Stephane Sednaoui
Stephane was born in Paris, France 1963. He is an French photographer, director and producer, he works are photojournalism, Fashion photographer, photographic essays and portrait photography. He has been working since 1981 and still currently working. He first and break out music video he directed was for a French rap band in the 1990 then went on to the US to work with the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. This video was called 'Give It Away' in 1991. His work has been celebrated in a DVD called ' The work of director Stephane Sednaoui' which was in 2005. However Stephanes music video work was short lived as he stopped directing them in 2000 to carry on with other art and photo projects. I am looking at some of the music videos he has directed. the following videos I am looking at will be
Bjork - Big time sensuality
U2 - Mysterious ways
Tricky - For Real
By looking at theses three videos its easy to see similar factors they have because of the way Stephane directs. Only thing that comes across all three of these video's is Stephane likes to keep the artist or band be the main focus of the video and have other elements going on around them that aren't that important to the video. for example in the Bjork video its all black and white and she is the main focus with the camera being on a tripod just pointing at her and have extreme close up's of her face. This is also shown in the Tricky video, there is a narrative behind the whole video however the main person in that story is the artist and the camera keeps moving back on him when he is singing. In all three of these videos they are mostly performance based, the artists are all singing in the video rather or not if there is a story going on in the video or if it is just like the Bjork video.
In two of these videos it shows a technique Stephane likes to use, he places mirrors around the set or location and gets most of his shoots from the mirrors to show the artist and their surroundings. This technique is shown in the U2 video, Mysterious ways where we see the artist Bono moving around however we don't see him only his reflection in the mirrors. This also happens when the artist Tricky is checking his tie and suit jacket in the mirror, while he is doing this the audience get to see where he is and what is going on in the background which adds to the narrative of the video.
An other technique Stephane uses in his work is to dissolve and over lap some images. For example this happens a lot in the 'For Real' video where we see the group of men sitting around the table and when the camera is focused on someone the image starts to change of a different movement they were doing but still keeping the outline of there first action there to see the quick movement made. Also it does tell the audience the past they are moving at within that sequence. In the ' Big Time Sensuality' video we do get to see the same dissolve ad over lap of images happen when Bjork is at the back of the truck then having a quick extreme close up of her face but this having her outline from the back of the truck in the shoot.
Its hard to tell if Stephane uses the same colour theme because the first video, Bjork - Big Tim Sensuality, was in black and white. The second video, U2 Mysterious ways, used a lot of sandy colours with yellows, reds and oranges which made it a warmer looking video. The third video, Tricky - For Real, was more drained colours unlike the U2 video which went well with the tone of the song. Stephane links the colour theme to the mood of the song and artists.
These three music videos are all aimed at young adults/middle aged adults. These videos don't show anything that could be taken as offensive so younger people can watch these videos but I think it is aimed at elders just because of the type of music and artists he works with. The subject matter in these videos link to the lyrics and are basic performance base videos. The Bjork video is playful because of the expressions she is doing with her face. These videos are fast past editing not because of how fast the songs are but just so the audience get to see a lot of repetition of the same thing at different angles which takes the video less boring.
My over all view of Stephane Sednaoui's work that its entertaining but people who really want to see their favourite artist will like his work more because it gives you a sense that you are closer to them with the camera only focusing on them and them because the main focus of the videos. One thing Stephance is very successful at is promoting the artists and song because he tries to make sure they are first person/people the audience see. Stephane's work fits in with the tracks he is given and he doesn't totally go away with what the track is saying and come out with this over the top, dramatic director video that no gets. He tries to stay within the lines of the lyrics and replays on the artist to become the video and make it about selling their image within the four or five minutes of the video.
By looking at theses three videos its easy to see similar factors they have because of the way Stephane directs. Only thing that comes across all three of these video's is Stephane likes to keep the artist or band be the main focus of the video and have other elements going on around them that aren't that important to the video. for example in the Bjork video its all black and white and she is the main focus with the camera being on a tripod just pointing at her and have extreme close up's of her face. This is also shown in the Tricky video, there is a narrative behind the whole video however the main person in that story is the artist and the camera keeps moving back on him when he is singing. In all three of these videos they are mostly performance based, the artists are all singing in the video rather or not if there is a story going on in the video or if it is just like the Bjork video.
In two of these videos it shows a technique Stephane likes to use, he places mirrors around the set or location and gets most of his shoots from the mirrors to show the artist and their surroundings. This technique is shown in the U2 video, Mysterious ways where we see the artist Bono moving around however we don't see him only his reflection in the mirrors. This also happens when the artist Tricky is checking his tie and suit jacket in the mirror, while he is doing this the audience get to see where he is and what is going on in the background which adds to the narrative of the video.
An other technique Stephane uses in his work is to dissolve and over lap some images. For example this happens a lot in the 'For Real' video where we see the group of men sitting around the table and when the camera is focused on someone the image starts to change of a different movement they were doing but still keeping the outline of there first action there to see the quick movement made. Also it does tell the audience the past they are moving at within that sequence. In the ' Big Time Sensuality' video we do get to see the same dissolve ad over lap of images happen when Bjork is at the back of the truck then having a quick extreme close up of her face but this having her outline from the back of the truck in the shoot.
Its hard to tell if Stephane uses the same colour theme because the first video, Bjork - Big Tim Sensuality, was in black and white. The second video, U2 Mysterious ways, used a lot of sandy colours with yellows, reds and oranges which made it a warmer looking video. The third video, Tricky - For Real, was more drained colours unlike the U2 video which went well with the tone of the song. Stephane links the colour theme to the mood of the song and artists.
These three music videos are all aimed at young adults/middle aged adults. These videos don't show anything that could be taken as offensive so younger people can watch these videos but I think it is aimed at elders just because of the type of music and artists he works with. The subject matter in these videos link to the lyrics and are basic performance base videos. The Bjork video is playful because of the expressions she is doing with her face. These videos are fast past editing not because of how fast the songs are but just so the audience get to see a lot of repetition of the same thing at different angles which takes the video less boring.
My over all view of Stephane Sednaoui's work that its entertaining but people who really want to see their favourite artist will like his work more because it gives you a sense that you are closer to them with the camera only focusing on them and them because the main focus of the videos. One thing Stephance is very successful at is promoting the artists and song because he tries to make sure they are first person/people the audience see. Stephane's work fits in with the tracks he is given and he doesn't totally go away with what the track is saying and come out with this over the top, dramatic director video that no gets. He tries to stay within the lines of the lyrics and replays on the artist to become the video and make it about selling their image within the four or five minutes of the video.
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