Michel Gondry, an introduction
Look at the documents and choose from the following words to describe them
vivid
imaginative
matter-of-fact
down-to-earth
no-nonsense
weird
refreshing
oneiric
nonsensical
eccentric
Now imagine who Michel Gondry might be..
ludicrous
childish
makeshift
nutty
ridiculous
off-the-wall
Michel Gondry was born in Versailles into what he has
called a somewhat hippie family. His grandfather had run
a musical instrument store, which his father had taken
over. Interested in art and invention from a young age,
Gondry was fascinated by the endless possibilities
offered by such toys as Lego and Meccano—indeed, he
claims to have created a primitive zoetrope with his
cousin at the age of 12. The two would invent all sorts of
devices, and Gondry himself professed a fascination for
animation, which he expressed as flip-book cartoons.
While at art college in Paris, Gondry joined the band Oui
Oui as drummer, and it was for this band that he created
his first video clips on 16mm and discovered his passion
for directing and experimenting with live action as well as
stop-motion animation. These clips caught the eye of
Icelandic songstress Björk, who commissioned Gondry to
create a video for her 1993 hit Human Behaviour. Gondry
found a natural home with the short films that in effect are
video clips, and this medium allowed him to pursue his
obsession with alternate visions of reality and a signature
style which concentrates on visual tricks and frames of
reference. Gondry became known as one of the most
innovative directors in this medium, and created works for
artists as varied as The White Stripes, Kylie Minogue, The
Chemical Brothers and Daft Punk.
www.madman.com
Look at all these documents and
prepare a short presentation on
Gondry and his works.
zoetrope