 The short film for " Billie Jean " is considered the video that brought MTV , until then a fairly new and unknown music channel , into mainstream attention . It was one of the first videos by a black artist to be aired regularly by the channel , as the network 's executives felt black music wasn 't " rock " enough . Directed by Steve Barron , the video shows a photographer who follows Jackson . The paparazzo never catches the singer , and when photographed Jackson fails to materialize on the developed picture . The entertainer dances his way to Billie Jean 's hotel room and as he walks along a sidewalk , each tile lights up at his touch . 
