case study of iconic music directors

Francis Lawrence is an American filmmaker who has directed many popular films such as the first three hunger games movies, I am legend and Constantine. Francis Lawrence a rather fantastical look to his music videos. This can be seen in the aesthetics of his music videos. For example in the music video for Jay Z's girls best friend there is a ice castle aesthetic set in a enormous  piece of jewellery. Despite this his key focus in his music videos is always the artist. You can see this in the way he focuses less on the main narrative and more on the a good use of camera angles and shots. 

For example in the music video for Justin timberlakes cry me a river Lawrence uses a range of different angles and shots on the artist. Using different ones in different o keep it interesting to the viewer. A majority being close ups keeping the focus on timberlake despite what is going and around him and the events occurring in the video. 

Here you can see Lawrence's focus on visuals in his music videos with focus on the glass and also the use of the rain adding a more fantastical look to the video which he is known for. Also the interesting use of lighting with the ray of sun light coming through the rain drops leaving Justin timberlake as a silhouette. 

Despite Lawrence's focus being mainly on the artist in his music videos and the angles and way the are shot he also does a great job at also showing narratives while focusing on the artist. For example the side on mid shot of timberlake on the misty glass with the girl in the shower on the other side clearly shows the idea and concept the song is trying to portray.