Melina Matsoukas Quotes

And my idols in music videos are people like Michel Gondry and Spike Jonze and Johnathan Glazer and David Fincher and that's always kind of been my reference point in music video and commercial directors.

I didn't make music videos in order to make a movie. Music videos were the goal for me, so it was never a step to something else. I approached it seriously.

I've always loved music videos - I used to make my own for bands like Pearl Jam. My favorite directors are Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze, and Patrick Daughters.

I thought there was a way of marrying what I wanted to do with filmmaking with pop videos, which I found out through a couple projects just wasn't possible. That's not saying anything about the artist. If you're making an Usher video, you're making an Usher video, not a film with an Usher song in it.

Shania Twain brought a whole other fan base to country music with her sound, the way the videos were produced.

Music video played a huge role in developing my sensibility as a director.

A lot of rappers been putting out a lot of sub-par visuals. I feel like the visuals could be better.

I always would dream of making music videos. Whenever I make music, I always have a visual in my mind. I always see things.

Friends who are directors like Jim Mangold or the Wachowskis or Zack Snyder - who, whether they know or not - have really left a mark on who I am as a director.

I'm obsessed with the power of music and image together. There's also something about music videos that are incredibly glamorous - there's a fetishistic aesthetic to them that you don't really see in movies in the same way.

I've noticed that a lot of people in film always seem interested in music videos, like it's some, like, really exciting thing they've always wanted to do or something.

With a film, you can get into it and love it. With music, you can listen to over and over again, but with music videos, they're like this short little stab.

I've been a fan of Dave Meyers and his music videos.

I started really idolizing people like Nicole Holofcener and Whit Stillman.

I love music videos, and I think maybe it's my favorite format.

Some people draw a line between music videos and short films, looking down on music videos as a format, but there's so much potential in music videos.

I was very pleased to find that once I had records out music videos were starting to happen, so I directed some of my own music videos and got to experiment in other areas of expression.

Music videos were this lucky career opportunity. They were assignments. I was providing a service, and they were meant to be punchy and gimmicky and fun.

My heroes are guys like Frank Capra and Elia Kazan and Coen brothers and Terry Gilliam, more so than a lot of bass players at this point in my life. So I've always been an old-film nut and have very much enjoyed doing videos over the years.

I'd do entire music videos in my bedroom, where I used to stand in front of my television memorizing the moves to Michael Jackson's 'Beat It.'

I love music videos, I really do. I think it's kind of sad that it's a dying art form.

There really isn't a dream role, but there's a dream situation where I could work with a director that I idolize. So, the idea of working with David Fincher or Paul Thomas Anderson or Wes Anderson or Scorsese or Spielberg or any of the guys I really idolize is a dream for me.

I think the key to directing a great music video is in making sure the song is great, and if it is, then it becomes really fun.

I'm very conscious that a music video is beyond just a promotional tool for a song. It takes a song to the next level and it gives a song a new life.

When I film my music videos, I always try to fulfill a part of my dream of being a filmmaker.