"When you're making music videos, it's like you're a tailor; you cut the suit to fit your model and the artist you're working with. It starts with a woman flipping through a comic book when the character reaches out to her and pulls her in. They are all dressed in lingerie in a cabaret setting resembling the real Moulin Rouge. [37], The video game Plants vs. Zombies by PopCap Games contained a reference to the Thriller music video in its original releases from May 2009 (a month before Jackson's death) until it was removed in July 2010. John Landis was in London in 1983 when Michael Jackson called to ask if he was interested in making a video for Thriller, the title track of the album he'd released a little under a year before. Here are 55 of the most iconic music videos of all time. It continuously shifts through a series of triangles shifting between images of Meg and Jack White playing instruments. On principle, though, it should be up to the parents to decide , in a situation where a film is being shown that is above the age range for that class. Also, the group performs in water and in liquefied forms in front of a waterfall. Eventually, she stands on the edge of an overpass preparing to jump when her ex shows up with a bunch of cops. British crime mini-series - IMDb TV-MA | 240 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller 7.4 Rate A young couple move into an apartment only to find the body of a young woman that had been missing for 2 years but never registered as missing which leads to a deeper investigation into what actually happened. The story is great, the scenes are marvelous, the music is fantastic and overall the clip is fun, eye-popping, spooky and is a real spectacle. Within just a few months of release in November 1983, it had sold over a million copies, easily making it the best-selling home video ever to that point. There's nothing flashy about the video, but the choreography was an instant hit and easy enough for people to learn. It ends with her holding a photo of them. ", Jonze doubts Thriller has had a direct influence on the new school of music video directors, but he is nonetheless convinced it will survive as a portrait of an artist on the mountaintop. 1 Thriller Michael Jackson. The stories were often set in the London commuter belt. "Girl meets boy, they fall in love, boy has big secret, now what." The proposed cost of the "Thriller" video: slightly less than $1 million. Panic! YouTube/KendrickLamarVEVO. [5][6] Original music, including the theme tune, was supplied by Clemens' regular collaborator Laurie Johnson.[7]. When the series was re-broadcast as part of The CBS Late Movie however, the original title sequences and music were restored. Samuel L. Jackson in "Unbreakable." Credit: Getty Images. To be eligible for the Oscars, it needed a week-long theatrical release, so Landis arranged for it to open, bizarrely, for Disney's Fantasia at a single cinema in LA. This is to say nothing of the countless videos, viral and otherwise, of people re-creating the familiar "Thriller" dance moves particularly the stylized zombie movements at weddings, block parties, and Halloween celebrations. Jackson stayed in the projection booth, declining Ray's invitation to join the audience. And Chris Milk the [interactive] stuff he's doing, like The Wilderness Downtown with Arcade Fire and The Johnny Cash Project could never have been done in the 90s. The flipside of all these interviews, sessions and phone footage is that it takes the heat off music videos, making the traditional performance video completely redundant. In 2018, the short film was digitally remastered exclusively for IMAX 3D theaters, playing before. [8] She dressed Jackson in "hip", casual clothes that would be comfortable to dance in, and red to contrast with the night setting and dark palette; she used the same color for Jackson's jeans to make him appear taller. ", Only later did Landis realize that Ray was a former Playboy Playmate, which threatened her involvement in the video because Jackson thought it might come across as improper for him to be sharing the screen with a nude model. In 2011, one of the two jackets worn by Jackson in the video sold at auction for $1.8 million. As such, Michael Jackson's "Thriller" the narrative short horror musical video, not the song or album of the same name is ripe for mainstream theatrical adaptation. It won the MTV video of the year award. [12] Perhaps the most ingenious[editorializing] episode is the Dial M for Murder-style "The Double Kill", in which a man hires a hitman to kill his wife, but makes a fatal error in his otherwise meticulous planning. The changes applied starting with the Game of the Year edition and all future releases since. It is credited for transforming music videos into a serious art form, breaking down racial barriers in popular entertainment and popularizing the making-of documentary format. It references numerous horror films and sees Jackson dancing with a horde of zombies . The music video for "Survivor" takes place "somewhere in the South Pacific," as stated in the beginning and begins with Kelly Rowland, Michelle Williams, and Beyonc shipwrecked on an island. She gets a tattoo and a belly button piercing. I remember watching it in a pub called "Woosters" (aka as wasters) in Lady Lawson Street in Edinburgh. Strictly