<P> My idea was to make this short film with conversation...I like having a beginning and a middle and an ending, which would follow a story . I'm very much involved in complete making and creating of the piece . It has to be, you know, my soul . Usually, you know, it's an interpretation of the music . (...) It was a delicate thing to work on because I remember my original approach was,' How do you make zombies and monsters dance without it being comical?' So I said,' We have to do just the right kind of movement so it doesn't become something that you laugh at .' But it just has to take it to another level . So I got in a room with (choreographer) Michael Peters, and he and I together kind of imagined how these zombies move by making faces in the mirror . I used to come to rehearsal sometimes with monster makeup on, and I loved doing that . So he and I collaborated and we both choreographed the piece and I thought it should start like that kind of thing and go into this jazzy kind of step, you know . Kind of gruesome things like that, not too much ballet or whatever . </P> <P> The music video of the song also included on the video albums: Video Greatest Hits - HIStory, HIStory on Film, Volume II, Number Ones, on the bonus DVD of Thriller 25 and Michael Jackson's Vision . </P> <P> Following the release of the music video, a 45 - minute documentary was released that provided candid glimpses behind the scenes of the music video's production . Entitled Making Michael Jackson's Thriller, it, like the music video, was shown heavily on MTV for a time and was the top - selling home - video release of all time at one point, with over nine million copies sold . MTV paid $250,000 for the exclusive rights to show the documentary; Showtime paid $300,000 for pay - cable rights; and Vestron Video reportedly paid $500,000 to market the cassette, in a profit participation agreement . </P> <P> Set in the 1950s, Michael and his unnamed date (Ola Ray) run out of gas near a dark wooded area . They walk off into the forest, and Michael asks her if she would be "his girl"; she accepts and he gives her a ring . He warns her, however, that he is "different". A full moon appears, and Michael begins convulsing in agony, transforming into a werewolf . His date runs away in terror, but the werecat catches up to her, knocking her down and begins lunging at her with his claws . He also knocks down a tree . The scene then cuts to a modern - day movie theater where Michael and his date, along with a repulsed audience, are actually watching the scene unfold in a movie called Thriller . </P>

What is the meaning of thriller by michael jackson