Hype Williams - Auteur

Harold 'Hype' Williams was born in 1970, Queens New York. He is known as an Auteur as he has a specific type of signature style that is evident throughout his work. Particular areas where Hype's work and creative vision become apparent are the colours he uses, the actors and actresses he uses in the videos, and the transitions. He is well known for creating music videos that contrast in complimenting colours such as Dark Pink and light pink or Greys and whites. Furthermore, there is a trend with the actors he uses in his videos as they all tend to be attractive, curvy, women with a lot of sex appeal. Moreover, he uses a variety of transitions. For example, in Beyonce's 'Video Phone' , in between transitions he uses a strobe light effect which plays the same image over and over in a deep colour before the next transition. These are just a few examples to show how Hype's style is unique and recognisable to others.

 Hype is a music video and film director descended from African American family. His slang name, Hype, comes from his over-hyperactivity as a child. His passion for Graffiti first created his interest in colour and art which can be seen in his creative music videos. Hype's big break came when he began working with Classic Concepts Video Productions.  He has an amazing history of artists that he has worked with. Such as: 2pac, B.I.G, Kanye West, Jay- Z, Alicia Keys, Aaliyah, TLC and many more. He has received many music awards such as, ' Best group video - TLC', 'Best director of the year' , ' Black music achievement'. Hype's specific genre that he works with tends to be Hip-Hop and RnB.

Another example of an auteur is Hype Williams.

Hype Williams has been known to have 3 different types of creative signature styles.

1) Firstly, Hype started out using a 'fish-eye' lens which distorts the camera view around the central focus being the artist in the video. This can be seen in ' The rain', by Missy Elliot or 'Give me some more', by Busta Rhymes.

2) Secondly, Hype's style developed into another 'signature style'. He placed a shot in a regular wide screen ratio, while a second shot is split and placed in the upper and lower bars on the screen. This style can be seen in Neyo's video 'So Sick' or Beyonce's 'Check on it'.

3) Finally, most recently, Hype adopted a style that involved combining a center camera focus on the artist's body from the torso and above, being supported by two block colour panels. These panels occur above and below the artist.

With all of Hype Williams' creations it is clear that not only does he focus on the structure of the frame, he takes other things into consideration. For example, it is obvious that Hype pays a lot of interest to colour contrasts for the video and the costume and make up of the artists.