You can debate whether director Diane Martel's videos for "Blurred Lines" and "We Can't Stop" are the best of the year. But, it's undeniable that they're by far the most talked about and impactful videos of 2013, both riding a loose, yet calculated style that signals a huge breakthrough for a director who already has 20 years and countless hits in the video game.
Grantland has a fantastic Q&A with Diane Martel, focusing on the intent, inspirations and impact of these videos.
Here's some of the best reveals... [read on]
On "Blurred Lines":
I’ve been thinking about music videos, marketing, and the Internet for a while. I want to make videos that sell records. This is my main focus right now, not to make videos that express my own obsessions, but to make videos that move units...
I wanted to deal with the misogynist, funny lyrics in a way where the girls were going to overpower the men. Look at Emily Ratajkowski’s performance; it’s very, very funny and subtly ridiculing. That’s what is fresh to me. It also forces the men to feel playful and not at all like predators. I directed the girls to look into the camera, this is very intentional and they do it most of the time; they are in the power position. I don’t think the video is sexist. The lyrics are ridiculous, the guys are silly as fuck. That said, I respect women who are watching out for negative images in pop culture and who find the nudity offensive, but I find [the video] meta and playful...
I wanted to do a nude video and turned the job down when they said we couldn’t. They came back agreeing to do the nude one if I would do a clothed version.
On "We Can't Stop"
Miley Cyrus is an astonishing young lady — effervescent, creative, excited, and so loving. She’s my favorite artist now. She was engaged with the entire cast. I’ve never seen a pop artist this normal. She is sophisticated and hilarious. She is one of the people, she is not a freaky celebrity. She engages and is 100 percent sincere. I can’t say enough about how truly fly this kid is...
She and I loved the idea of her being over the top. Her “modeling” is crazy, like what the fuck is she doing in this video? Her teddy bear dancing, she’s kissing her doll, she’s riding a horrible bike with her butt out. I don’t see another female pop star getting into a girl fight in her video. This video is fucked up and fun. It’s like a long Vine.
And on the success of both:
The Internet is fickle, but if a video is strong and entertaining, it is going to get massive hits, so of course strong work is going to have an effect on record sales. As I said, I’m mega-focused on selling records right now, so I’m doing that. I’m only taking jobs where this is a possibility. There is a new generation of kids that are overstimulated as viewers and you have to address that somehow. They also have obsessions with things I’ve been lucky enough to have experienced in real life, so there is an easy dialogue there. I’m just paying attention to the audience and their movements.
