music video directors that made Jennifer Lopez a star
May 30th 2008 10:06
read the stories behind the music video clips that launched J.Lo's career . . . from the urban cool to the glamorous, the creativity of these directors made Jennifer Lopez a video star by framing her in her best light
DAVID LACHAPELLE
I'm Glad (flashdance homage) APR 2003
David La Chapelle directed popular music videos for Christina Aguilera (Dirrty), Avril Lavigne (I'm With You) and more recently Gwen Stefani (Rich Girl). David LaChapelle is an American photographer and director who works in the fields of fashion, advertising, and fine art photography, and is noted for his surreal, unique and often humorous style. LaChapelle has also worked on music videos with Robbie Williams, Moby and Elton John and won the GLAAD Vito Russo Award for outstanding contributions toward eliminating homophobia in 2006.
The choreography of "I'm Glad" was by Jeffrey Hornaday and was adapted from his work for the 1983 film Flashdance starring Jennifer Beals, whose character, Alexandra Owens, is also a construction worker by day and a dancer at night. Jennifer wore the same outfit that Beals wore in the actual film and she also stated that this was one of her most complicated videos and that a lot of effort was put in it. The video was nominated for four MTV Video Music Awards in 2003: Best Female Video, Best Dance Video, Best Choreography, and Best Art Direction.
PAUL HUNTER
Love Don't Cost A Thing (cameo Cris Judd) NOV 2000
Paul Hunter directed popular music videos for Marilyn Manson (The Dope Show/ I Dont Like The Drugs), Hole (Malibu), Britney Spears vs Madonna (Me Against The Music), Kelis (Milkshake, The Pussy Cat Dolls (Dont Cha), and Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mya & Pink (Lady Marmalade)
Paul Hunter is an American music video director of over 100 videos noted for his high-budget, visually distinctive videos for popular music singles. He also creates television advertisements which has earnt him an Emmy nomination. Paul is among an elite group of directors who successfully segues between hip-hop and rock, fortifying a diverse client base. Hunter has also worked on music videos with Justin Timberlake, Will Smith and Michael Jackson.
HERB RITTS
Ain't It Funny [original] JUL 2001
Herb Ritts directed popular music videos for Madonna (Cherish), Chris Isaak (Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing/ Wicked Game), Shakira (Underneath Your Clothes). Herb Ritts was a gay American photographer who died of an AIDS related illness in 2002 aged 50. Ritts was primarily a fashion photographer who concentrated on black-and-white photography and portraits in the style of classical Greek sculpture. He photgraphed many magazine covers, album covers and eventually branched out into music videos. Ritts photographed celebrities such as Richard Gere, Cindy Crawford, Madonna, Jack Nicholson, Elizabeth Taylor and the Dalai Lama and worked with magazines such as Harper's Bazaar, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair and Vogue. Ritts also worked on music videos for Michael Jackson and Britney Spears.
The music video for "Ain't It Funny" was filmed in sepia-tone and there's an extended dance sequence, in which Lopez dances in a Spanish (flamenco-influenced) routine. Lopez's love interest is played by Mexican soap opera actor Eduardo Verástegui.
CRIS JUDD
Ain't It Funny [remix](featuring Ja Rule) JAN 2002
Cris Judd is a professional dancer and choreography who was married to Lopez for 9 months in 2001-02. Judd met Lopez when he was hired for "Love Don't Cost A Thing" and as her husband was asked to direct the remix of "Ain't It Funny"
DAVID MEYERS
David "Dave" Meyers is an American music video director known for being creative and inventive. He has directed almost 200 high-profile videos and is a frequent collabotor with Pink and Missy Elliot. Meyers has won a Grammy for a music video.
I'm Real [remix](featuring Ja Rule) JUL 2001
I'm Gonna Be Alright (featuring Nas) MAY 2002
All I Have (featuring LL Cool J) JAN 2003
FRANCIS LAWRENCE
Francis Lawrence is an American music video director turned feature film director who created the blockbuster movies "I Am Legend" and "Constantine"
Francis Lawrence directed popular music videos for Destinys Child (Independent Women), Nelly Furtado (Im Like A Bird), Gwen Stefani (What You Waiting For), Britney Spears (Im A Slave 4U), and Justin Timberlake (Cry Me A River/ Rock Your Body) Lawrence has also worked with Pink, Avril Lavigne, Garbage and Alanis Morisette
Jenny From The Block (featuring Styles P and Jadakiss, cameo Ben Affleck) NOV 2002
The video shows how publicized her relationship with Ben Affleck was, and it is meant to emphasize her Bronx roots. The track's instrumentals sample Boogie Down Productions's 1987 "South Bronx" and The Beatnuts "Watch Out Now", which in turn samples Enoch Light's version of Herbie Mann's 1974 "Hi-Jack". It's opening passage of "Children grow and women producing, men go working some go stealing, everyone's got to make a living" is borrowed from the African Dreams song "Make a Living".
