:

Stylistic influences: Jonze stylistic influences mainly came from his earlier years when he started his career producing skateboarding videos. He is part owner of skateboard company Girl Skateboards with riders Rick Howard and Mike Carroll. Later in his career he was also a co-creator and executive producer of MTV's Jackass. A lot of his imagery in his later music videos were influenced by this, such as the Fat Boy Slim, Praise you video, which is a typical Jack Ass style video. Live performance: In the Praise You video, Jonze has used a live performance of a group of people dancing to the track on a stereo, in the middle of a public place. There is a choreographed dance routine which has a comical element and is not meant to be taken seriously. The queues of people are shocked at the fact that there are dancers there as it is an unlikely and peculiar place to dance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ-gVx4lfXs

Fat Boy Slim-Praise you video:-