Director's Study - Spike Jonze

Spike Jonze, whose real name is Adam Spiegel, was born on October 22nd 1969 and is an American director, producer and actor, whose work includes music videos, commercials, film and television. His most famous films he has directed are 'Being John Malkovich, and more recently and adaptation of 'Where the Wild Things Are', he has also directed many music videos by bands such as Daft Punk, Kanye West, and also the very well known song and  video 'Praise You' by Fat Boy Slim. Jonze starred in the film under the pseudonym of Richard Koufey, along with a fictional dance group, the 'Torrance Community Dance Group.' It was shot guerilla-style (so on location without obtaining permission from the owners of the property, much like the casino shots in the Beastie Boys video 'Sure Shot' that Jonze also directed) in front of puzzled onlookers outside a movie theatre in Westwood, California.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppdWrsHJeEE
I tried to embed the video, but it had been disabled by request, so this is the link to the Praise You video.

The idea of guerilla filming seems to be a style Jonze favours, as he has used it in at least two videos, and it could also be considered to part of Goodwin's six, as it creates the idea of voyeurism, as the audience are able to see things from a hidden perspective, on film, that they wouldn't necessarily be allowed to see like that. The idea of voyeurism is a strong theme in the Praise You video, as it gives a POV shot, from the audience gathered around the dancers, showing them watching how they react to the song. There is also the idea of the music matching the visuals, from Goodwin's Six, as the dancers, move accordingly to different beats and sounds in the song, making it a "typical music video".


Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim) is briefly seen in the video as one of the many onlookers, while Jonze is talking about the dance. The video reportedly had a budget of US$800 to produce, and most of the money went towards a replacement boombox and food for the cast and crew. The video won three major awards at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards: Breakthrough Video, Best Direction (awarded to "Torrance Community Dance Group") and Best Choreography (awarded to "Richard Koufey & Michael Rooney").