Play MAR 2001
The video shows Lopez traveling on a futuristic, multi-level airplane. Apart from the actors, the video is entirely computer-generated and took 6 weeks in post-production to finish.
Get Right [original] JAN 2005
"Get Right" portrays Lopez playing different characters at a nightclub: a DJ (the main character), a Go-Go dancer dancing upon the bar, a bartender, a nerdy, shy girl, a superstar, and other personalities attending the club. The end of the song features Marc Anthony's daughter, Ariana (portrayed as a relative to the DJ character), singing along with the music as the DJ is at work. It received four nominations at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards: "Best Dance Video", "Best Direction", "Best Choreography", and "Best Editing".
Get Right [remix](featuring Fabolous) FEB 2005
The music video for the official remix of "Get Right" takes segments from the original video and extends them against a gray background. The dancing mainly consists of Lopez dancing with a cane in an old Hollywood sideshow-style dance routine. The other segments are Lopez basically dancing un-choreographed to the beat. All dance routines from this video appear on screens throughout the club in the original video.
WARNING: do not press play on all eleven videos at the same time - it will blow your mind (and possibly your computer!) haha
to see J.Lo contribution to feature film CLICKHERE
DAVID LACHAPELLE
I'm Glad (flashdance homage) APR 2003
David La Chapelle directed popular music videos for Christina Aguilera (Dirrty), Avril Lavigne (I'm With You) and more recently Gwen Stefani (Rich Girl). David LaChapelle is an American photographer and director who works in the fields of fashion, advertising, and fine art photography, and is noted for his surreal, unique and often humorous style. LaChapelle has also worked on music videos with Robbie Williams, Moby and Elton John and won the GLAAD Vito Russo Award for outstanding contributions toward eliminating homophobia in 2006.
The choreography of "I'm Glad" was by Jeffrey Hornaday and was adapted from his work for the 1983 film Flashdance starring Jennifer Beals, whose character, Alexandra Owens, is also a construction worker by day and a dancer at night. Jennifer wore the same outfit that Beals wore in the actual film and she also stated that this was one of her most complicated videos and that a lot of effort was put in it. The video was nominated for four MTV Video Music Awards in 2003: Best Female Video, Best Dance Video, Best Choreography, and Best Art Direction.
PAUL HUNTER
Love Don't Cost A Thing (cameo Cris Judd) NOV 2000
Paul Hunter directed popular music videos for Marilyn Manson (The Dope Show/ I Dont Like The Drugs), Hole (Malibu), Britney Spears vs Madonna (Me Against The Music), Kelis (Milkshake, The Pussy Cat Dolls (Dont Cha), and Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mya & Pink (Lady Marmalade)
Paul Hunter is an American music video director of over 100 videos noted for his high-budget, visually distinctive videos for popular music singles. He also creates television advertisements which has earnt him an Emmy nomination. Paul is among an elite group of directors who successfully segues between hip-hop and rock, fortifying a diverse client base. Hunter has also worked on music videos with Justin Timberlake, Will Smith and Michael Jackson.
HERB RITTS
Ain't It Funny [original] JUL 2001
Herb Ritts directed popular music videos for Madonna (Cherish), Chris Isaak (Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing/ Wicked Game), Shakira (Underneath Your Clothes). Herb Ritts was a gay American photographer who died of an AIDS related illness in 2002 aged 50. Ritts was primarily a fashion photographer who concentrated on black-and-white photography and portraits in the style of classical Greek sculpture. He photgraphed many magazine covers, album covers and eventually branched out into music videos. Ritts photographed celebrities such as Richard Gere, Cindy Crawford, Madonna, Jack Nicholson, Elizabeth Taylor and the Dalai Lama and worked with magazines such as Harper's Bazaar, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair and Vogue. Ritts also worked on music videos for Michael Jackson and Britney Spears.
