Jonathon Glazer is an English director known for his unique style in directing music videos and commercials. After studying theatre design, he began directing videos for bands like Blur and Radiohead in the 1990s. His videos are recognized for their surreal atmospheres created through experimental camerawork, lighting, editing, and mise-en-scene. Glazer later transitioned to films with movies like Sexy Beast and Under the Skin. He continues to direct visually striking and thought-provoking videos that challenge conventions.

1. JONATHON GLAZER
Director Study

2. WHO HE IS
Jonathon Glazer is 47
years old and was born
March 1965.
He is an English Director
of Commercials
and Music
Videos, sometimes
of Films.

3. BIOGRAPHY
After studying Theatre Design at Nottingham
Trent University, Glazer started out directing
theatre and making film and television
trailers, including award-winning work for
the BBC.

4. FILMOGRAPHY
 Sexy Beast (2000)
 Birth (2004)
 Under the Skin
(2012, forthcoming)
He also directed three short
films of his own: "Mad"
"Pool" and "Commission”.

5. ADVERTISEMENT
S
 Kodak: "Husband To Be"  Volkswagen Polo: "Protection" (January 2000)
 Pretty Polly: "Linda 2"  Wrangler: "WhateverYouRide" (May 2000)
 Mazda: "Shock ff the New"
 Guinness: "Dreamer" (April 2001)
 AT&T: "Chief Executive's Wife"
 Levi Strauss: "Odyssey" (January 2002)
 Club Med: "City"
 Barclays (January 2003):
 AT&T: "Sales Director"
 - "Evil”, "Bull”& "Chicken"
 Nike: "Frozen Moment" (1996)
 Nike: "Guerrilla Tennis"  Ad-Aid (for Live Aid, 2004):
 Caffery's: "New York"  - "Bar”, "Double Don”, "Rant”& “Razor"
 Nike: "Parklife" (1997)  Stella Artois: "IceSkatingPriests" (April 2006)
 Guinness: "Surfer" (March 1999), "Swimblack" (May  Sony BRAVIA: "Paint" (October 2006)
1999)
 Motorola Red (unreleased) (December 2006)
 Levi Strauss: "Kung Fu" (January 2000)
 Sony 3D TV (June 2010)
 Stella Artois (January 2000):"LastOrders”&"Devil's
Island”

6. MUSIC VIDEOS
 To date, Glazer has been recognized for having shot 12
Music Videos. Having worked with the likes of
Blur, Radiohead and Jamiroqui, what is typical of glazer is
his choice of camerawork, use of mise-en-scene and editing.

7. CAMERA WORK
 Glazer tends to use a lot of close up shots and
mid shots to fully portray the tone of the piece. In
‘Rabbits in the headlights’ his use of these shots
illustrates the vulnerability of the lead role which
goes against male objectification conventions.
 What is typical of Glazer is his cinematic- look
to his videos. This has allowed him to fully
captivate the tones of the piece, setting it apart
from usual music videos.

8. MISE-EN-SCENE
 By taking everyday environments, Glazer tends to manipulate them
with negative or darker connotations and create surrealism.
- For example if we look at Blur’s ‘The Universal’, Glazer
uses clinical lighting and costume to create an out-of-place feel
to the bar that the band are featured playing in.The
performance shots are interchanged with scenes of a crowd
of ordinary people standing motionless before an oddly
shaped speaker. The evident minimalist take on the video
throughout provides an ‘eerie’ and ‘unsure’ feel for the
audience.

9. EDITING
 Slow motion and long shots are used combined with special effects
to create the enigmatic and disturbed feel to the videos.
- In the case of Radiohead’s ‘street spirit’ uses an overlap of shots in black and white to
illustrate the feel of the piece.
In Blur’s video, Glazer uses a
picture of a magnet as a
symbolic reference to convey
love/lust. This was added in
post-production.

10. SUCCESSES
 Since the mid-1990s he has directed a number of music
videos, and was named MTV Director of the Year 1997.
 BAFTA Nominations:
- Best British Film
- Best Director of a British Independent Film.
- Satellite Award for Best Director
- Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film

11. STYLE
 Glazer’s style has been regarded as unique. He sets himself apart with a
surreal style that employs lots of long takes, unlike modern cut-a-second
videos. he has also been known to hire actors for videos which may explain
why some of his music videos are more like Mini-Movies. This can explain
how he later made a transition to film so fluently. His video tend to be slow-
paced but with complex narratives and disturbing themes, which altogether
challenges the audience.

12. COMMENTS
 Glazer’s style of directing is unique and is evidently a contributing factor
for his success. He appears to experiment with his videos in an effort to spark
controversy, but to equally shed light on what can be done, without hesitating
to step out of video conventions. Glazer does make an attempt across his
work to include the features identified in Andrew Goodwin’s theory, which
suggests that usual conventions are still permitted within Music Videos in
order for an audience to interpret them correctly.