Editor's Note: For our end of the year wrap up, we asked a few music video directors, directors of photography, and fans to compile their own top 10 lists. This list was compiled by music video director NORTON.
This year was my official debut year in the music video world and it has been an amazing experience and a privilege to be in the game alongside such talented directors. 2013 marked the return of some legendary directors to the scene, like David Fincher (with "Suit & Tie"), Mark Romanek (with don't-call-it-a-music-video music video for Picasso Baby), PTA (with the Fiona Apple video), Sofia Coppola (with the Phoenix video), and Anton Corbjin (with the Depeche Mode and Arcade Fire videos).
Spike Jonze brought us a brand new music video festival that was both awkward and innovative, and the sole impact of videos like "Blurred Lines" and "We Can't Stop" makes me question if this is the most relevant music videos have been in years. Constantly in the news for their raunchiness and/or awesomeness, and finding new relevance thanks to some recent great examples like the 24-hour Pharrell video by We Are From LA and the Bob Dylan video by Vania Heymann, could we be living the most exciting times for music videos? I'd like to think so.
But without further ado, here's my personal list of videos that stood out to me, by their incredible execution or simply by the originality of their ideas. I wish the list could be bigger, but I was asked for 10 videos. They're in no particular order.
Shout out to Warren Fu, Martin de Thurah, Nabil, Hiro, David Wilson, Emily Kai Bock, Young Replicant, Dave Ma, Eric Wareheim, Keith Schofield, and Sam Brown for putting out some great work this year as well.
I can't wait to see what 2014 will bring.