The music video for "Ain't It Funny" was filmed in sepia-tone and there's an extended dance sequence, in which Lopez dances in a Spanish (flamenco-influenced) routine. Lopez's love interest is played by Mexican soap opera actor Eduardo Verástegui.
CRIS JUDD
Ain't It Funny [remix](featuring Ja Rule) JAN 2002
Cris Judd is a professional dancer and choreography who was married to Lopez for 9 months in 2001-02. Judd met Lopez when he was hired for "Love Don't Cost A Thing" and as her husband was asked to direct the remix of "Ain't It Funny"
DAVID MEYERS
David "Dave" Meyers is an American music video director known for being creative and inventive. He has directed almost 200 high-profile videos and is a frequent collabotor with Pink and Missy Elliot. Meyers has won a Grammy for a music video.
I'm Real [remix](featuring Ja Rule) JUL 2001
I'm Gonna Be Alright (featuring Nas) MAY 2002
All I Have (featuring LL Cool J) JAN 2003
FRANCIS LAWRENCE
Francis Lawrence is an American music video director turned feature film director who created the blockbuster movies "I Am Legend" and "Constantine"
Francis Lawrence directed popular music videos for Destinys Child (Independent Women), Nelly Furtado (Im Like A Bird), Gwen Stefani (What You Waiting For), Britney Spears (Im A Slave 4U), and Justin Timberlake (Cry Me A River/ Rock Your Body) Lawrence has also worked with Pink, Avril Lavigne, Garbage and Alanis Morisette
Jenny From The Block (featuring Styles P and Jadakiss, cameo Ben Affleck) NOV 2002
The video shows how publicized her relationship with Ben Affleck was, and it is meant to emphasize her Bronx roots. The track's instrumentals sample Boogie Down Productions's 1987 "South Bronx" and The Beatnuts "Watch Out Now", which in turn samples Enoch Light's version of Herbie Mann's 1974 "Hi-Jack". It's opening passage of "Children grow and women producing, men go working some go stealing, everyone's got to make a living" is borrowed from the African Dreams song "Make a Living".
Play MAR 2001
The video shows Lopez traveling on a futuristic, multi-level airplane. Apart from the actors, the video is entirely computer-generated and took 6 weeks in post-production to finish.
Get Right [original] JAN 2005
"Get Right" portrays Lopez playing different characters at a nightclub: a DJ (the main character), a Go-Go dancer dancing upon the bar, a bartender, a nerdy, shy girl, a superstar, and other personalities attending the club. The end of the song features Marc Anthony's daughter, Ariana (portrayed as a relative to the DJ character), singing along with the music as the DJ is at work. It received four nominations at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards: "Best Dance Video", "Best Direction", "Best Choreography", and "Best Editing".
Get Right [remix](featuring Fabolous) FEB 2005
The music video for the official remix of "Get Right" takes segments from the original video and extends them against a gray background. The dancing mainly consists of Lopez dancing with a cane in an old Hollywood sideshow-style dance routine. The other segments are Lopez basically dancing un-choreographed to the beat. All dance routines from this video appear on screens throughout the club in the original video.
WARNING: do not press play on all eleven videos at the same time - it will blow your mind (and possibly your computer!) haha
to see J.Lo contribution to feature film CLICKHERE
| 109 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
I'm going to go watch the Obama-Clinton Mad TV clip again.
Under Barack Obama, bama, bama, bama, bama.
ay, ay, ay, ay ay!
Comment by Morgan Bell
Science News
Deep Pencil
Business News
Movie Train
Artist Quirk
although so is the MadTV clip (CLICKHERE for more . . . )
i think its interesting that the same 3 or 4 directors are making all the hit video clips, like if you paid Lawrence, Meyers or Hunter to make your clip you would be almost guarenteed a big budget success regardless of the material?
Comment by postmoderncritic
Postmodern Critic
Relativity Watch
Padsoc
I like a lot of these videos, and I'll be back to comment in more depth tomorrow (or, rather, later today). Play is my favourite - it makes me want to dance whenever I hear it. And it's postmodern (all about the process of receiving audio waves and reacting to the music), which makes it all the more appealing.
Congratulations for putting so much effort into your post, what with the research and liberal embedding!
