Russell Mulcahy

Russell Mulcahy
Born	(1953-06-23) 23 June 1953 Melbourne, Australia
Occupation	Film director, screenwriter

Russell Mulcahy (born 23 June 1953 in Melbourne, Australia) is an Australian film director. Mulcahy's work is recognizable by the use of fast cuts, tracking shots and use of glowing lights as well as being one of the most prominent music video directors of the 1980s. He has also worked in television since the early 1990s, and is currently working as a director on episodes of MTV's Teen Wolf.

Music videos

Russell Mulcahy's career began as a film editor for Australia's Seven Network. After relocating to the UK around 1976, Mulcahy joined Jon Roseman Productions International and made successful music videos for several noted British pop acts—his early UK credits included XTC's "Making Plans for Nigel" (1979), The Vapors' hit "Turning Japanese" and his landmark video for The Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star" (1979) which became the first music video played on MTV in 1981. In 1978, he went to the United States (for Roseman) and directed videos for The Cryers and Candi Staton - where he first used the "jump cut" - under producer Paul Flattery. Other Mulcahy innovations included spot color, body painting, glass matte shots and faux widescreen aspect ratio (first used on his Ultravox and Rod Stewart videos) which have all become standards for the genre.

By the mid-1980s Mulcahy was directing videos for some of the most successful pop-rock acts of the period including The Human League, The Tubes, Elton John, Ultravox, most of the major hits of Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Kim Carnes, Bonnie Tyler, Rod Stewart, Billy Joel, The Motels, Supertramp, Kenny Loggins and The Rolling Stones.

Music videography

• "Video Killed the Radio Star" and "Living in the Plastic Age" for The Buggles
• Several videos for songs from Duran Duran's first four albums:
  • "Planet Earth"
  • "My Own Way"
  • "Lonely in Your Nightmare"
  • "Hungry Like the Wolf"
  • "Save a Prayer"
  • "Rio"
  • "Night Boat"
  • "Is There Something I Should Know?"
  • "The Reflex"
  • "The Wild Boys"
• Several videos for Elton John:
  • "Breaking Down Barriers"
  • "Carla/Etude/Fanfare"
  • "Elton's Song"
  • "Fascist Faces"
  • "The Fox"
  • "Heart in the Right Place"
  • "Heels of the Wind"
  • "Just Like Belgium"
  • "Nobody Wins"
  • "Chloe"
  • "I'm Still Standing" (two versions)
  • "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues"
  • "Sad Songs (Say So Much)"
  • "Act of War" (with Millie Jackson)
  • "Wrap Her Up"
  • "I Don't Wanna Go on with You Like That"
  • "Town of Plenty"
  • "A Word in Spanish"
  • "The One"
  • "Simple Life"
• "Bette Davis Eyes", "Draw of the Cards", "Say You Don't Know Me" and "Voyeur" for Kim Carnes
• "The Tubes Video" for The Tubes' The Completion Backward Principle, nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video
• "True" for Spandau Ballet
• "Total Eclipse of the Heart" for Bonnie Tyler
• "Vienna", "Passing Strangers", "The Thin Wall" and "The Voice" for Ultravox
• "Allentown", "She's Right on Time", "Pressure" and "A Matter of Trust" for Billy Joel
• "A Kind of Magic" and "Princes of the Universe" for Queen
• "One Hit (To the Body)" and "Going to a Go-Go" for The Rolling Stones
• "Gypsy" and "Oh Diane" for Fleetwood Mac
• "The War Song" for Culture Club
• "Sex (I'm A...)" by Berlin
• "Icehouse", "Street Cafe", "Hey Little Girl", "Taking the Town" for Icehouse
• "Turning Japanese" for The Vapors
• "Young Turks" and Tonight I'm Yours for Rod Stewart

He also directed videos for Def Leppard, Boy George, Kenny Loggins, Arcadia, Falco, Go West, Cliff Richard, Supertramp, The Motels, Talk Talk, The Stranglers, 10cc, The Human League, XTC, and AC/DC.

Filmography

Director

• Derek and Clive Get the Horn (1979)
• Razorback (1984)
• As the Lights Go Down (1984) (concert video)
• Arena (1985) (concept concert video)
• Highlander (1986)
• Highlander II: The Quickening (1991)
• Ricochet (1991)
• Blue Ice (1992)
• The Real McCoy (1993)
• The Shadow (1994)
• Silent Trigger (1996)
• Tale of the Mummy (1998)
• Resurrection (1999)
• On the Beach (2000) (television movie)
• The Lost Battalion (2001) (television movie)
• Swimming Upstream (2003)
• Mysterious Island (2005) (television movie)
• The Curse of King Tut's Tomb (2006) (television movie)
• Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)
• While the Children Sleep (2007) (television movie)
• The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior (2008) (direct-to-video)
• Prayers for Bobby (2009) (television movie)
• Give 'em Hell, Malone (2009) (direct-to-video)

Television

Director

• Tales from the Crypt (1991–1996): "Split Second", "People Who Live in Brass Hearses", "Let the Punishment Fit the Crime", "Horror in the Night"
• Perversions of Science (1997): "Planely Possible", "People's Choice"
• The Hunger (1997–2000): "Necros", "The Secret Shih-Tan", "I'm Dangerous Tonight", "Nunc Dimittis", "Wrath of God", "The Sacred Fire"
• Queer as Folk (2000): "Premiere", "Queer, There and Everywhere", "No Bris, No Shirt, No Service", "Surprise Kill", "The King of Babylon"
• Jeremiah (2002): "The Long Road, Part One"
• Young Lions (2002): "The Navy: Part 1", "The Navy: Part 2"
• Skin (2003–2004): "Pilot"
• Teen Wolf (2011–present): "Pilot", "Second Chance at First Line", "Pack Mentality", "Co-Captain", "Formality", "Code Breaker", "Omega", "Shape Shifted", "Frenemy", "Restraint", "Raving", "Master Plan" (with Tim Andrew), "Tattoo", "Chaos Rising", "Currents", "Visionary", "The Overlooked", "Lunar Ellipse", "Anchors", "Illuminated", "Letharia Vulpina", "The Divine Move", "The Dark Moon"
• The Lizzie Borden Chronicles" (2015) "Welcome To Maplecroft", "Flowers"

Highlander series

In 1986, Mulcahy became well known after directing the cult classic film Highlander, starring Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery, featuring music from Queen. He later directed the sequel, Highlander II: The Quickening, but disowned it after the producers interfered with production. Reportedly he wanted to have his credit changed to Alan Smithee, but as he was not a member of the Directors Guild of America, he had no way of forcing the producers to change the credit. He eventually took the opportunity to restore his vision for the film, to a large extent, with the video release of Highlander II: The Renegade Version.

Personal life

Mulcahy lives with his partner in Sydney.

External links

• Russell Mulcahy at the Internet Movie Database
• Russell Mulcahy at the Music Video Database