Music videos by Spike Jonze are also great short films

My favorite music videos generally tell a story, and are essentially silent movies.

Since the featured song fills the audio track, the filmmaker’s job is to create a narrative through visual means only.

Spike Jonze has directed a really interesting portfolio of music videos. Some of them are mainly neat visual tricks, but all of these examples impose a narrative on the music that isn’t told in any literal way by the song lyrics. Each is also witty and heartfelt in its own way. They are personal favorites.

“California” by the band Wax. (amazing, and not just because of the stunt)

“Elektrobank” by the Chemical Brothers. (featuring Sofia Coppola as a gymnast)

“Weapon of Choice” (featuring actor Christopher Walken) by Fatboy Slim.

“Sabotage” by the Beastie Boys.

They also serve the music effectively, and serve the business purpose of the music video–getting the songs noticed.