“Thriller” was the first Michael Jackson music video to feature the logos for Columbia Pictures, Paramount Pictures and Epic Records Productions at the beginning. It was less a conventional music video and more a full-fledged short subject or mini-film: a horror film homage featuring choreographed zombies performing with Jackson. The music was re-edited to match the video, with the verses being sung one after the other followed by the ending rap from Vincent Price, then the main dance sequence (filmed at 3701 Union Pacific Avenue in East Los Angeles[citation needed]) to an instrumental loop, and a climactic dance segment with Jackson singing the choruses. During the video, Jackson transforms into both a werecat and a zombie; familiar territory for Landis, who had directed An American Werewolf in London two years earlier. The video was also a crossover because MTV at the time did not regularly air black musicians. Jackson became one of the first African American musicians to prominently feature on the station.
Source: Wikipedia.org
