Director

The creative lead of the music video. They develop the concept, direct the shoot, and oversee the edit to deliver the finished film.

The director is responsible for the vision from start to finish. They write or co-write the treatment, lead on set, and usually sit with the editor in post. On small-budget shoots, they often take on multiple roles simultaneously.

Director in the real world

Hiro Murai began directing music videos for Earl Sweatshirt and Flying Lotus before his collaboration with Donald Glover (Childish Gambino) turned into the Atlanta TV series. Spike Jonze went from directing Weezer, Beastie Boys, and Bjork videos to feature films including Being John Malkovich and Her. Music video directing has historically been one of the most common routes into mainstream filmmaking.

Related terms

Treatment, Director of Photography (DP), Editor, Commissioner, Producer

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