Thriller by Michael Jacson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOnqjkJTMaA

Michael Jackson’s music video for Thriller was directed by John Landis. John Landis has also directed another of Michael Jackson’s videos, Black or White. Both of these featured short narrative clips at the beginning. Thriller was distributed in 1983 as MTV s first world premier video and the video was released on Michael Jacksons YouTube account 4 years ago. The purpose of this music video was to promote the song , his album (which was the name of the song) and for people to buy tickets to see Michael sing it in concert.

The genre of the video is a thriller (as it says in the title). This is due to the lyrics, as both Michael and John wanted to create an environment that illustrated the lyrics. For example when it says “It’s close to midnight” you can automatically tell that the video is set during night, however the lyrics tells us the exact time. As it is a thriller video we can assume the colours that are used are dark greens, blues etc. for the props. Also the colour gradients are dark and dingy, to set the mood. Also the video shows synergy and intertextuality, we can tell because at the beginning of the music video, it shows a short clip and then cuts to Michael Jackson sat in the cinema watching it. In addition the video itself is set out like a short film, this is because it has a story line to it. Due to the video being shot in the early 80s it only uses simple techniques; for example each scene cuts to the time of the beat of the music. In addition the music video was 13 minutes long. This type of music video had never been attempted before, and many people thought it would be unsuccessful. Nevertheless, this music video was extremely successful and had a global audience. Also it uses the classic wide shots, to tell the audience what the scene is like. In many of the scenes the shots can last for 30 seconds, an example of this is where Michael Jackson and his girlfriend are walking along the streets. Using a long shot makes the scene look more realistic to the audience. Furthermore the video uses narration during the first short film and when they cut to in and outside the cinema. In addition, Vincent Price (who is a famous actor) is the voice of the narrator. This is evidence of intertextuality because the director is promoting this actor. In addition, throughout the music video Michael Jackson is the only one wearing colour. This is because he is the main character, so Landis wants him to be noticed over everyone else. As well as that, the contrast between his bright clothes and the scenery will make it look even spookier. Also, the colours he is wearing can represent the genre of the song; which is pop. Furthermore, if you compare this music to modern day videos, you will find that there is not as much choreography. This is because in the 1980s dance music was at its highest, due to the 1970s film ‘Saturday Night Fever.’ Therefore Michael Jackson wanted to represent this era of dance and involve and show off his own dancing skills, which is now the most iconic dance to this day.