Iconic Music Videos

Thriller by MJ 1983

•  The 14 minute long horror spoof was released on December 2, 183. It was directed by John Landis

• "The Thriller video sent album sales into orbit, with Jackson's label Epic reportedly shipping a million copies a week in its immediate aftermath."

• Trudy Bellinger - "It was really groundbreaking to have such a long video, and it helped to shape the future of music videos, which previously had been more performance-based." 

• In January of 2010 it was classed a national treasure by the Library of Congress, the first music video to be admitted into the National Film Registry. They named Thriller as “the most famous music video of all time”

There is a definite relationship between the lyrics and visuals throughout. 

MES: costumes are a big part of the video - the famous red jacket that had become apart of MJ's image as he wore as similar one in other videos like Beat It, all the horror costumes for the zombies/monsters

lighting/setting -  a part of the iconography is the famous la theatre, the rest is filmed in the street, haunted house and graveyard. dark lighting throughout the second half of the video as it gets scary. Lots of smoke to complete the ghoulish, cold and creepy atmosphere.makeup - horror sfx and masks, without this it wouldn't have been a thriller!

Sound: lots of dialogue between Michael and Ola Ray,and narrative by Vincent Price,

 incidental music, diegetic sound, soundtrack / synchronous.

Camerawork: Long shot is used as they walk down the street and he's playing around. Also a two shot as it is just Michael and Ola Ray. Close up when Michael is teasing the girl to show they're laughing and their close relationship. Wide shot is used when the most iconic and known dance routine of all time is shown. Another close up to show Michael's transformation into a zombie and of the other zombie dancers. Multiple close ups are shown when the zombies rise from the ground, of their hands and coffins. 

Editing: the beginning is fairly slow as they're either talking or walking down the street. When the music begins and Michael starts dancing the editing pace picks up. When the music becomes more upbeat, the editing matches. The angles switch up during the dance routine such as high and low so you see all the moves clearly.