Michel Gondry

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michel Gondry at the Berlinale 2014
Michel Gondry at the 2012 American Film Festival

Michel Gondry (* 8. May 1963 in Versailles , France ) is a French film -, commercial - and Music Video - Director and screenwriter . Together with Charlie Kaufman and Pierre Bismuth he was written for his screenplay for the film Forget Mine Not! awarded the Oscar for best original screenplay.

Live and act

Michel Gondry's grandfather, Constant Martin (1910–1995), was the inventor of the clavioline , a forerunner of today's synthesizers . Gondry's father was an electronics and computer scientist. He himself graduated from today's École nationale supérieure des arts appliqués et des métiers d'art (L'ENSAAMA).

He shot his first videos for the French band Oui oui . His international breakthrough came in 1993 with the video for Björk's single Human Behavior . He worked with Jean-Louis Bompoint on many of his early projects .

Michel Gondry has made a name for himself beyond the music scene with innovative music videos. He has directed videos for Björk , Sinéad O'Connor , The Rolling Stones , The White Stripes , The Chemical Brothers , Kylie Minogue , Daft Punk , Radiohead , Massive Attack , Neneh Cherry , Sheryl Crow , Beck , Foo Fighters , Wyclef Jean , Steriogram , Lacquer , Metronomy .

Gondry first directed a feature film production for Human Nature (2001). The script for this and the next film Gondrys, Don't Forget Mine! , came from Charlie Kaufman . The screenplay, which Gondry and Pierre Bismuth also worked on, won an Oscar in 2005.

For the first time, Gondry wrote a script for the tragic comedy Science of Sleep - Instructions for Dreaming (2006), which he also directed. He shot the autobiographical film about a young man who cannot tell dream and reality apart and who finds love in his neighbor in his home country France.

Gondry directed the 3D film The Green Hornet (2011), a comic book adaptation with Seth Rogen , Jay Chou , Cameron Diaz and Christoph Waltz . In the same year he heads the jury of the short film competition and the Cinéfondation series at the 64th Cannes Film Festival .

In 2013 Gondry shot the fantasy drama The Foam of Days , which is based on the novel of the same name by Boris Vian . In the same year Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy? an animated documentary about Noam Chomsky .

Gondry was a member of the jury of the Berlin International Film Festival 2014 .

In 2018 he was appointed to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , which awards the Oscars every year.

style

One of his trademarks in music videos is the playful, yet precise synchronization of motion sequences in the video with musical elements. Outstanding examples of this are the videos Around the World (Daft Punk), The Hardest Button to Button (White Stripes) and Star Guitar (Chemical Brothers).

In the case of Around the World, this playfully precise approach is such that different groups of people perform a certain movement that matches the music each time their tone is used.

In The Hardest Button to Button , the synchronization of movements with the music is shown by the fact that the stage equipment of the two musicians is set up and dismantled to the rhythm of the music and moves in a pattern across streets, subway trains and meadows.

Star Guitar, on the other hand, consists of a single camera shot: the view from the train window, in front of which the landscape passes. Every landscape element that appears here, be it trees, railway masts or passing trains, is manipulated using trickery in such a way that it corresponds exactly to the rhythm of the music and can each be assigned to a certain musical element.

Another example of Gondry's ingenuity is the video for Everlong (Foo Fighters), which depicts Gondry's recurring daydream fantasy in a playful way.

Music videos (selection)

Films and series: (selection)

Film about Michel Gondry:

  • 2003: The Work of Director Michel Gondry - A Collection of Music Videos, Short Films, Documentaries and Stories

Awards (selection)

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Cord Krüger: “Meet me in Montauk…” or: the world as a dream and tinkering - Michel Gondry's music videos and films. at screenshot-online.com, accessed February 18, 2014
  2. ↑ Academy invites 928 to Membersphip . In: oscars.org (accessed June 26, 2018).
  3. ↑ "I don't like paint on people" , interview at critic.de, accessed on February 18, 2014
personal data
SURNAME Gondry, Michel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French film and music video director and screenwriter
DATE OF BIRTH May 8, 1963
PLACE OF BIRTH Versailles , France