Music Video director - research

Name: Anthony Mandler

Age: 41
Born in: Denver, Colorado, United States of America
Date of Birth: April 18th 1973
 Occupation: American film director, music video director, television commercial director and photographer.

Renowned work: 
Jay Z and Justin Timberlake, “Holy Grail;” Rihanna – “Diamonds;” Drake – “Find Your Love” Anthony Mandler is  Rihanna's favourite video director as the two have reportedly come together for 16 different music videos, beginning with "Unfaithful" in 2006 and most recently "Diamonds" in 2012.


He has also written and directed music videos for other prominent artists including: Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Eminem, Usher, Shakira, Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber, 50 Cent, Ne-Yo, Nicki Minaj, Drake, Snoop Dogg, Cheryl Cole, M.I.A., Duran Duran, Mary J Blige, Fun and Lana Del Rey. From the array of different artists he's worked with it's clear to see that he's a versatile director as he has collaborated with people from all different type of music genres from pop videos for Cheryl Cole and Taylor Swift to rap/ hip-hop videos for Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent.

Director's style:
From watching a lot of his videos it is clear to see that he loves a narrative. Below are a few videos that illustrate this:



   

This is a song and video that depicts a relationship to be similar to a drug addiction as the low points in the relationship are like withdraws from drugs.

Below are screenshots taken from music videos directed by Anthony Mandler, Ride by Lana Del Rey, Only Girl and Diamonds by Rihanna. Both videos share Goodwin's theory of Star image as they both feature either close ups of the artist or extreme close ups to connect them to their audiences. In Lana's video Mandler has chosen to use a lot of wide shots to showcase her surroundings, coinciding with the meaning of the song, being free and alive, thus heightening that with his choice of shots and angles.

Below Mandler has chosen to use wide shots again to showcase the artist, Rihanna and to amplify the lyrics of the song, "make me feel like I'm the only girl in the world," as by using this shot the audience clearly see that she is the only one there.

The shot below is a beautiful extreme close up Rihanna, which really captures her emotions, thus really making the audience empathise with her, depicting her as the victim.