bosses 'line up Sophie Morgan as show's first ever wheelchair | He and Peters imagined how the zombies would move by making faces in the mirror, incorporating "jazzy" moves, "not too much ballet or whatever". Instead, he thought, it would be shot like a real movie, on classy 35-millimeter film stock. The band's front man lifts a bus up off a girl at some point and saves a dog from a fire. To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account. Michael Jackson had a huge 1983. The UK version features Bush in a white dress as she dances around a dark room white white mist. [8], According to Landis, when he called Yetnikoff to propose the film, he swore so loudly he had to remove the phone from his ear. In 1984, Making Michael Jackson's Thriller won the Grammy Award for Best Video Album, and in a 1999 end-of-the-century countdown, MTV named "Thriller" the #1 music video of all time. at the Disco's first music video features a wedding where the bride's family is asleep and have their faces and eyelids painted. The video won a Grammy for best long-form video. She leaps and hang over the cars with a rope and flip her ex off is iconic. PopCap agreed to remove the Thriller zombies and replace them with generic disco-dancing zombies. "The thrill is gone," suggested the Melody Maker in its review of the album, and it wasn't until videos for Billie Jean and Beat It hit heavy rotation on MTV in early 1983, and Jackson performed the Moonwalk for the first time on the Motown 25 TV special in May, that it really took off. As of 2020, more than 59 million people had watched the sea of orange-clad people amble and groove like zombie-monsters. The video won for video of the year at the MTV VMAs. Lesley Sharp stars as a detective who faces impossible choices in a murky world where loyalties are tested and lines are blurred. The Best British Spy Shows to Watch on Netflix and Hulu - Vulture Avril Lavigne's disastrous romp through a mall was every teen's dream in the early 2000s. "[21], Vinny Marino of ABC News said that the video's selection as the "Greatest Video of All Time" was a "no-brainer", and that it "continues to be considered the greatest video ever by just about everyone". [8] Entertainment figures including Marlon Brando, Fred Astaire, Rock Hudson and Jackie Kennedy Onassis visited the set. In August 1983, film director John Landis received a phone call from Michael Jackson. Original cast member Al Molinaro made a cameo. [42], number of copies sold were 900,000 at a price of $30, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, YouTube video of more than 1,500 prisoners performing the dance, Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, "Director: Funds for "Thriller" almost didn't appear", "Michael Jackson's "Thriller" is the eternal Halloween bop and so much more", "John Landis says Michael Jackson was too 'grotesque' to film: Howell", "How Michael Jackson's Thriller changed music videos for ever", "Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' is the eternal Halloween bop and so much more", "Michael Jackson's Life & Legacy: Global Superstar (198286)", "It Happened This Week in L.A. History: Silver Screen Thrills Los Angeles Magazine", "Michael Jackson's videos set a new standard", "VH1 Names '100 Greatest Videos of All Time', "Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' Added To National Film Registry", "MTV: 100 Greatest Music Videos Ever Made", "The 30 All-TIME Best Music Videos Michael Jackson, 'Thriller', "Jackson "Thriller" film picked for U.S. registry", "Michael Jackson's Thriller added to US film archive", "Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' remains a Halloween hit", "Barack and Michelle Obama make Halloween a thriller for DC kids", "John Landis on 'Thriller 3D', the 'American Werewolf' Remake, & Lucasfilm's Director Troubles", "Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' Could be Broadway Show", "Review: Masterful Plants vs. Zombies Proves Less Is More", "Plants vs. Zombies (Windows, Mac OS X) - the Cutting Room Floor", "Michael Jackson Estate Forces 'Plants vs. Zombies' Update", "Monster Metaphors: Notes on Michael Jackson's Thriller", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Jackson%27s_Thriller_(music_video)&oldid=1142427273, This page was last edited on 2 March 2023, at 09:09. [8] It was backed by successful music videos for the singles "Billie Jean" and "Beat It", which are credited for raising creative standards for music videos and demonstrating their promotional power. Thriller is a British television series, originally broadcast in the UK from 1973 to 1976. ", "Thriller" hit MTV and other outlets in 1983, the same year that the risqu (for the time) Flashdance was a hit in movie theaters and made a star out of Jennifer Beals. One such kid was Spike Jonze, who was 14 in 1983. Michael Jackson, at the time being a devout Jehovah's Witness, feared that the video would go against his fans' religious beliefs and feared backlash. However, Ray sued Jackson on May 6, 2009, less than two months before his death on June 25. In January 2009, nearly three decades after production on the video wrapped, Landis sued Jackson and his production company for having failed to fork over what was due over the years. The video was a bit controversial for its sexual visuals. During the closing credits, a reprise of the zombies dancing is shown. Registered in England. A making-of documentary, Making Michael Jackson's Thriller, was produced to sell to television networks. She ends up shoving him out of a car and leaving him in the dust and goes into a rebellious phase. At the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards in 1984, "Thriller" surprisingly lost Video of the Year to the Cars' "You Might Think.". Filmeditor Marshall Harvey had previously been hired by John Landis to make the behind the scenes footage to his movies An American Werewolf in London and Blues Brothers. Tom Petty channeled "Alice in Wonderland" for the "Don't Come Around Here No More" music video. