Music Videos In Adverts

Even some adverts imitate music videos to publicise the content in a new way, drawing the attention of the audience, normally as the music is upbeat. Even if the advert is not counted as a music video more and more adverts are including music.

Firstly is a music (video) advert for Channel 4's Street Summer from 2011, a series of programs highlighting the progress of street culture. The advert sums up the programs perfectly as it mixes the different aspects of street together. The advert was directed by Neil Gorringe, a relatively unknown director to the general public, however he has won BAFTA's for his work in advertisement. The advert zooms in and out of each performer as the camera travels down the street showcasing British street culture. The advert shows an assortment of hip-hop artists such as; Professor Green, Wretch 32, Miss Dynamite, Akala and Ms Bratt, urban sport professional Danny Macaskill, graffiti artist Artful Dodger and street dancers.

This other advert just uses an up beat track (Alex Clare -Too Close) to make the advert more interesting for the audience. The advert was directed by Keith Rivers, who has previously directed a number of adverts for Microsoft. 

Both examples show how important music videos are and have become, and how they are changing from just being the artist playing for the purpose of entertainment.

Music Video Fatboy Slim - Weapon Of Choice

Weapon Of Choice by Fatboy Slim is an iconic music video mainly because of actor Christopher Walken's dazzling dance routine. The music video was filmed in the The Marriott Hotel, Los Angeles, for two days in December 2000. The video was directed by Spike Jonze, who has worked with other artists to create music videos such as; Weezer - Buddy Holly (1994), R.E.M. - Crush with Eyeliner (1995), Daft Punk - Da Funk (1997) and more recently Jay-z and Kanye West - Otis (2011). As well as directing many music videos Jonze has also directed films like; Being John Malavich (1990) and Where The Wild Things Are (2010), as well as a range of short films. 

As mentioned the video features actor Christopher Walken dancing in the hotel. At the time, and still kind of today, Walken was famous for playing the evil psycho in films like; True Romance, The Deer Hunter, Sleepy Hollow and Pulp Fiction. Because of this audience perception the music video is very interesting as it turns out Walken can really dance, this is because Walken trained as a dancer in musical theatre before his acting career. 

The music video for 'Weapon Of Choice' won six MTV Video Music awards in 2001; Breakthrough video, Best Direction, Best Choreography, Best Art Direction, Best Editing and Best Cinematography. Pullman was awarded one of MTV's "Moonmen" for Best Choreography. The clip was also ranked number one in a list of the top 100 videos of all time by VH1 in April 2002 that was complied from a music industry survey. Another award the video won was a Grammy for Best Short Form Music Video.