In total, three separate videos were made for "Flashing Lights" with the one aired on television being the third and final version. The third music video was first unveiled before an audience of two hundred guests at the Entertainment Weekly Grammy Award after-party on February 10, 2008.[42] It was intended to premiere on BET on February 13, 2008, but was subsequently pulled from schedule.[43] West decided to premiere the video on his official blog that same day.[44] The video for was co-directed by Spike Jonze along with West himself and produced by Jonathan Becker and Joshua Greenberg of Bucks Boys Productions. Filmed entirely in slow-motion, the video begins with a Ford Mustang Bullit rolling onto the screen and stopping at dusk in the desert outside Las Vegas, Nevada. As the bright, red taillights turn off, the song breaks into its titular refrain and Houston-based Playboy model Rita G. exits the vehicle dressed in a wig, fur coat and large black sunglasses. Walking a distance away from the car, she strips down to her lingerie and lights her clothes on fire. As she walks back towards the car with flames at her back, West's vocals begin. Kanye himself finally makes his appearance when the woman opens the trunk to reveal him lying in it tied up and gagged. She gently strokes his helpless, terrified face and gives him a light kiss, before retrieving a nearby shovel. As the camera pans out, the woman raises the shovel over her head and repeatedly stabs it into the trunk. The video then abruptly cuts to the words "Flashing Lights" written red letters against a black screen before concluding over a minute earlier than the album version of the song.[45]
The second video for the single leaked onto the internet on May 23, 2008. It casts UK model Charlotte Carter-Allen as a young woman who becomes overwhelmed by the New York City nightlife. Less than a week apart, the first music video shot for "Flashing Lights" was released on May 29. Filmed in Berlin, Germany and bearing resemblance to a murder-mystery tale, this version features West pursuing a mysterious woman wearing a couture gown played by American model Sessilee Lopez, along with multiple enigmatic characters under the roof of a haunted mansion.[46] This version was listed at number two on the Viral Video Chart on May 30.[47] Following the releases, West clarified on his blog he did not release the two videos. He had produced more than one version of the same video as is common practice and only selected the one he was the happiest with; the rest were leaked.[48] The third video was voted as the eleventh best music video of 2008 by Rolling Stone.[49] Pitchfork Media listed the same version as the fifteenth best music video of the decade.[50]
In August 2010, during an Ustream session, West admitted that "Flashing Lights" is his favorite music video that he has done so far in his career.