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Jackson, for his part, hadn't seen Landis's films Animal House, The Blues Brothers or Trading Places; he wanted Landis because of An American Werewolf in London. Here are 55 of the most iconic music . "I auditioned a lot of girls and this girl Ola Ray first of all, she was crazy for Michael," Landis said. Cast: Christian Bale, Harry Melling, Gillian Anderson, Lucy Boynton, Toby Jones. I remember watching it on C4 late at night. Taking place on New Year's Eve, the video shows J-Lo and her friends getting ready for a party. It ends with the groom as the actual ringmaster. This particular Thriller musical is not to be confused with Thriller Live, a Michael Jackson-themed theatrical experience that ran in London's West End (the British Broadway) for well over a decade. Adobe Premiere Pro 2023 Free Download - getintopc.com "She had such a great smile. ", $1.8m The amount Texan gold trader Milton Verrett paid for Jackson's red jacket from the video at auction in June 2011, 26ins The size of Jackson's waist at the time of filming, according to Landis's wife Deborah, who designed the red jacket, $1m Estimated sum in unpaid royalties for which Landis sued Jackson in 2009, 13,597 The number of people who performed the Thriller zombie dance together at an event organised by the Instituto de la Juventud del Gobierno del Distrito Federal at the Monumento a la Revolucin, Mexico City, on in August 2009, 156.4m The number of YouTube views of the official posting of the Thriller video, 9.5m Total home video and DVD sales of The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller, The John Landis-directed mini-movie first shown publicly 30 years ago this week influenced a generation of directors including Spike Jonze, turned music promos into an industry, and established MTV as a cultural force, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, Michael Jackson's impact on art explored in London show, John Landis on the making of Michael Jacksons Thriller: I was adamant he couldnt look too hideous, Quincy Jones sues Michael Jackson's estate, Who's bad? "Thriller," of course, came from the Michael Jackson album also called Thriller. Thriller extended the usual pop video format with a long build-up to the start of the music in which Jackson was slowly transformed into a werewolf, and later a zombie.The horror film star Vincent Price was hired to provide a suitably eerie commentary. From Michael Jackson's zombie dance in "Thriller" to Miley Cyrus' naked wrecking ball ride, certain visuals stay with the viewer long after the video has ended. [10] Makeup artist Rick Baker decided to turn Jackson into a werecat "because I just didn't want to do another werewolf". DIGITAL SPY, PART OF THE HEARST UK ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK. The video features the four guys of OK Go doing a choreographed dance on treadmills all filmed in one shot. It won a Grammy as part of a long-form video project titled "Rhythm Nation 1814 Film.". Thoroughly upset, Jackson ordered his lawyer, John Branca, to destroy the "Thriller" negatives. This article includes content provided by Spotify. Nevertheless, the Thriller video was set to be so expensive $900,000, to pay for not just the filming and effects but 10 days of dance rehearsals that Landis and Jackson had to find a way to fund it (Jackson had paid the $150,000 cost of the Beat It video himself). Directed by Colin Trevorrow. "We don't believe they were complete, and they were never timely," Ray's attorney, Jason Feldman, told the New York Daily News, which reported that the most substantial chunk of money the actress received came in 1998 15 years after "Thriller" was shot. 'The Consultant' on Prime Video: That Bizarre Ending Explained He really was childlike. There are also shots of her and her band performing at a skate park. Spooks (a.k.a. The singer liked that idea and later told Jehovah's Witness publication Awakethat he "just intended to do a good, fun short film, not to purposely bring to the screen something to scare people or to do anything bad.". During the elaborate production of this music video. The video was directed by John Landis, written by Landis and Jackson, and stars Jackson and Ola Ray. What worries me a bit is the kids who have a bit of bravado, and don't admit they are afraid, and then have nightmares. "We came to the conclusion that if Michael was going to dance, it would be a hell of a lot easier for his monster to have two legs instead of four." Dendle wrote that the video captures the feelings of claustrophobia and helplessness essential to zombie films. The pair conceived a short film with a budget much larger than previous music videos. [10] At the time, commercial directors did not direct music videos, but Landis was intrigued. [5], The zombie dance sequence corresponds the lyric about a masquerade ball of the dead. The audience gave the film a standing ovation. There's shots of them on a boat in a "storm," there's memorable camouflage outfits, and a truly special dance break in front of a temple. From the first moment doves fly through a door and a camera zooms in on Prince in a bathtub, viewers know that the video is not going to be simple. Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights" has two iconic videos. Landis had helmed several big movies, including the horror-comedy An American Werewolf in London, whichJackson so enjoyed (per Vanity Fair) that he wanted the director to tell another werewolf story and helm his "Thriller" video. Then she wakes and crawls outside to walk along the ledge. The "Work It" video is filled with some interesting CGI work, memorable dance moves, and some wild cameos that include Timbaland and Eve. The clips promoting "Thriller" helped turn MTV into a vital cultural force, solidified Jackson's stature as the "King of Pop," and significantly raised both the quality and expectations of music videos. According to Baker, he technically portrays a "werecat. It's trippy to watch and makes the video one of the most recognizable of all time. Jackson's sixth album, Thriller, was released in November 1982 and spent months at the top of the Billboard 200, backed by successful videos for the singles "Billie Jean" and "Beat It". Peter Gabriel's video for "Sledgehammer" was an impressive 16-hour feat. Michael Jackson seems like this kid who loves music, horror films, special effects, makeup, zombies and wants all of those things in the video. The audio was also updated to 5.1, 7.1 and Dolby Atmos standards. Adobe Premiere Pro 2023 is an impressive application which allows you to easily and quickly create high-quality content for film, broadcast, web, and more. | The massively successful "Thriller" video was a close collaboration between performer Michael Jackson and director John Landis, although it would seem that of the pair, only Jackson greatly benefited financially from the project. [8] According to Landis, Ola Ray, a former Playboy Playmate, was cast as she was "crazy for Michael" and had a "great smile". 08/07/2009 17:32. The music video director Brian Grant credited Thriller as the turning point when music videos became a "proper industry". [12], The video doubled boosted sales of the Thriller album,[8] which sold a million copies a week following the video debut[12] and became the bestselling album of all time. 3 Take On Me A-ha. 6 Vogue Madonnna. [8] In a statement published in Awake!, a magazine published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, Jackson said: "I just intended to do a good, fun short film, not to purposely bring to the screen something to scare people or to do anything bad. Jackson's character takes his date (Ola Ray) to a horror movie and then makes her life into one when he transforms into a monstrous creature and leads a horde of other scary creatures both ghoulish and undead. He grooves on an escalator, he flies in the air, he shimmies in the lobby. The 15-year-old promo, directed by John Landis, is now regarded as a landmark release - the first to transform pop videos into mini-films. So in the beginning of the video, Michael has a message stating that "Due to my strong personal convictions, I wish to stress that this film is no way endorses a belief in the occult". [40][39], The Thriller dance is performed in major cities around the world; the largest zombie dance included 12,937 dancers, in Mexico City. A night at the movies turns into a nightmare when Michael and his date are attacked by a hoard of bloodthirsty zombies - only a "Thriller" can save them now. In 2006, the Guinness World Records listed it as the "most successful music video of all time. For episodes that used a different title in the U.S., the U.S. title is shown in italics underneath the original British title. [8], Thriller was filmed at the Palace Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, the zombie sequence at the junction of Union Pacific Avenue and South Calzona Street in East Los Angeles, and the final house scene at 1345 Carroll Avenue in the Angeleno Heights neighborhood of Echo Park. Each girl shows off her personality as they move throughout the hotel, making a mess and causing general chaos. An argument could be made for "Baby One More Time" to be on the list for the school girl uniform and high school setting, but "Toxic" deserves the title. In December 2009, the Library of Congress selected the video for the National Film Registry. It's a moot point whether or not a bit of fear does them any harm in the long term. [7], Michael Jackson's album Thriller was released in November 1982 on Epic Records and spent months at the top of the Billboard 200. Jackson died about six months later, and his estate settled with Landis in 2012. The Untold Truth Of Michael Jackson's Thriller Video. "Everyone experiences these physical transformations in their bodies and new, unfamiliar sexual thoughts in their minds. This short film displays the absolute highest standard in music video