Music Video Inspiration - Director

Samuel Bayer

Samuel Bayer is a prolific American music video director who is responsible for a large number of famous works such as videos for Green Day, Nirvana, Aerosmith, Maroon 5 and My Chemical Romance. His style is typically bleak and grungy, with dark narratives and sorrowful mood and atmosphere. His clients are amongst the biggest names in alternative rock and pop and as a result usually has access to a large budget. He has won 6 VMA's including the top prize 'Video of the Year' for Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day. I conducted some research into some of his videos, as inspiration for my own music video. 

Case Study 1: 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' - Nirvana

This is an example of a rock video with a grungy tone and atmosphere. The extras act like a rioting crowd, thrashing in a rebellious manner to the hard rock music. It matches Nirvana's rebellious aesthetic and target audience of young people also through the concept: The setting appears to be a grungy version of a high school basketball court with frequent references to youth culture including cheerleaders, for example. There is a bleak smoky aesthetic with low lighting giving the whole video an ominous vibe we could expect from Bayer's works. The video itself is a performance video that focuses heavily on the three band members, most prominently frontman Kurt Cobain, who is an iconic figure the studio would want to emphasise.

Case Study 2: 'American Idiot' - Green Day

The also-grungy video of Green Day's American Idiot is notable for its frantic editing and relentless energy that matches the punk-rock band's sound perfectly. Bayer employs strobe lighting, a dark green colour scheme and a vat of green liquid that drenches the band members. It's also a performance video featuring high energy performances by the band and includes lots of symbolism and iconography the audience can link to Green Day. The presence of a large American flag as well as the band emblem and references to 2000s media ties in with the brand identity of Green Day and the satirical 'American Idiot' album. It's another typical example of Bayer's work due to its rough aesthetic, including the artist costumes, presence of musical equipment and grungy warehouse-like setting.

Case Study 3: 'Payphone' - Maroon 5

Whilst this song could be considered a pop song, the rock side of the rock-pop band Maroon 5 is clearly used here by Bayer, who has made an unconventionally bleak and gritty video in response to a song that could have easily been interpreted as upbeat and fun. The narrative shows a man escaping an armed robbery who then accidentally gets targeted by armed police, with lots of deaths implied and gun injuries seen. It's a big-budget action-movie style video that suits the commercially successful band. The tone as usual with Bayer is bleak and includes a gritty desert setting, grungy costumes and a dark narrative.