It’s March 16th and someone not named Bono looks vaguely like The Fly in today’s banner.
(Related: The Making of “Beautiful Day”)
Director Jonas Akerlund (pictured above) is best known to U2 fans for directing “Beautiful Day” and the Rio de Janeiro version of “Walk On.” However, he’s received some considerable press in the past week for his latest work, the music video / short film for Lady Gaga and Beyonce’s “Telephone.”
Although the controversial sequel to “Paparazzi” has garnered him plenty of attention, it may not be his biggest — or even his most controversial. And while popularity and notoriety have been key in achieving “Telephone’s” level of buzz, Akerlund seems to have little interest in either.
“I’m never on an ego trip doing music videos,” he told Wannahaves. “I always try to figure out what I believe that the artist needs for the moment.”
By positioning himself as an enabler, Akerlund has honed his craft with a variety of acts, including Christina Aguilera, Metallica, the Cardigans, Rammstein and Robbie Williams. His breakthroughs came with the videos for Prodigy’s “Smack My Bitch Up” and Madonna’s “Ray of Light.” The former was banned in several markets, offering the group a new degree of attention, while the latter received widespread acclaim and a Grammy for Best Short Form Music Video.
Given his facilitator philosophy and the diversity of his collaborations, Akerland’s output has incredible range. “It could be anything from between something really emotional or beautiful to something extremely controversial or different,” he said.
He points to the Caridgans’ deliberately post-”Lovefool” video for “My Favourite Game” as an example of his having helped realize the artists’ vision instead of dictating direction.
“That was a work together with [the Cardigans] and them wanting to get out of that old image,” Akerlund said. “I guess I helped them with that, but if I didn’t do it, they would have done it with somebody else or by themselves anyway.”
You can watch both of his U2 collaborations below. A Jonas Akerlund playlist containing most of his videography is also available on YouTube.
Banner image from The Making of Beautiful Day on YouTube.
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