Point 2: Auteur Directors

Francis Lawrence

Lawrence was born in Vienna, Austria. His father was a physicist who taught at California State University, Northridge and his mother is V.P. Technology at a PR agency. He moved to Los Angeles at the age of three. Lawrence worked as a 2nd assistant camera on the feature "Pump up the volume" directed by Allan Moyle prior to earning his bachelors degree in film production at the Loyole Marymouth University Film school. He went on to work as first AD on the feature Marching out of time directed by Anton Vassil in 1993. Francis Lawrence then joined ex-classmate Mike Rosen in co-directing music videos. Lawrence shot his first independent music video for the president of Atco Records Micheal Blakey with the band Tidal Force which became a great success. Soon, lawrence became known for his original and imaginative music video scripts and visual directing style. 
He eventually joined a major new production company and his successful career as a music video director, working with stars like P!nk, Shakira, Britney Spears, Black Eyed Peace, Lady Gaga, Jay-Z, Avril Lavigne, Janet Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, and Missy Elliot. He has also directed numerous of different advertisements for Coca-Cola, Calvin Klein, L'Oreal, Pepsi-Cola, Maybellin, McDonalds and Disneyland. In 2005 his feature film debut was Constantine based on the Hellblazer comic book, starring Keanu Reeves. In 2007 he directed I am Legend with Will Smith, which was based on the novel of Richard Matheson. Lawrence will also bean executive producer of the new Fox series, Touch. He is currently signed to DNA Inc.

His signature style:
Sometimes it is easy to notice who created which music video or film because of specific little details that some directors use for their signature. However, I do not think that is the case for Francis Lawrence. It feels like he choses a style that, in his opinion, fits the artist. For example, when he was directing RnB music videos, it was noticeable that some parts have been computer generatedd, which gives of a futuristic kind of style, making the music video look more modern. When it comes to Pop however, he is well-known for close-ups and extreme close-ups to the artists faces, which puts the vocal point on the artists. This helped to make them more recognisable and memorialble. 

Music videos he directed everyone knows:

- "Whenever, Wherever" by Shakira (2001)

- "Sk8er Boi" by Avril Lavigne (2002)

- "Let's get it started" by The Black Eyed Peace (2004)

- "Circus" by Britney Spears (2008)

- "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga (2009)

- "Run the World (Girls)" by Beyonce (2011)

Films everyone knows, that he directed:
- The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (2014)
- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 (2015)
- Red Sparrow (2018)