After all, if they're going to pay a few hundreds bucks for a ticket, patrons can at least have some idea of what they're getting into beforehand when they line up to see Mean Girls (based on a hit movie) or Mamma Mia! Before my time, but I gather it was shown on Channel 4 late at night. Thirty years ago this week on 21 November it was first shown to the public. Marlon Brando, Fred Astaire, Rock Hudson and Jackie Kennedy Onassis all turned up on set, and Eddie Murphy, Prince and Diana. The scenes incorporated claymation, pixilation, and stop-motion animation to come to life. [38][39] The description of the Dancing Zombie in the game paraphrased the disclaimer at the end of Thriller. However, Ray sued Jackson on May 6, 2009, less than two months before his death on June 25. Filmed in one continuous shot, the band is also occasionally shown playing in the burning building. Fifteen years ago, it was deemed suitable only for late-night viewing, and even boycotted by a then fledgling MTV network in the US. This was the business model in home video for most of the early to mid-1980s: Studios and publishers charged about $90 for tapes and sold almost exclusively to rental stores, which would then charge customers a few bucks to rent it for a day or two. Jackson and the zombies chase his girlfriend into an abandoned house. [22] Gil Kaufman of MTV described the video as "iconic" and felt that it was one of Jackson's most enduring legacies. [17], On November 14, 1983, Thriller was shown to a private audience at the Crest Theater in Los Angeles. The video does feature a couple of clips of her walking through Parc de Saint-Cloud in Paris, but the emotional close-ups are the most striking parts. She said: "You look at those early videos and they were shockingly bad. Andr 3000 plays all eight characters featured in the band. [10] MTV, which had found success with Jackson's earlier videos, had a policy of not financing music videos, instead expecting record companies to pay for them. From Michael Jackson's zombie dance in "Thriller" to Miley Cyrus' naked wrecking ball ride, certain visuals stay with the viewer long after the video has ended. I want to do what's right. The "Bad Romance" video is artistic and creative yet political in nature. Original cast member Al Molinaro made a cameo. "It's simple all you've got to do is dance, sing, and make it scary," DiLeo says he told Jackson at the time. "I auditioned a lot of girls and this girl Ola Ray first of all, she was crazy for Michael," Landis said. She has visions of her dead lover in the mansion and remembers moments when they were together. 's Bad Girls and that's got to be one of the best videos ever. He's taking things to a whole new place. [8], The video debuted on MTV alongside Making Michael Jackson's Thriller on December 2, 1983. It's hard to forget. Connections Throw Katy Perry and her dancers in clothing covered in sweets, dress Snoop Dogg in a cupcake suit, make the setting a board game called Candyfornia, and you've got yourself the basis of the "California Gurls" video. Michael Jackson's estate owes Quincy Jones $9.4m in royalties, jury decides, NewMichael Jackson music to be produced by Timbaland, Michael Jackson is top-earning dead celebrity, beating Prince and Bowie, Mysurreal 1980 interview with Michael Jackson: Direct your questions to Janet; shell put them to Michael, Michael Jackson's Thriller becomes first album to sell 30m copies in the US, Michael Jackson: Five years after his death, how his influence lives on, Michael Jackson: Xscape review - a fitting bookend to the man's career, Kirsty Wark can perform the Thriller dance. (based on the familiar songs of ABBA). Then the scenes begin to shift between Houston in brightly colored dresses and makeup in various different scenes. Injustice: Created by Anthony Horowitz. One exception was the story "Nurse Will Make It Better"; however, this too exists in PAL/original format on the later 1" videotape format as a dub from the original master tape (this version was broadcast on the satellite channel Bravo in 1996). Then she wakes and crawls outside to walk along the ledge. Thriller was an event even when it was being shot in October 1983. Here, in no particular order, are the eight best thrillers on Prime Video. [12] Perhaps the most ingenious[editorializing] episode is the Dial M for Murder-style "The Double Kill", in which a man hires a hitman to kill his wife, but makes a fatal error in his otherwise meticulous planning. He reaches out to her but can't pull her back up and she falls. [8], According to Landis, when he called Yetnikoff to propose the film, he swore so loudly he had to remove the phone from his ear. | The video starts in black-and-white as Whitney Houston finishes a show and heads backstage. She later lies next to the charred remains. A making-of documentary, Making Michael Jackson's