Auteur Study - Spike Jonze

Weapon Of Choice - Fatboy Slim



In 'Weapon Of Choice', the only character/actor who is seen throughout the whole video is Christopher Walken, who is a pre-known reference that would've sold the video on. As an auteur, Jonze only used one person and one setting to make this video, but to an effect that could compete with other music videos that may have used more advanced technology and video sequences. The video may seem to be simple, but Christopher Walken's capabilities gave originality, both in his dancing and the comedy aspect that the video presents.

Jonze may have chosen a hotel as a suitable location for a music video maybe because of the practicality that the hotel has to offer to benefit the video with everyday things. For example, when Christopher Walken steps on the escalator, instead of using it in its primary use, he performs a dance sequence down the upward escalator, which is both original with his dancing and the way he uses things in a completely different way. Another example is when he runs across a hallway full of mirrors. Because there were mirrors on both sides of the walls, it created different reflections to show him doing this. The angle in which the camera was set up in made it easy for us to see this.

Because Christopher Walken is known for his fame as well as his humour and his comedy, it helped the video gain response because of his appearance, mainly from fan-bases. Also, he helped getting the humorous side of the video out to the audience because of his presence.

Jonze also uses ridiculous elements to make it more humorous to watch. One example of this is when Christopher Walken (or possibly a stunt actor) jumped over the metal railings from a floor above ground level. But instead of fallin, he begins to fly throughout the hotel, and after doing this, he lands on his feet to end the music acting as if nothing happened.

Weezer - Buddy Holly



In 'Buddy Holly', the whole band are shown as if they were casting in a show of 'Happy Days'; this would be considered to be an intertextual reference. The video was set in a retro café, maybe where the comedy TV show was set, and they were dressed in clothes that matched the style of other bands who were famous in that time period. This may be an intertextual reference to bands such as 'The Beatles'. The extras wore costumes of the exact '70s fashion and even brought in the original actors (or maybe actors that look similar) and the original footage of 'Happy Days' to make it seem as if this band were playing in the actual TV show.

Using many of the intertextual references Jonze had to make the video seem comically appealing, he created the video to make it look like the spitting image of 'Happy Days'. For example, the style they perform their song in is quite similar to those bands who were famous within that era, and even the stereotyping of bands giving flirtatious signs to girls was used to a humorous effect, especially when the boyfriend of that girl sees it happening.

Also, after halfway through the video, the video stops and the words 'To Be Continued' appear in the style that the TV show used. When this was shown, a possibly non-diegetic sound effect of an audience disapproving of the interval was used to add another layer of humour and to keep the video within the style of a TV show. This was also done with the 'Happy Days' logo when they were returning to the performance.

Lastly, because this video was made combining two forms of media (the band's music video and the popular TV show), fan-bases from both sides helped in making the video popular, as well as using comedic aspects from both of them.

Summary

Jonze seems to create videos that would be fitting for the comedy genre whilst retaining the respective music genres from each song, such as hip-hop and pop-rock. Both of these music videos are seemingly simple, but they both contain well-known figures like Christopher Walken to gain a bigger response for the video. And even though they may be simple, these figures are the main things that are being sold on; both for fan-bases and for the comedy, which both videos cater for.
But most of all, these videos' humorous aspects may have been for the fun for Jonze, using ridiculous ideas ranging from cohesive to a point where it doesn't make sense. But overall, it makes the audience laugh with him when they watch it.