The Music Videos of Michel Gondry Quiz

Answer: Wolfmen

In one of his most famous videos, Gondry used colour, lighting, and dancers to create a fully synesthetic experience for the viewer. Five different groups of dancers-- robots, athletes, swimmers, mummies, and skeletons-- each represented different instruments of the electronica song, dancing during their respective parts of the tune and then working together to form a fully-functioning number.

This was also an attempt by Gondry to break free of narrative works in videos-- the entire thing is simply symbolic representation, the sights and sounds of the song as it's felt. "Around the World" was on French duo Daft Punk's first album, "Homework".

Answer: Sheryl Crow

Appearing on Crow's second album, "A Change Would Do You Good" ended up being quite popular and ended up being a rare foray into the mainstream for Gondry. The video featured Crow as a modern witch (a la Samantha in "Bewitched"), placing different people into other people's lives to show the mayhem it would cause stepping into someone else's shoes.

It featured roles played by Molly Shannon, Ellen Degeneres, and Andy Dick among others. It was the fourth single released from the CD.

Answer: The Evil Dead

The video, in addition to simply being a series of nightmarish dream sequences, also featured several scenes directly referencing "The Evil Dead" including an exterior shot of the haunted cabin, the infamous trapdoor in the living room, and a creepy, foggy forest.

The video also features a number of Gondry staples including oversized objects, the surrealism of dreams, and the absurd. At one point, the band members emerge from the mouths of their horror counterparts to begin playing their instruments.

The song has since been considered one of the band's greatest hits.

Answer: Gimme Shelter

Although The Rolling Stones originally released "Gimme Shelter" in 1969 on their "Let It Bleed" album, Gondry ended up creating a video for it in 1998, twenty-nine years later. The video was a narrative following two boys fleeing familial issues in their rural home and becoming runaways.

It did not feature the band. Three years earlier, he also directed the music video for the Stones' cover of Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone".

Answer: A nightmare

In one of Gondry's more absurd videos (but one of his most elaborate), he ended up using perception and camera tricks to toy with the viewer, creating effects with mise-en-scene instead of computer effects. In the video, a woman wakes up and goes about her day-to-day routine only to find herself falling in and out of different nightmares, splitting into several versions of herself, encountering situations in which different parts of her day recur, or simply dealing with gigantic (or shrinking) items.

The band did not appear in the video. "Let Forever Be" was sung by Noel Gallagher of Oasis; the song appeared on their "Surrender" album.

Answer: Star Guitar

"Star Guitar", entirely instrumental, appeared on their fourth album, "Come With Us", and sampled "Starman" by David Bowie. Gondry, instead of following convention, decided to use footage he taped on a train ride, splicing together specific landmarks on the route and having them appear to the beat of the song. Telephone poles, for instance, appeared frequently to denote the general beat of the song and as it got more elaborate or switched to a different tone, the background changed to fit the pattern.

The pattern, however, would be seamless, working out to act like a synchronized, synesthetic experience. Like with "Let Forever Be", the band did not appear in the video.

Answer: Lego

"Fell in Love With a Girl", found on the band's "White Blood Cells" album, was a short and sweet song which became one of Gondry's most well-known videos. Created entirely out of Lego, constructed to form images onscreen, many of the scenes therein involved filming the video with Jack and Meg White, then using Lego blocks to colour in the frames.

The video was nominated for several awards and has since been by media outlets regarded as one of the best short-form music videos ever made. Although something like this would've been easily doable with computer animation, the vast majority of the video was built by hand. Surprisingly, Gondry was not The White Stripes' first choice for director.

They would work with him three more times while the band was still together.

Answer: Kylie Minogue

In this video, Kylie Minogue emerged from a shop and made her way around an intersection, walking from corner to corner. When she made a full loop, another Kylie would emerge from the same shop, stepping along the same path as the first. The loop continued four times with each newly-emerging Kylie following the same path as those previous (and only the original Kylie would be setting the next one).

At the same time, people in the background started multiplying, making for a very Gondry-esque scenario. "Come Into My World" was the fourth single from Minogue's "Fever" album, released in 2001.

Answer: Yarn

Most of the video was knit-- seriously. Aside from several props woven together from yarn, it also included a number of scenes composed entirely out of knit landscapes, a supposedly-giant knit 'walkie-talkie man', and a gigantic hand. At one point, the band's lead singer was torn in half but was sewn back together with even more yarn.

The video was quite popular-- the album cover for the disc, "Schmack!", also featured yarn. "Walkie-Talkie Man" was Steriogram's only international hit, mostly because of its use in movie soundtracks, video games, and a major iPod ad campaign.

Answer: Conan O'Brien

Having already filmed several videos for the American rock duo The White Stripes, Gondry returned for "The Denial Twist", a single from the "Get Behind Me Satan" album. In this video, Gondry played with proportion again, putting Jack and Meg White through a specially-built set complete with inordinately-built walls and surroundings, oversized and undersized props, and Conan O'Brien himself.

At the start of the video, a giant foot steps on Meg's drumset; as they head around the set, it's later revealed that Jack was the one responsible for stepping on it, only in a different perspective, time, and size.

It was Gondry's fourth video for The White Stripes.