For the second project brief that required us to discuss and present on a music video of our choice and its defining features, I chose to talk about Michel Gondry’s award-winning stop-motion video for the White Stripes’ 2002 single “Fell In Love With A Girl”.

The video is entirely made out of LEGO and displays a correlation with the band’s image by making almost exclusive use of the band’s distinctive red, white and black colour palette. Having to source the LEGO materials themselves (as a result of being unable to successfully drum up a deal with LEGO), Gondry and co. created roughly 3000 LEGO models based on pixelated images printed from footage of the band shot at 25 frames per second. These frames were then shot in stop motion, ultimately producing a staggering effect that is perfectly suited to the song’s exuberant and quite naive tone.

I chose this video out of an appreciation of White Stripes and Michel Gondry along with the fact that I think this video perfectly captures the essence of a music video – in the way that it compliments the rhythm of the song, reflects the aesthetic of the band, enhances the song and does not detract from it, is self-aware and not overly packed, and is distinct and memorable. I think, at their best, songs or pieces of music invite a glimpse into a space – the space does not have to be clearly defined in a narrative sense or always familiar, in fact often it’s a plus if it isn’t, but it should be distinct and well-defined in its own right. I feel that this goes for music videos too – the videos that grab my attention are always confident and clearly matched to the space that song evokes.

The DIY and slightly restrained aesthetic of this video has informed the creative process of my own group’s music video, so I’m glad that I had the opportunity to properly research this music video.