and no-one will ever be able to out-beat this 'King Of Pop' masterpiece! "When I made videos, whether it was with the Beastie Boys or Bjrk, we weren't chasing anything," he says. Michael Jackson: Thriller Music Video 1983 PG 13 m IMDb RATING 8.7 /10 18K YOUR RATING Rate Horror Music A night at the movies turns into a nightmare when Michael and his date are attacked by a hoard of bloodthirsty zombies - only a "Thriller" can save them now. That's a pretty serious statement, and one that makes the silly horror movie-inspired fun to follow seem like it's going to be a lot darker and menacing than it is. The second stars Bush in a red dress doing the same memorable dance moves and emotive faces, but instead of a room, she is in the middle of the woods. Outlander. However, after the new channel Showtime agreed to pay half the budget, MTV agreed to pay the rest, justifying the expenditure as financing for a motion picture and not a music video. It was also the first big break for drag queen RuPaul. Landis' production partner George Folsey and Jackson's lawyer John Branca hatched a plan: raise money by pre-selling the rights to a behind-the-scenes documentary shot during "Thriller" production. Jackson urged the Epic executives Walter Yetnikoff and Larry Stessel to help conceive a plan to return the album to the top of the charts. Jackson and the zombies chase his girlfriend into an abandoned house. The "Like a Prayer" video largely takes place in a church, but there is a subplot where Madonna witnesses a murder and sees a black man arrested for the crime he did not commit. The speed of the video shifts with the music resulting in a satisfying video. It got video of the year at the MTV VMAs. One of the Zombie ladies from "Thriller" short film by Michael Jackson is Claire Sisk Reeves. "It's simple all you've got to do is dance, sing, and make it scary," DiLeo says he told Jackson at the time. [10] MTV paid $250,000 for the exclusive rights to show the documentary; Showtime paid $300,000 for pay-cable rights. Filming began in South Africa on this new eight-part adaptation of Jules Verne's classic novel in February 2020, and was halted in March by Covid-19 with an episode and a half in the can, before. "I love the ideaof making Thriller a musical," said James L. Nederlander. Michael Jackson Thriller video shown in class to Yr 3! | Mumsnet There are shots of Missy covered in bees and tributes to the late Aaliyah and Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes spray-painted on the hoods of cars it's truly filled with striking visuals. This weekend, HBO and HBO Max will premiere the first episode of "The Last of Us," a post-apocalyptic thriller based on the popular video game. At the end, everyone gets out of their cars and walks before mysteriously vanishing. Between his Mad Hatter costume and the trippy adventures of Alice as she tries to escape Wonderland, the video is ful of memorable scenes. It's dark and striking and fits perfectly with the song. Vestron paid an additional $500,000 to market the cassettes. If youd like to join in, please sign in or register. It starts with the boy band as puppets being controlled by a giant woman. 8 Say You . It's easy to overlook this fact, but M. Night . It features Mars, Ronson, and their crew dancing through streets with choreographed moves and bright jackets. Fall Out Boy's video for "Sugar, We're Goin Down" alternates between the band jamming and a love story between a boy with antlers and a normal girl. Narration: Darkness falls across the land / The midnight hour is close at hand / Creatures crawl in search of blood / To terrorize y'all's neighbourhood / And whosoever shall be found / Without the soul for getting down / Must stand and face the hounds of hell / And rot inside a corpse's shell. [20] In 2009, Jackson sold the Thriller rights to the Nederlander Organization to stage a Broadway musical based on the video. Real clips from the show are also used throughout the video to make it seem like the band is actually on the show. I don't think we had video recorder then. It was shown on Channel 4 in November 1983 at something like 1 in the morning, as I remember sitting up waiting for it to come on and then being amazed and a little bit scared as I was only 13 at the time. A-ha pushed boundaries with their creative video, actually the song's second video, for "Take on Me." This did not stop him being threatened with expulsion from his church because of the film's subject matter. Less than two years later, sister network VH1 would also name "Thriller" the top video ever made. Later, she's on the same ball nude, except for the boots. Unpredictable crime thriller. Miss Scarlet and The Duke, Season 1-2 | Watch Now. [10], In 1984, the National Coalition on Television Violence (NCTV) reviewed 200 MTV videos and classified more than half as too violent, including Thriller. Michael Jackson's Thriller (music video) - Wikipedia But the camera also captures a shot of Cyrus licking a sledgehammer and riding a wrecking ball while dressed in underwear, a white tank, and boots. [8], Jackson created the zombie dance with the choreographer Michael Peters, who had choreographed the "Beat It" video. They eventually head down a river to a rave in the forest. Thriller is a British television series, originally broadcast in the UK from 1973 to 1976.