American singer Michael Jackson (1958–2009) debuted on the professional music scene at age five as a member of the American family music group The Jackson 5 and began a solo career in 1971 while still part of the group.George, p. 20 Jackson promoted seven of his solo albums with music videos or, as he would refer to them, "short films". Some of them drew criticism for their violent and sexual elements while others were lauded by critics and awarded Guinness World Records for their length, success, and cost.
Overview
In the early 1980s, Jackson became a dominant figure in popular culture and the first African-American entertainer to have a strong crossover fanbase on MTV. The popularity of his music videos that aired on MTV such as "Billie Jean", "Beat It" and "Thriller"—credited for transforming the music video from a promotional tool into an art form—helped bring fame to the relatively new channel. The success of these music videos helped shift MTV's focus from its original "rock 'n' roll only" format to pop and R&B and saved the channel from financial ruin. Michael Jackson's "Thriller" short film marked a growth in scale for music videos and has been named the most successful music video ever by the Guinness World Records. The 18-minute music video for "Bad", directed by Martin Scorsese, depicts Jackson and Wesley Snipes as members of an inner-city gang. Jackson paid cinematic tribute to West Side Story with the choreography. For the "Smooth Criminal" video, Vincent Paterson created a seeming anti-gravity lean, in which the performer leans forward at a 45-degree angle, beyond their center of gravity. Although the music video for "Leave Me Alone" was not officially released in the United States, it won a Golden Lion Award in 1989 for the quality of the special effects used in its production and a Grammy Award for Best Music Video, Short Form in 1990.George, 2004, pp. 43–44. Jackson received the MTV Video Vanguard Award in 1988, which was renamed the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award in his honor in 1991. He won the MTV Video Vanguard Artist of the Decade Award in 1990.George, 2004, pp. 45–46.
"Black or White" was released on November 14, 1991. It featured Macaulay Culkin, Tess Harper, George Wendt and Jackson. The video helped introduce morphing, seamlessly changing one image into another, as an important technology in music videos.Campbell, 1993, p. 303. "Remember the Time" was an elaborate production, with a complex dance routine, set in ancient Egypt featuring appearances by Eddie Murphy, Iman and Magic Johnson.Campbell, 1993, pp. 313–314. The video for "In the Closet" featured supermodel Naomi Campbell in a courtship dance with Jackson. The music video for "Scream", directed by Mark Romanek and production designer Tom Foden, is one of Jackson's most critically acclaimed. In 1995, it garnered eleven MTV Video Music Award nominations—more than any other music video. A year later, it won a Grammy for Best Music Video, Short Form; shortly afterward, at $7 million, Guinness World Records listed it as the most expensive music video ever made.George, 2004, pp. 48–50. "Earth Song" was accompanied by an expensive environmentally-themed music video showing images of animal cruelty, deforestation, pollution, and war. Using special effects, time is reversed so that life returns, wars end, and the forests re-grow. Released at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival, Michael Jackson's Ghosts was a short film written by Jackson and Stephen King and directed by Stan Winston.Taraborrelli, p. 610 The video for Ghosts is over 38 minutes long and broke the Guinness World Record as the world's longest music video. The music video for "You Rock My World", which is thirteen and a half minutes long, was directed by Paul Hunter and released in 2001. The video features appearances by Chris Tucker and Marlon Brando. The video won an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Music Video at the award show's 2002 ceremonies.
In 1978, Jackson appeared in his first film, The Wiz.Jones, pp. 229, 259 It was nominated for four awards at the 51st Academy Awards. Jackson later starred in Disney's Captain EO in 1986, the anthology film Moonwalker in 1988 and the posthumous documentary This Is It in 2009.