Comment by Morgan Bell
Science News
Deep Pencil
Business News
Movie Train
Artist Quirk
thanks for recognising the effort it took!
its actually really hard to find J.Lo videos that you can embed because Sony have the stranglehold on them . . . but it was info i couldnt find anywhere so i thought if there were any J.Lo fans out there it would be a handy convenient reference!
oh please do come back and discuss any or all of them!
i was saying to a friend that i think i love J.Lo to bits because she was really popular the year i graduated highschool and i associate her with the good times i had socialising between ages 18-21 . . . she is the soundtrack to my youth . . . and one of the few female role models i admire
i like how one of the characters she plays in "Get Right" is a dragqueen!
Comment by postmoderncritic
Postmodern Critic
Relativity Watch
Padsoc
The dancing in 'I'm Glad' is wonderful, but I'm not so sure about the grey top she's wearing when she's sitting on the chair... she has lovely bronze skin which isn't exactly brought out by that shade.
I have mixed feelings about David LaChapelle - Dirrty and I'm With You were well done, but Rich Girl was a waste of material resources, just like the song was totally pointless. I like Gwen Stefani in No Doubt, but I think her solo career has been mostly like a train wreck. Can you say vapid?
'Love Don't Cost a Thing' is sensually shot but disappointingly conventional. There's nothing really going on except J-Lo's gleaming flesh. I like the video for 'If You Had My Love' better - it's postmodern with the images of J-Lo on the screen.
David Meyers has to be my favourite director - I think both those videos are very good accompaniments to sensational songs. 'I'm Gonna Be Alright' always makes me drop everything and listen. It's very empowering. Listening to me reminds me of the days when I had a different laptop and I played my music on Musicmatch jukebox. As for 'I'm Real', I love the way the rapper's rough voice makes J-Lo's singing even more mellifluous. I notice both videos are very 'street'.
Oh, I just noticed he directed 'All I Have'... I actually hate that song, she sounds like a stereotypically brainless female. I seem to remember the video clip was quite colourful, though.
'Ain't It Funny' is appealingly elegant, I love the idea of wearing a classy burgundy gown amongst a natural setting, and her make-up is beautiful. There is something slightly lacking in the tune though, which I can't put my finger on. It could be much better with some simple melody changes, I think.
'Jenny From The Block' has an okay melody, the clip is great, but didn't she get a lot of criticism for wearing fur in it? Or is the fur in this one fake? It's pomo, with simulation of documentary-style filmmaking, and as you know I like all things (well, most things) pomo.
Her skin looks gorgeous in 'Play' and I like the art direction and constuming - it's not very explorative but I'm willing to overlook that because the song is so good.
I don't like the song 'Get Right' at all, but the video is okay. I wouldn't have noticed that she was playing a drag queen if you hadn't pointed it out, but that's cool.
I'll come back and listen to the remixes when I come back from the hairdressers'!
Comment by Morgan Bell
Science News
Deep Pencil
Business News
Movie Train
Artist Quirk
wow what a great analysis!
i think the David Meyers clips are very urban and have a cool "street" feel . . . probably something J.Lo learnt from Sean Puffy Diddy back in the day, to embrace the RnB audience and collaborate with rappers to get street cred . . . the three i have posted here are quite glamorous and stylised even though they have retro working-class motifs in them
i liked the lyrical themes in "Love Dont Cost A Thing" and "All I Have" as they are both about leaving a partner who takes you for granted . . . and her makeup in both the clips is fantastic, i wonder if she uses the same makeup artists all the time?
the Herb Ritts "Aint It Funny" is one of my all time favourite clips of any artist . . . it is incredibly beautiful and includes one of the most stunning looking men ive ever seen in my life haha
re: Gwen Stefani - i do enjoy quite a few of her solo tunes but the last album was little more than nonsense cheerleading chants and it was clearly an excercise in cashing it
Comment by postmoderncritic
Postmodern Critic
Relativity Watch
Padsoc
I like 'What U Waiting For' and 'Cool' from LAMB; 'Hollaback Girl' is okay but grates on my nerves (and sounds too much like 'I'm a Slave 4 U' and 'Milkshake' mixed together), and while I can listen to '4 in the Morning' and a few other songs on 'The Sweet Escape' most of it is brainless drivel... have you heard 'Breaking Up', for example? It's a melodramatic song about a weak mobile phone connection. Puh-leeze!