Thriller by the great Michael Jackson

I thought it would be a good idea to analyse the music video to Thriller by Michael Jackson, not only in remembrance of the great King of Pop but also because it is one of the most successful music videos ever made! This music video was the most expensive of its time costing US$500,000 and selling over 9 million units. So what made it such a successful music video?

I feel that this is because of its use of conventions as well as the unique twists that in fact make it quite an unconventional music video. Below I have tried to identify what makes this both a conventional and an unconventional music video:


Conventional
- Song/Music with a conventional chorus

'Cause this is thriller, thriller night
And no one's gonna save you from the beast about strike
You know it's thriller, thriller night
You're fighting for your life inside a killer, thriller tonight

- The artist, Michael Jackson, is seen performing in the video
- Use of narrative- Michael and his date leave the theatre whilst watching a horror film and walk through the forest
- The lyrics of the song influence what is happening in the video

‘It’s close to midnight and something evil’s lurking in the dark’ – In the video it’s almost pitch black and really smoky which as if there is some mysterious ghost present during the late night


- The use of a Dance routine by Michael Jackson and the other Zombies
- A powerful performance – the abstract idea is made to seem believable through the great acting
- The dress codes reflect the mood of the song-

Michael is wearing red to connote blood and danger
The female character is wearing dark blue clothes to reflect the mystical night time
Everyone else is dressed in Zombie costumes to connote the Thrill and fright

- The mood of the song remains consistent through to the end
- The video is shot from many different angles and sides


Unconventional
- The music video is 14 minutes long whilst conventionally music videos are about 3-7 minutes
- Both the long narrative and mise-en-scene (Zombies, forest, graveyard) make it less of a music video and more a of short horror film
- The pace of editing is quite slow/medium, for example one of the first shots of the song lasts 12 seconds from 0.38 secs- 0.50 secs, which is quite long as music videos usually consist of fast-paced editing and quick cuts
- The narration during the song makes it less conventional as music video narratives are not usually narrated. This again makes it seem like more of a short film.

‘Darkness falls across the land

The midnight hour is close at hand

Creatures crawl in search of blood

To terrorize y'alls neighbourhood…’

- At 3.54 secs the music stops, the short silence is followed by horror film sound effects- usually the song continues throughout the narrative of a music video
- No proper beauty shot of the singer- Michael Jackson never directly addresses the audience until the very end with his yellow eyes whilst in most music videos this is one of the most important shots


From this video I have learnt that in order to make a successful music video, it is important to re-use the conventional repertoire of elements whilst adding your own, perhaps less conventional, unique twist to the video. This will help give your artist and video a distinctive identity.