Mark Romanek: Inside Stories on 8 Classic Videos
From Nine Inch Nails' ''Closer'' to Beck's ''Devil's Haircut'' to Fiona Apple's ''Criminal'' to Jay Z's new ''Picasso Baby,'' director tells tales of inspiration and technique
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Janet Jackson, ”Got ‘Til It’s Gone” (1997)
”That’s one of the ones I’m most proud of and I think came out the best,” says Romanek. ”Janet played me the song, and the Joni Mitchell sample put me in the mind of some sort of ’70s thing. There was a magazine in Apartheid South Africa called Drum, and I found an obscure book about it. The photography in the magazine was stunning. I was looking through it while listening to the music, and something just clicked. So we built this pre-Apartheid celebration based on that African photography. People ask me where I went to shoot that, and it was all constructed on a sound stage on Hollywood Boulevard. It’s all shot in Los Angeles, but it’s incredible casting and incredible wardrobe.” Watch the video
August 7 2013 — 12:00 AM EDT
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