Michel Gondry

C’JAY KNIGHT
 Michel Gondry is a French
independent film director,
screenwriter and producer, who was
born in Versailles on 8 May 1963
(currently 53 years of age).
 Michel is famously known for his
stylistic, thematic and narrative work
in the industry and also his
manipulation of Mise-en-scene.
 Michel was awarded for the best
original screenplay writer of the
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
(2004).
 His carer began with his emphasis on
emotion that influenced a clear vision
of his future in the work of film.
 It was acknowledged that much of his inspiration came from the
film, Le voyage en balloon
 Gondry had interacted and collaborated with many artists over the
years, including: Daft Punk, The chemical brothers and the The
White Stripes etc.

UN JOYEUX NOËL was one of

Gondry’s first projects which he
produced in 1986. He produced
this short film for a band, Oui Oui,
that he worked with for some time.
1997 is when Michel Gondry really begun to
explore and experiment with surrealism. Foo
Fighters – Everlong is an example of when
Michel started to do this. If you watch this
music video, you can see how abstract it is,
in the sense that it doesn’t seek to achieve
a real life effect. On the other hand, the
video is more surreal Gondry had created a
dreamy effect. This was created through
the use of mise-en-scene, camerawork and
editing. Even so, through the nature of the
narrative, Gondry was able to cause
confusion and puzzlement which would’ve
made the audience watch the full clip to
get a better understanding of it. Personally, I
enjoyed the music video as it was playful
and unique in style.
Michel produces music video that is highly influenced by a youthful
mindset. This would be the reason as to why what he produces has
repeated pattern of being very childlike and childish.
The white Stripes – City lights is an example of a production that he was
involved in. The whole 5 minutes of the music video has the playful and
childlike element as it is just drawing cartoonish images on a window
where condensation is taking place. This is the narrative of the music
video. The repetition of the distinctive style only suggests that it
corresponds with his personality, that he is juvenile.
You would notice that Michel Gondry follows a pattern of using black,
blue, red and white. This usually creates a visual illusion that from some
people’s perspective, could be a criticism. The idea that the narrative is
clear is what he wants to portray.
He draws an image of a woman repeatedly which
Other examples of his work:
Spike Jonze

 “Spike Jonze” is the professional name for Adam Speigel who was
born October 22nd 1969. He is an American director, producer,
screenwriter, actor and photographer
 He first began the career of directing with Being John Malkovich
(1999) and Adaptation (2002)
 In 1990’s, he was a popular director who was famous for his
filmmaking style in comparison to other directors at the time
 He had collaborations with Sonic Youth, Beastie Boys, Fatboy Slim,
Daft Punk, Bjork , Kayne West and Arcade Fire.
 Both directors have worked with the big artist Kayne West