Chris Cunningham is a British video artist and director known for his unique style incorporating shocking, abnormal, and disturbing imagery. He began producing music videos in the 1990s and is renowned for his work with artists like Aphex Twin and Madonna. Cunningham's signature directorial styles include fast-paced editing, warped imagery, and unsteady camera work to create an unsettling tone. He has won numerous awards including MTV and Grammy awards for his innovative videos.

1. A 2 M E D I A
J A S O N S U L I T
Director Research – Chris
Cunningham

2. Chris Cunningham
Video Director/
Video Artist

3. Who is Chris Cunningham
Born in October 15 1970, Chris Cunningham
was a British video artist. Cunningham was
born in Reading, Berkshire and grew up in
Lakenheath, Suffolk. Cunningham is an
auteur theorist, which means his films reflect
his vision which allows him to develop
distinctive and artistic styles. He began
producing music videos in the 2000s, and also
he started designing album artwork for
various artists and musicians.

4. Video
Collection
In November 2004, a video collection of Cunningham’s
work was released, the title of this is ‘The Work of
Director Chris Cunningham’. This was released as part
of the Directors Label set. The DVD includes selected
highlights of his work through 1995-2000. The vidoe
below is the trailer:

5. Style of work
Cunningham create videos that are quite shocking and
abnormal. His unique style of horror and gothic
elements interspersed with disturbing imagery is
what he is well know for. Most of his music are
abstract and also concept based. His style of work
interest me due to his fast paced editing and weird,
abnormal theme. Some of his work is also quite
humorous however he maintains the creepy
elements giving the viewer a “what did I just watch?”
expression.

6. His 5 main ‘signature/ trademark style’
 Use of sharp, fast paced
editing cuts – Often used to
convey the message in the
video and to effect the
audience by creating a
disorientation and confusion.
 His message behind his
videos usually portrays how
society is slowly becoming
corrupted, he uses unrealistic
objects and deformed faces to
make his video distorted.
 Canted camera angles used
regularly creating an uneasy
feeling which matches with
his style.
 Hand held camera
accompanied with the canted
angles to show the feeling of
unease and instability.
 He uses gothic imagery in
order to reflect his horror
genre
Style of Work

7. Awards won
 His music video for ‘All is Full of Love’ by Bjork won
multiple awards, including the MTV music award for
Breakthough Video and was also nominated for a
Grammy for the Best Short Form Music Video. As well as
this it was the first music video to have won the Gold
Pencil at the D&AD Awards
 His international hit music video for ‘Frozen by
Madonna’ won the award for Best Special Effects at the
MTV Music Video Awards
 He was nominated for the “Best Video” Award at the
Brtis Awards 2000 for his video ‘Windowlicker’ by Aphex
Twin.
 He has also won the Prix Ars Electronica – Digital Musics
award.

8. Genre of focus
Cunningham primarily directs music video within the
ambient and electronica genre
Artist within this genre include Autechre and Aphex
twin, the reason Cunningham works with artist such
as this, is because of the fast pace quick tempo of the
music allowing him to edit in sync with the music.
Artist such as these and there record label allows Chris
to experiment giving him a lot of freedom with what
he can create.

9. Collaborations
 Cunningham would usually be the director and editor,
often he would work on the animation and special effects
 He is know for working commonly with Apex Twin, he
has produced the video ‘Come to Daddy’ and
‘Windowlicker’
 Other well know artist he has worked with is Madonna,
Placebo, and Bjork.
 He normally does most work on music videos however he
has also collaborated with brands to create adverts such
as ‘Mental Wealth’ a commercial for Sony PlayStation,
again with this video he uses a distorted warped face

10. ‘Mental Wealth’ Commercial for Sony PlayStation

11. ‘Come to daddy’ by Aphex Twin
Typically, his music
videos are very dark
and distorted. The
video reflects
Aphex twin’s
unique music style.
This music video
consists of many of
Cunningham’s
signature styles and
it is also very
concept based.
There is a corrupt
feel to this video,
the handheld
camera and canted
angles contributes
to this uneasy
feeling.

12. ‘Frozen’ by Madonna
Cunningham’s less
extravagant music
videos have more
influence from the
artist as there is
less
experimentation
and shocking
features. For
example the music
video for ‘Frozen’
by Madonna is
more focused on
the artist than the
concept, however
there is still the use
of gothic elements.

13. ‘Frozen’ in comparison to ‘Come to Daddy’
 Similarly to ‘Come to Daddy’ the video has a teal
coloured filter, both videos are dark relating to the horror
theme.
 This music video is much more gothic compared to the
‘Come to Daddy’. The dark long dress, black raven, pale
skin and black hair is the main focus in this music video.
 In contrast with ‘Come to Daddy’ the music video is
steadier and lacks the use of canted angles and avoids the
use of hand-held camera
 As with ‘Come to Daddy’ beat of the music matched the
editing.

14. Other music videos