Watching Anton Corbijn’s work during class has made me think over all the music videos I’ve seen in my life and wonder at what has made them so effective. Two that spring to mind are Hozier’s ‘Take Me To Church’ and Hayley Kiyoko’s ‘Girls Like Girls’, which I have watched several times and have stuck with me, and yet I have to wonder whether this is due to the merit of the video itself, or the songs. Both songs are captivating, Hoziers with its beautiful sound and Hayley Kiyoko’s with her powerful message, and it makes me wonder whether my fascination with the videos would have been the same with any other video, and I was actually drawn in by the music.

Another that comes to mind is Stromaes ‘Papaoutai’. This is probably my favourite music video of all time and after looking at and discussing others in class I’ve gone back to watch it and think about what exactly makes it so captivating.

In the video the director Raf Reyntjens has created a strange technicolor world that has a narrative similarity to the song. A street of dollhouses with matching children and parents, and one boy with a father who is absent, as in the lyrics, which are mimed by the boy as he tries to reach out to his father. The fascinating physicality of the figures in this video draws you in, as the amazing dance movements and synchronised automatons build the world Reyntjens has created. The dancers, the world and the story that is told all supplement the narrative and style of the song, which creates together a piece of media that is, to me, fascinating in the way it all fits together.

While my fascination with Anton Corbijns work isn’t as rapt as that of Reyntjens, I found myself studying pieces and shots of his videos that struck a certain chord in me, that I thought to myself I liked and would be good to try and replicate. Watching his works, strange as they are to me, I found elements I could use, which prompted me to go out and rematch some older music videos, and go on a search for new ones, as every one has elements that can inspire me in my own work.