Top Ten Music Videos By Movie Directors

The outstanding directors of today didn't just stroll onto a film set holding a clapperboard and a cup of coffee – they had to make names for themselves first. What better way to get noticed than to rise through the ranks of the music video elite? While those other schmucks were choreographing dance moves for Britney and the Backstreet Boys, these ten directors took a different route and crafted clever mini-movies: perfect pop promos that paved their way to cinematic success.

10. THE WHITE STRIPES, ‘I JUST DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH MYSELF' (2003)

DIRECTOR: SOFIA COPPOLA

The video: If you're a director and you're running low on creative ideas, then you have two options. Firstly, make your movie black and white – instant indie credibility. Secondly, just have a hot woman in her underwear (say, someone like Kate Moss) drape herself over scenery and grind up against a stripper's pole. Any viewers still watching will either be stroking their chins in ironic fascination or nursing king-size boners. Job done!

Director's trademarks? Sofia's fetishism of women isn't restricted to her music videos: see the opening close-up of Scarlett Johannson's arse in Lost In Translation for proof.

9. BLUR, ‘COFFEE & TV' (1999)

DIRECTOR: GARTH JENNINGS

The video: Garth who? A relative unknown in the States, Jennings is a young and upcoming British director, perhaps best known for the short films he created as one half of media duo Hammer & Tongs. The pair directed the big-screen version of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, while Jennings went solo to direct indie smash Son Of Rambow last year. However, this cutesy Blur video – in which a milk carton goes looking for missing lead guitarist Graham Coxon – remains his calling card. Aww.

Director's trademarks? Whimsy, childlike glee, irreverence. A great concept, executed perfectly. Look out for this guy, he's one to watch.

8. RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, ‘UNDER THE BRIDGE' (1992)

DIRECTOR: GUS VAN SANT

The video: It's not half as fancy or clever as most of the other films on this list, but Gus Van Sant's low-budget video for the Chili Pepper's breakthrough hit 'Under The Bridge' went some way into propelling the band into the MTV mainstream. Superimposing images of the band against gritty shots of the city of Los Angeles and its citizens, Van Sant's homely video fit perfectly with Anthony Kiedis' lyrics (“At least I have her love / The city she loves me”), although the last shot of the singer sprinting with his shirt off, pecs jiggling hypnotically, is still a mystery to us.

Director's trademarks? Well, it doesn't have any speeding buses or tornados in it. No, wait – that's Jan De Bont. Never mind.

7. JESSICA SIMPSON, 'THESE BOOTS ARE MADE FOR WALKING' (2005)

DIRECTOR: BRETT RATNER

The video: Whoah, slow down. I know what you're thinking. Brett Ratner is a workmanlike director, almost as mediocre a filmmaker as Jessica Simpson is a singer. But – and I'm talking to principally the chaps, here – have you seen this video? Hot damn. Somehow, the little Rat fella has managed to convince one of the world's hottest women to strip down to her skimpies and shake her booty – for that alone, his place on this list is assured. Just watch it on mute.

Director's trademarks? Hot chicks wearing next to nothing. Ratner must either be gay, a hypnotist or a magician (or all three).

6. MICHAEL JACKSON, ‘BAD' (1987)

DIRECTOR: MARTIN SCORSESE

The video: Cast your mind back to the days when Michael Jackson was still a respectable recording artist and – shock – a seemingly normal member of society. Here, he even displays some acting chops as a young graduate returning back to his poor home town to discover his buddies are still living lives of crime. Scorsese sets up proceedings with a black and white short before bursting into colour as Jacko shows Wesley Snipes who's really bad. That's 'bad' meaning good, not 'bad' meaning 'tax evasion'.

Director's trademarks? A main character contemplating crime and its influence. Not too many Scorsese films feature a dance-off, mind.