Thriller, was produced to sell to television networks. The video for My Chemical Romance's jam featured a main character in a hospital bed who is eventually led by Death to the Black Parade. More than 300 people dressed as Bush in the red dress recreated her video in a Brighton park in 2013. The bride leaves the altar, and when the groom follows, he sees her making out with one of the guests outside. Landis' production partner George Folsey and Jackson's lawyer John Branca hatched a plan: raise money by pre-selling the rights to a behind-the-scenes documentary shot during "Thriller" production. Marlon Brando, Fred Astaire, Rock Hudson and Jackie Kennedy Onassis all turned up on set, and Eddie Murphy, Prince and Diana Ross were spotted at the private premiere on 14 November. Real clips from the show are also used throughout the video to make it seem like the band is actually on the show. Brandy and Monica's apartments are right next to each other and the girls are seeing the same man. In 2009, it became the first music video inducted into the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant". We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. [13], Other memorable episodes include: "Someone at the Top of the Stairs", one of a handful of forays into the supernatural, in which two female students move into a boarding house and begin to notice that none of the other residents ever go out or receive any mail; and "I'm The Girl He Wants to Kill", in which a witness to a murder finds herself trapped in a deserted office block overnight with the killer, and is forced to play a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with him to survive (there is barely any dialogue throughout its second half). So in the beginning of the video, Michael has a message stating that "Due to my strong personal convictions, I wish to stress that this film is no way endorses a belief in the occult". And there's some weird bugs crawling at various points. [8], Thriller was filmed at the Palace Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, the zombie sequence at the junction of Union Pacific Avenue and South Calzona Street in East Los Angeles, and the final house scene at 1345 Carroll Avenue in the Angeleno Heights neighborhood of Echo Park. Narration: Darkness falls across the land / The midnight hour is close at hand / Creatures crawl in search of blood / To terrorize y'all's neighbourhood / And whosoever shall be found / Without the soul for getting down / Must stand and face the hounds of hell / And rot inside a corpse's shell. 2023 Hearst UK is the trading name of the National Magazine Company Ltd, 30 Panton Street, Leicester Square, London, SW1Y 4AJ. Registered in England. Her use of religious symbols caused controversy, and the Vatican even condemned it. Told from Eva's perspective, the film follows her earlier days as a mother and her ongoing . J-Lo brought in the new millennium with her video for "Waiting for Tonight." "Above all, it's just this amazing documentation of Michael Jackson at his most electric," he says. Thriller sealed MTV's reputation as a new cultural force; dissolved racial barriers in the station's treatment of music (though MTV has always denied they existed); revolutionised music video production; spawned the "making of" genre of documentary ("The Making of Filler," as Landis said at the time); helped create a market for VHS rentals and sales, because fans were desperate to see it when they wanted, rather than at the will of TV stations; and, in 2009, became the first music video to be inducted into the Library of Congress's National Film Registry. This brilliant video won the VMA for video of the year. "I won't say that I have seen him in his birthday suit but close enough.". Alternate Versions [25] In a poll of over one thousand users conducted by Myspace in 2010, it was voted the most influential music video. [3], The series was created by Brian Clemens, who also scripted the majority of the episodes and story-lined every installment. Landis had helmed several big movies, including the horror-comedy An American Werewolf in London, whichJackson so enjoyed (per Vanity Fair) that he wanted the director to tell another werewolf story and helm his "Thriller" video. [8] Branca mollified Jackson by suggesting they include a disclaimer at the start of the film stating that it did not reflect Jackson's personal convictions. Miss Scarlet and The Duke, Season 1-2 | Watch Now. It really opened our eyes to music videos as a creative form of film-making, and a potential career." "[11], Thriller was the first time Jackson had interacted with a woman in a video, which Landis described as a "breakthrough". I was yet another taper of the original Channel 4 broadcast. In July 1983, after Thriller was displaced from the top of the chart, Jackson's manager Frank DiLeo suggested making a music video for "Thriller". Michael Jackson's Thriller was launched to great anticipation and played regularly on MTV. It has that spirit to it that must have been contagious; it spoke to other kids. Her father, a hunter, disapproves of their romance and tries to shoot antler boy with an arrow but he's hit by a car. The storyline follows newly-qualified vet James as he leaves his home in Glasgow during 1937 to start working for head vet Siegfried in the fictional Yorkshire village of Darrowby. It is credited for transforming music videos into a serious art form, breaking down racial barriers in popular entertainment and popularizing the making-of documentary format. Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like What happened to record and tape sales between 1978 and 1979?, Robert Pittman gathered videos from a variety of record companies and used them, along with a crew of veejays, as the basis for a new cable station called _____., MTV's target audience of rock-pop fans caused them to reject many _____, and critics began to question . On principle, though, it should be up to the parents to decide , in a situation where a film is being shown that is above the age range for that class. This article includes content provided by Spotify. He suggested that Jackson should become a werewolf in a 1950s setting, inspired by the 1957 film I Was a Teenage Werewolf. The short film was packaged on home video with The Making of 'Thriller' (1983) as "Making Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'", which became the world's best-selling VHS musical. | [7], Michael Jackson's album Thriller was released in November 1982 on Epic Records and spent months at the top of the Billboard 200. Between Britney Spears' flight attendant uniform, diamond and nude body suit, and black cat suit, all of her outfits are memorable. [4] The series evolved from Clemens' previous work, in particular two films in a similar style: And Soon the Darkness (1970) and Blind Terror (aka See No Evil, 1971); the latter shares plot similarities with the Thriller episodes "The Eyes Have It" and "The Next Voice You See". [12], The video doubled boosted sales of the Thriller album,[8] which sold a million copies a week following the video debut[12] and became the bestselling album of all time. "She had such a great smile. In attendance were celebrities including Diana Ross, Warren Beatty, Prince, and Eddie Murphy. This short film displays the absolute highest standard in music video and no-one will ever be able to out-beat this 'King Of Pop' masterpiece! The "Love Shack" video was filmed at the home of ceramic artists Philip Maberry and Scott Walker and shows people grooving and having a fun party in this place in the middle of some woods. [12][18] After each broadcast, MTV advertised when they would next play it, and recorded audience figures ten times the norm. Ola Ray took home a lot of memories and stories from her time co-starring in Michael Jackson's landmark "Thriller" music video. We didn't get a Channel 4 signal until late 84 so missed out entirely! The video was directed by John Landis, written by Landis and Jackson, and stars Jackson and Ola Ray. Following a worldwide audit during 200304 by the then copyright-holders Carlton, almost all the original UK PAL fisheye-titled 2" videotapes of Thriller were located and transferred onto modern digital tape by the British Film Institute, with subsequent restoration work by BBC Resources. "It was the first time an artist had considered the pop video as a legitimate art form. MC Hammer's video for "U Can't Touch This" is extremely simple. It was filmed at various locations in Los Angeles, including the Palace Theater. [10], To help finance the production, Landis's producer George Folsey Jr. suggested a making-of documentary that, combined with the "Thriller" video, would produce an hour-long film that could be sold to television. According to Vanity Fair, Vestron Video helped offset the high production cost of "Thriller" by paying for the VHS and Betamax distribution rights for the Making Michael Jackson's Thriller documentary and then gave it a $29.95 retail price tag. At the end of the credits, they all dance back into their graves, with one of them gruesomely grimacing at the screen. At first, she blamed Jackson, but apologized to him in 1997. During all the chaos, lead singer Brendon Urie is the ringmaster. [15], Landis said directing Jackson was "like dealing with a gifted 10-year-old". "When I made videos, whether it was with the Beastie Boys or Bjrk, we weren't chasing anything," he says. They run naked on a beach, they wear ridiculous outfits, and they rock out in front of crowds of people. The cat's dance moves even mirror her's. Cannot remember the excate time but dout it was 1 am as we would of not been allowed to stay up. "Girl meets boy, they fall in love, boy has big secret, now what." This did not stop him being threatened with expulsion from his church because of the film's subject matter. "Thriller" remains a classic, as well as an unprecedented moment in music and film, and it wasn't easy to pull off. It won a Grammy as part of a long-form video project titled "Rhythm Nation 1814 Film.". They talk through their problems with friends and ultimately decide that neither of them will date him. In 2013, she settled with the Jackson estate for $75,000. Michael Jackson, at the time being a devout Jehovah's Witness, feared that the video would go against his fans' religious beliefs and feared backlash. 