Here’s some useless trivia about locations in the music videos of Spike Jonze. If you are a pop culture junkie or you need to settle a bar bet, then you’ve come to the right place.
I want to admit up front that I’m not a big fan of Spike Jonze’s movies. There’s a post-modernism or meta-ness or whatever you want to call it about the first two movies he directed that gets on my nerves. That could be attributed to (or blamed on) screenwriter Charlie Kaufman as much as Spike Jonze, although I did want to leave the theater during Where the Wild Things Are, which Jonze wrote with Dave Eggers, because the tone of the movie was unenjoyable. After that subjective opinion, I will say his unique vision is perfect for the music video where a clever idea doesn’t have a chance to wear itself out over three or four minutes (unless of course it’s the ’90s and it’s in heavy rotation on MTV, in which case you would get sick of it very quickly).
Here are some notes from the beginning of Spike Jonze’s music video career. Follow the links to find out more about each location.
His first music video debuted in 1992. He had started out making skateboard films in the late ’80s and early ’90s, so it would make sense that “100%” by Sonic Youth, which he co-directed with Tamra Davis, would feature footage of skateboarders in Los Angeles. You might recognize one of those skaters as Jason Lee, who would go on to star in Mallrats, Chasing Amy and My Name is Earl.
With a camera following a cannonball down the street, you can see the beginning of the more conceptual style that he would eventually be known for in the video he co-directed for “Cannonball” by the Breeders. If anyone recognizes the generic suburban location where this was filmed, let me know. Also of note: the suit that Kim Deal wore in that video was displayed in the Women Who Rock exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Museum in 2012.
The other videos Jonze directed in ’93 were pretty standard for MTV at the time showing a band screwing around in some city interspersed with them playing their song.
“Country at War” by X was filmed on a street corner in Los Angeles.
In “Daughters of the Kaos”, the women from Luscious Jackson are followed around Hollywood by a spy (I think).
In 1994, Jonze shot Dinosaur Jr. playing a round of golf in Manhattan and filmed L.A. band That Dog playing in a Hot Dog on a Stick stand in Santa Monica. Putting That Dog in a hot dog stand might be a little on the nose, but I like that the drummer from That Dog went on to play Charles the dog boy in the video Jonze did for Daft Punk in 1997. I’m going to pretend Jonze just looked up ‘dog’ in his rolodex when he was casting that part.
Jonze had been introduced to the Beastie Boys by Mike D’s wife Tamra Davis, Jonze’s co-director for the Sonic Youth video. He directed “Sure Shot,” filmed in L.A. and Las Vegas, and also a music video featuring the Beastie Boys dressed as old men playing basketball for the instrumental Ricky’s Theme.” His breakout video for the Beastie Boys though, and maybe his most well-known music video, was the ’70s cop show throwback he directed for “Sabotage.”
Two cameras were damaged during the making of that video. One was destroyed when it fell from a car and another got wet during the shot in the swimming pool. Apparently, a Ziploc® bag isn’t enough to protect a camera under water, although they were able to return that rented camera by drying it and claiming it just stopped working. MTV edited out the dummy falling from the bridge for their version. The knife used in that scene was a fully serrated Spyderco Police model. How can I stumble across that piece of information and yet still have no clue where this was shot? Please leave a comment if you have any idea, because I’d love to know.
Read more in locations from a selection of spike jonze music videos : part 2 (1995–1996)