List of music videos 1970s + List of music videos during the 1970s Title Year Other performer(s) credited Director(s) Description "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough"1979The singer's first music video as a solo artist shows a smiling Jackson dancing and singing "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" in a black and white tuxedo with a black bow tie while appearing chroma keyed over a background of abstract geometric figures. At one point, Jackson is seen dancing in triplicate, which was considered innovative at the time.Halstead, p. 92Taraborrelli, pp. 183–187"Rock with You"The video features Jackson in a sparkly sequined suit singing the song with a bright laser behind him. It was filmed on the 800 Stage in Los Angeles.Halstead, p. 262
1980s
+ List of music videos during the 1980s Title Year Other performer(s) credited Director(s) Description "She's Out of My Life"1980The song's music video features Jackson sitting on a stool in a darkened room, lit by a single spotlight, singing. Use of split-screen technique shows Jackson simultaneously from two different angles during the second and third verses.Halstead, p. 278"Billie Jean"1983The short film for "Billie Jean" is considered the video that brought MTV, until then a fairly new and unknown music channel, to mainstream attention. It was one of the first videos by a black artist to be aired regularly by the channel, as the network's executives felt black music was not "rock" enough.Halstead, p. 37"Beat It"Bob GiraldiThe music video for "Beat It" helped to establish Jackson as an international pop icon. It cost him $150,000 to produce when CBS refused to finance it. The video was filmed on Los Angeles' Skid Row, mainly in locations on East 5th Street. It was choreographed by Michael Peters.Halstead, p. 29Reed, J.D.; Stanley, Alessandra; Koepp, Stephen (July 18, 1983). Time 122: 3."Say Say Say"In the short film, the duo plays "Mac and Jack", a pair of con men who sell a "miracle potion". Filmed at Los Alamos near Santa Barbara, California, the video cost $500,000 to produce and features cameo appearances by Paul McCartney's then-wife, Linda, and Jackson's older sister La Toya.Campbell, p. 69.Barrow, p. 92Grant, p. 270."Thriller"Released over a year after its parent album, Thriller is one of Jackson's most successful music videos. It was filmed at the Palace Theatre in downtown Los Angeles with Ola Ray co-starring as Jackson's love interest. The zombie dance in the video remains a Halloween favorite today. It was choreographed by Michael Peters.Halstead, p. 320"We Are the World"1985USA for AfricaThis music video shows Jackson with other members of the supergroup United Support of Artists (USA) for Africa recording the charity single in a studio.Marsh, p. 518"Bad"1987The video is an 18-minute short film written by novelist and screenwriter Richard Price. Jackson portrays a private school student named Darryl, who is home on vacation. Darryl meets up with his old friends, including gang leader, Mini Max, played by Wesley Snipes. Darryl wants to prove to his friends that private school has not changed him—he's still "Bad". To do so, he takes his friends to a subway station to rob an elderly man, but Darryl has a change of heart and Mini Max chastises him for it. The camera then pans away to show Darryl surrounded by a different gang, who all break into song and dance to prove "Who's Bad".Halstead, p. 23"The Way You Make Me Feel"The short version of the video is 6 minutes and 34 seconds long; the full version is 9 minutes and 33 seconds in length. The video begins with a group of men attempting to get the attention of women. Jackson's character appears to stand apart from the group in his approach to attracting the attention of their female counterparts. Former model Tatiana Thumbtzen plays Jackson's love interest in the video. After playfully chasing her throughout the video and captivating her through dance, the video ends with them in a warm embrace. Joe Seneca and Sean Cheesman have minor roles in the video. It was choreographed by Vincent Paterson.Halstead, p. 341"Man in the Mirror"1988This video differs from Jackson's others because he does not appear in it, apart from a brief clip toward the end where he can be seen donning a red jacket and standing in a large crowd. It features a montage of clips of children in Africa, Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, kids at graduation, and other historical figures.Halstead, p. 216"Dirty Diana"Joe PytkaJoe Pytka directed the five-minute music video for this song. It was choreographed by Vincent Paterson. Model Lisa Dean appears in it. A second seven-minute-long accompanying video of a live performance (not to be confused with the actual music video) was filmed in early 1988 before a live audience during a Jackson show at Madison Square Garden.."Another Part of Me"Patrick KellyThe video features Jackson performing the song live during his Bad World Tour. The film footage was taken on July 22, 1988, at Wembley Stadium, with additional footage coming from the June 27–28 shows at Parc des Princes in Paris and from the show at Volksparkstadion in Hamburg on July 1.Halstead, p. 18"Smooth Criminal"In the music video, Michael Jackson and the dancers immediately around him perform a seemingly impossible forward lean. It was conceived and choreographed by Vincent Paterson and Jeffrey Daniel. Michael created his solo choreography.Paterson created a seemingly anti-gravity lean using old stage techniques."Speed Demon"Jackson filmed a promotional video for the song, seen first as a segment in the anthology film Moonwalker (1988). It is directed by Will Vinton, who produced it with Jerry Kramer, Michael Jackson, and Frank Dileo. It was choreographed by Vincent Paterson."Come Together"Jackson filmed this as a promotional video for the song, which was originally a segment of his 1988 film Moonwalker.Halstead, p. 70"Leave Me Alone"Fueled by Jackson's anti-media anger, the video sees the singer ride through a funhouse of newspaper clippings reporting on his eccentric behavior. The video took nine months to produce: the filmed footage was cut into stills, which were then edited using stop motion animation.Halstead, p. 197"2300 Jackson Street"1989The JacksonsMarlon JacksonJanet JacksonRebbie JacksonGreg GoldThe video features most of the Jackson family members, including Michael. Some scenes include the Jackson family playing pool and the Jackson brothers playing football. It also shows the Jackson family singing the song together. The video was shot in March 1989 in Hayvenhurst, Encino, Los Angeles."Liberian Girl"The music video features many of Jackson's celebrity friends—Paula Abdul, Dan Aykroyd, Danny Glover, Steven Spielberg, John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, among others—who gathered on a sound stage to film the music video for "Liberian Girl", only to discover that Jackson had been filming them all along.
1990s