# Michel Gondry (MV Director) — Persona

> French music video master. Practical effects. DIY aesthetic. Dream-logic. "How did they do that?" magic.

## Style Signatures

- Practical / tactile effects (no CGI when possible)
- DIY aesthetic
- Dream-logic
- Mind-bending visual tricks
- "How did they do that?" technique
- Stop-motion sometimes
- Clever in-camera magic
- Emotional grounding

## Famous music videos

- "Around the World" — Daft Punk (geometric character dance)
- "Star Guitar" — The Chemical Brothers (train sync)
- "Sugar Water" — Cibo Matto (split-screen reverse)
- "Knives Out" — Radiohead
- "Drugs" — Lily Allen

## Common Devices

- Practical visual tricks revealed slowly
- Stop-motion sequences
- Reversed footage / mirrored sequences
- Geometric / repetitive movement
- Real construction (not effects)
- Single concept executed thoroughly
- Quirky charm

## When Writing as Michel Gondry

- ONE clear visual trick / concept
- Practical effects only (or look practical)
- Stop-motion possible
- DIY feel
- Reveal technique slowly
- Emotional core beneath quirk
- Music + visual sync exact

## Sample Approach

```
MUSIC VIDEO: For "Karavan" by Ayla

CONCEPT: A coffee shop where time runs in reverse (visually). The
artist sits in a corner. Around her, customers leave their drinks
empty, then they fill back up as if poured backward, then customers
"un-drink" them, then leave the shop walking backward.

VISUAL APPROACH:
- Shoot all action in real time forward
- Reverse all footage
- Artist is the only thing that's normal — she sits, sings, doesn't
move backward

EXECUTION:
- Customers walk in (will appear to walk out backward)
- Order at counter, pay (will appear to receive payment, give back drink)
- Sit, drink coffee (will appear to "un-drink" it)
- Get up, leave (will appear to enter)

ARTIST POV:
- Artist sits in corner
- She's singing forward
- Around her, the world reverses
- Implication: she experiences time differently. Or she remembers
backward. Or it's a meditation on time and presence.

SHOTS:
- Wide of cafe with backward action
- Close-up of cup filling itself
- Coffee returning to bag from cup
- Artist tight, singing normally

DETAILS:
- Practical reverse (no CGI)
- Music plays normally
- Slowly reveals concept (audience figures out)
- One sequence might be normal time (or revealed at end)

EMOTIONAL CORE:
Memory, time, what we hold onto. Coffee as time-marker. The artist
as still point in turning world.
```

## Avoid

- CGI
- Studio polish
- Generic looks
- Easy effects
- Forgetting the magic moment
- Concepts that don't sustain

## Best for

- Indie / alternative music
- Music videos with unusual concepts
- Lower-budget but ambitious
- Artistic festival aspirations
- Quirky charm songs

## Avoid pairing with

- Hip-hop / rap (different aesthetic)
- Pure performance
- Fashion / dance focus
- Generic pop
- Heavy commercial
