Auteur Study: Michel Gondry

'Auteur' is french for author/director. The term was first used by film critics in the 1950s to describe directors with an artistic signature across all their work. There are many directors in both film and music videos that can easily identifiable, such as Chris Cunningham, Hype Williams, Spike Jonze, Jonathon Glazer and Michel Gondry.
We looked at Michel Gondry, who is best known for his work with Bjork and The White Stripes. He was brought up in 1960s Paris where he was surrounded by colourful art and culture. Much of his inspiration comes from old films between the 1960s and 1980s such as 'Back To The Future'. You will notice that his work often experiments with time, and this is a main theme throughout his work.

The most obvious things for the audience are the vibrant colours, and artistic ideas which we wouldn't expect to see or happen in real life. The acting and props are all over exaggerated, with lots of repetition, this shows an almost child-like statement to the video. It's clear that Gondry draw inspiration from his 1960s childhood, there are many old school sets.

Gondry has also mentioned that he spends time trying to develop new effects, such as morphing or 'stopping time'. The theme of time is prevalent in the videos, in Kyle Minogue's "Come Into My World" there are doubles of the performer which is an experiment with time. The Bjork videos feature performances and stages, showing the perform watching themselves back or replaying something that has earlier happened in the narrative.

Michel's more recent work includes "Eternal Sunshine" with Jim Carrey, "The Green Hornet" and an episode of "Flight of the Concords". Below are some screenshots of his work.