At the time of his death in June this year, Michael Jackson was in final rehearsals for his This Is It series of concerts at London’s O2 Arena. The residency was possibly one of the most anticipated comebacks of all time; it was to be Jackson’s first series of performances since the HIStory World Tour ended in 1997. Before Jackson had even taken to the stage, the concerts were being hailed as one of 2009’s most important musical events. Jackson was always noted for his showmanship and was one of the most celebrated and commercially successful entertainers of all time. Sadly, Michael Jackson died before he could take to the stage.
From October 28th, behind the scenes and rehearsal footage from the This Is It Tour will be shown in cinemas across the world. The question that some may ask is… why show this in cinemas? Why not just release the footage on DVD? Well, This is It is by no means the first time that concert footage will be shown on the big screen, there have been many concert films over the past decade, including Leonard Cohen’s I’m Your Man and U2 3D, both of which were shown at the Sundance Film Festival. Michael Jackson always had a penchant for the theatrical in his live shows, and his music videos will always be remembered for being some of the most cinematic of all time.
Many of Michael Jackson’s music videos were officially described as short films and had elaborate storylines, costumes, scenery and special effects. The videos had characters and a plot, so it seemed only logical that Jackson would work with film directors to make the videos. Over the course of his career, Jackson won numerous awards for his music videos as well as having parts in several films, not least his own film, Moonwalker.
Movies.ie counts down Michael Jackson’s Top 5 most cinematic music videos… Sorry, short films, and gives a little more information on those behind them.
Billie Jean
While it is one of Jackson’s most iconic, well known and often imitated music videos, Billie Jean is not one of Jackson’s short films. However, it deserves a mention as it was the first music video by an African American artist to be shown in heavy rotation on the then fledgling MTV. With the video for Billie Jean, Jackson began to break down countless boundaries for his race, and began to recreate the music video as an art form.
The video for Billie Jean was directed by Dubliner Steve Barron, who then went on to direct Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie and Coneheads. Barron then went on to direct music videos for David Bowie and created the iconic video for A-Ha’s Take On Me.
Thriller
Who can forget the short film for Thriller? The costumes, the makeup, the dancing, the film within a film… The video tells the story of a young couple on a date, and was the first of Jackson’s videos to have a storyline outside of the song itself. The video was directed by John Landis, who, by the time he worked with Jackson, had already directed several feature length films including The Blues Brothers and An American Werewolf in London.
The video for Thriller, at 14 minutes long, is the first of Jackson’s videos to branch into storytelling, and is essentially homage to horror films featuring Jackson dancing with the undead creatures of the night. The video features score music that punctuates the action on screen, especially when the zombies chase Ola Ray, the actress that plays Jackson’s girlfriend, into an abandoned house.
In 2006, after Thriller sold 9 million units, the video was listed by the Guinness Book of Records as being the Most Successful Music Video. As well as this, the video has had a massive effect on popular culture, not least in the way that it merged music and film making into one unit. The video has been imitated many times, perhaps the most bizarre being in 13 Going On 30 where Jennifer Garner encourages a roomful of people to perform the dance, including her boss, played by Lord of the Rings star Andy Serkis.
Bad
The screenplay for the short film for Bad was written by novelist Richard Price, and was based on the case of Edmund Perry, a 17 year old Harlem resident who was shot to death in 1985 by a plainclothes policeman. The incident received vast media coverage at the time, with The New York Times even going so far as to say that Perry was “… too black for his own good”.
In the full version Michael Jackson portrays Daryl, a youth based on Perry. Daryl is shown leaving his elite private school and returning to his underprivileged neighbourhood. Daryl’s friends tease him for no longer being ‘bad’ and encourage him to mug an elderly man on the subway. Daryl bottles out at the last minute. The video then changes from black and white to colour and Jackson performs the song Bad.
The video for Bad was directed by Martin Scorsese. Scorsese’s films often deal with the theme of children of immigrants trying to find their place in America. This is exactly what is being shown in the Bad video – an American teenager of African descent, trying to find the balance between getting a good education and fitting into his underprivileged neighbourhood. Scorsese also addresses themes of redemption, machismo and violence in his films, all of which can be found in the 18 minute short film for Bad. The video also stars Wesley Snipes.
Liberian Girl
Liberian Girl was perhaps the least cinematic of Jackson’s videos from the 1980s but deserves a mention due to the celebs that pop up. The video featured many of Jackson's celebrity friends who wait on a film set to record the music video for Liberian Girl, only to discover he was filming them all along.
At one point Whoopi Goldberg asks who is directing the video. This is followed with a close up of Steven Speilberg. In fact, the video was directed by Jim Yukich who had already directed videos for 80s legend Pat Bentar and a concert film for Genesis. Yukich went on to direct the little known films The Return of Bruno starring Bruce Willis and Double Dragon which featured Alyssa Milano.
Amongst the many celebrities featured in the video are Dan Aykroyd, Paula Abdul and John Travolta.
Ghosts
At almost 40 minutes long Ghosts is not only the lengthiest music video produced by Michael Jackson, but the Guinness Book of Records awarded Ghosts with the record of being the Longest Music Video of all time.
The video was directed by Stan Winston, a man better known for creating elaborate special effects than directing. In fact, Winston only ever directed four films, the best known of which being T2 3-D: Battle Across Time, which he directed alongside James Cameron.
In Ghosts, Jackson plays the Maestro, who lives alone in an eerie mansion on top of a hill, which looks out over the town of Normal Valley. Occasionally, the Maestro entertains the local children with scary magic tricks. One of the children tells his mother, who alerts the town Mayor; he in turn organises the townspeople to go to the Maestro's mansion and force him to leave.
Jackson not only sang and danced in Ghosts, but he played several characters, including the Mayor. The screenplay, written by Jackson, Stan Winston and Mick Garris was based on a story by Stephen King.
Words : Brogen Hayes
'Michael Jackson - This Is It' is now showing at Irish cinemas