Radiohead - Spirit Street: Class Analysis

As a class we analysed this music video by Radiohead. First of all we had to listen to the first 30 seconds with no visuals and then report back to the class what we thought the actual music video would be like. 

We decided that it might be:

- Dark (rainy weather, gloomy, etc).

- Set in a desert/forest or somewhere quite isolated

- Black and white filter used

- Both narrative and performance 

- The genre was Indie-Rock

- We expected slow cuts and transitions. 

We then watched the full video and found that our expectations were actually correct.

The video is shown below:

Transitions: Transitions are used which crossover Tom Yorke's face. This has a disorientating effect and helps to portray the darkness of the song. There are straight cuts used most of the time but also jump cuts to add to the unnerving effect of the video.

Order of narrative: There is no clear order of narrative. Jump cuts make the video disorientating and the narrative random. There is a bit of performance with lip synching but the story is not complete, nor is it clear. The video is heavily edited which helps to keep it interesting for the audience.

Pace: The video has a very slow pace most of the time; there are few cuts and a lot of the shots are in slow motion which adds to the disorientating effect of the video.

Special effects: Black and white filter used throughout the video which gives it a more gloomy look and helps to create the diegesis which is a quite isolated and lonely setting.

Framing: Tom Yorke (lead singer) is always in the front and in focus, the rest of the band are in the background. This makes Yorke the most prevalent.

Camera angles: A lot of shots of Tom Yorke alone as he is the lead. This helps to build up the star image and supports Goodwin's theory. There are mostly level-shots used in this video, however there are some variations. For example, when Yorke is laying on top of the car, this is shot from a birds-eye angle.

Movement: The camera is relatively still throughout the whole music video (stationary). This helps to make the video look more professional.

Mise en Scene: The setting of this video is at a desert with a few old caravan-type things in the background. It makes it look even more isolated. The costume is relatively ordinary - nothing abstract just plain shirts and trainers. The colours appear dark, which highlight the overall dark/sad tone of both the lyrics and the visuals. Low-key lighting is used which again, highlights the overall darkness.