Michael Jackson - Thriller Analysis H

Narrative

A boy and girl run out of petrol. the boy turns into a werewolf, in the style of john Landis's "American werewolf in London". He directed this and the film. This event was supposed to be in a film within the music video. The pair are watching the film in the cinema, as they are walking down a dark street the bot(Jackson) is teasing the girl because she is scared due to the events in the film. while teasing he is singing the verses of thriller. zombies start to rise from the dead and surround the pair. the boy becomes the leader of the zombies as they perform a well choreographed dance in the middle of the street. the zombie horde end up following the girl to her house destroying it. The girl then wakes up as if it was a dream. The boy then is walking with her saying its only a dream, he looks back and has the same eyes the werewolf had as an evil laugh is played.

Audience and Genre

The audience for this video would be for fans of Michael Jackson, Horror or the work of john Landis. The genre of this song could be classed as a hybrid of Pop, Rock and Funk

Institutions.

The video was written and directed by the horror director John Landis. The special effects of the video were created by the same person who did the effects on The American werewolf in London Rick Baker. The video was distributed by epic records and vestron music video.

Release date(s)	December 2, 1983
Running time	13:43
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget	$500,000 Sales: 9 million units

 

Sound

As with most music videos the vocals are pre-recorded in the studio then lip-synced to in the video. in the bit with the dancing zombies the sound could be both diegetic and non-diegetic as when they slide to the side or clap you can here it in time . but it has the music playing. i believe it could be edited over the video but quieter without canceling out the diegetic sound. a voice over by Vincent price is also heard. He is known for his roles in horror films from what i understand, which fits in with the fact that it is on a horror style music video.