Billy Idol
“Cradle of Love” (1990)
David Fincher talked about this video, which he directed just after Billy Idol had been in a car accident, and how he didn’t want to do a movie tie-in with The Adventures of Ford Fairlane with Moviefone and said:
He couldn’t stand. He was on crutches. We shot him from the waste up and put him in a bunch of different Warhols, or whatever…
Yeah. I didn’t want to do [do a tie-in with The Adventures of Ford Fairlane]. And neither did he. He liked the sort of salaciousness of what that song was talking about. And we knew he would be limited to the amount of hours he could be on set. We had to build a little brace that he could kind of hold on to and move himself around. He was fucked up. His leg was really, really atrocious. So they came to me and said, “What’s it going to cost to get you to do a movie tie-in video?” and I said, “There’s not enough money in the world.” They said, “Well, it’s Billy Idol.” And I said, “Oh, I might reconsider that.” They game me the song and I liked the song. And I gave him my ideas and he thought they were funny. So we did it and then I think somebody came in later and cut the scenes from ‘Ford Fairlane’ into it.
Aerosmith
“Janie’s Got A Gun” (1989)
George Michael
“Freedom ’90” (1990)
David Fincher talked about this video, which George Michael isn’t actually in, with Moviefone and said:
He said, “I don’t need to be in a video again.” Yeah, there’s a better cut of that. Our first cut of that was actually better. And it’s one of those things that, you know, it is what it is. I was much more collaborative then.
Nine Inch Nails
“Only” (2005)
This video for Social Network and Dragon Tatoo composer, Trent Reznor’s band Nine Inch Nails, is almost entirely CGI outside of one person’s hand (Fincher’s) and the cars in the background.
Justin Timberlake feat. Jay-Z
“Suit & Tie” (2013)
For a massive compendium of Fincher’s works as a music video director click here.