'we Need To Talk About Kevin' (2011) Based on Lionel Shriver's novel of the same title, this Golden Globe-nominated film stars Tilda Swinton as Eva, the mother of a disturbed teenager (Ezra Miller) who has committed mass murder at his school. Jackson was all in, especially after Landis said he could probably get An American Werewolf in London makeup master Rick Baker involved. | Walking down a city street at night, Jackson teases her by performing the verses of "Thriller". Jackson hired Landis after seeing his 1981 film An American Werewolf in London. [8] According to Landis, Ola Ray, a former Playboy Playmate, was cast as she was "crazy for Michael" and had a "great smile". Taking place on New Year's Eve, the video shows J-Lo and her friends getting ready for a party. "Everybody Hurts" is a heavy song, and the corresponding video highlights the emotional lyrics. PopCap agreed to remove the Thriller zombies and replace them with generic disco-dancing zombies. During the elaborate production of this music video. Within just a few months of release in November 1983, it had sold over a million copies, easily making it the best-selling home video ever to that point. Quotes In December 2009, the Library of Congress selected the video for the National Film Registry. Then it shifts to the musicians performing on stage. Filmeditor Marshall Harvey had previously been hired by John Landis to make the behind the scenes footage to his movies An American Werewolf in London and Blues Brothers. It references numerous horror films and sees Jackson dancing with a horde of zombies. It's amazing. [8], The horror-themed "Thriller" had not been planned for release as a single. The second stars Bush in a red dress doing the same memorable dance moves and emotive faces, but instead of a room, she is in the middle of the woods. The Thriller video sent album sales into orbit, with Jackson's label Epic reportedly shipping a million copies a week in its immediate aftermath. Kendrick Lamar's "Humble" is an incredible video. The legendary video has been honored countless times. If youd like to join in, please sign in or register. Vaughan Arnell, who had videos on MTV in its earliest days, and has gone on to make 12 promos for Robbie Williams and three for One Direction, remembers Thriller with some trepidation. And then 4 months later it was spoofed on the very first episode of ITV's Spitting Image. It features Mars, Ronson, and their crew dancing through streets with choreographed moves and bright jackets. Directed by Colin Trevorrow. Back in 1983, the video was preceded by a disclaimer from the singer, who said: "Due to my strong personal convictions, I wish to stress that this film in no way endorses a belief in the occult." "Then YouTube came along and that suddenly brought film-makers back to a more unconventional way of thinking, which I see as a totally positive thing. There's running on a moving train, there's dancing in a blue room, there's a dog chase, and a car chase. According to Landis, Michael asked Joseph to be removed; he refused and had to be escorted off the set by police. They made something that was so perfect for the early 80s. In January 2009, nearly three decades after production on the video wrapped, Landis sued Jackson and his production company for having failed to fork over what was due over the years. [26] In 2009, it became the first music video to be selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. '"[20], The Thriller video sealed MTV's position as a major cultural force, helped disassemble racial barriers for black artists, revolutionized music video production, popularized making-of documentaries, and drove rentals and sales of VHS tapes. The Pale Blue Eye (2022) Image via Netflix. One of the Zombie ladies from "Thriller" short film by Michael Jackson is Claire Sisk Reeves. Fantastic, the full length version, last night on Channel 4. [41] The lawsuit was settled in 2012 for an undisclosed amount. This particular Thriller musical is not to be confused with Thriller Live, a Michael Jackson-themed theatrical experience that ran in London's West End (the British Broadway) for well over a decade.
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