6. Spike Jonze
Before we leave the land of eccentric filmmakers, let's take a look at Spike Jonze's commercial directing career. Spike is a guy who has aimed his camera at a lot of interesting subjects; skateboarders, the Gulf War, mythical creatures, The Beastie Boys, and everything in between It seems if you give Mr. Jonze a camera and some free time, you can always come up with something interesting to watch. Consequently, many companies have sought him out to helm a variety of very interesting ads. His commercial portfolio features very diverse offerings, including landmark commercials for Adidas, The Gap, and Ikea. The commercials he made were irreverent, hilarious, and memorable...kind of like Jonze as a director. I guess when it comes to directing commercials, Jonze is sort of like Sofia Coppola insomuch as he directs with a ton of style, but unlike Sofia, he never forgets to endue his commercial work with an abundance of substance. First up lets take a look at his add for Adidas. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Zvqf3sF0b4 Forget about the commercial for a second and focus on the music. Anytime you put Karen O's (lead singer of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) vocals near something then that object, by default, becomes more weird and complex. But Jonze wasn't content to rest on the laurels of a weird song. He fills the video with so many eerie and haunting moments that you'd think David Lynch was directing. It's an ode to dreamlike surrealism. A haunting fever dream about a runner's very active subconscious. Some of the special effects also seem reminiscent of the work done in
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (I know Micheal Gondry did that film and not Jonze, but there are still similarities) Enough with the Freud stuff. I think people focus too much on the peculiarities of Spike Jonze, while taking for granted that he has a very accessible sense of humor (as shown in films like
Three Kings and somewhat in
I Heart Huckabees). If you need further evidence of Jonze's comedic prowess check out his hilarious ad for Ikea. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsQXQGaasUg It's a hilarious commercial that also serves as great satire. It's almost like Spike is saying, "Look at how commercial media can manipulate you into caring for things that are completely worthless". A daring message for a commercial (and even more impressive when you consider that Jonze said in a commercial what David Fincher took 2 hours to say in
Fight Club). However, this little bit of satire comes across as mere child's play when you see his very controversial Gap ad. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oob5uobmcy8 I guess the good people at Gap got more than they bargained for when they asked Spike to create a commercial showing the renovations happening to the Gap brand in the new millenium. Anarchists and anti-establishment enthusiasts probably thought the commercial was Spike using the idea of renovation to give the middle finger to the consumerist establishment. Why else would he show a bunch of people gleefully and cathartically tearing a Gap down brick by brick? Gap probably had the same idea,which is why the commercial was soon pulled off the airwaves after only limited release. They should have known better than to hire Spike Jonze and expect a normal commercial. A red flag should have gone up after they saw his Levi's ad http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVY04NQUpxk It's a great ad to be sure, but it not really that clear what it has to do with Levi Jeans. Maybe one of you guys can explain in the comment section.