Burn the Witch - Radiohead Music Video Analysis

Radiohead:

Radiohead are a rock band based originally in Oxford. They became an international success in 1997, when they released their third album 'Ok Computer'.  They have commonly been seen as controversial and unwavering in their political viewpoints, often presenting their perspectives in their music, art style and video productions. Since becoming a well known name within the music industry, Radiohead changed their style, leaning towards more electronic music genres. This led to a mixed reaction from fans, but they were still a critical success, as their album "Kid A" had been described as one of the best of the century.

Burn the Witch Video Summary:

• The video opens with a shot of a tweeting bird being followed by the village Inspector arriving in a car. The village's people are seen surrounding the mayor as he talks, nodding and listening to what he has to say. After the inspector arrives, the village is shown to slowly turn from a perfect and peaceful village to a cynical and despicable place. After the inspector realises what is going on, its too late and he is burnt inside a wicker man. The camera then pans out to show the burning wicker man with the people waving in front of it. The final shot has circular structure, as it shows the bird tweeting again and the inspector wiping his face having escaped.

Intertextual references to 70's Film, ' The Wicker Man', and 'Hot Fuzz':

• When a Virgin Christian detective visits a remote Scottish Island investigating the disappearance of a girl, he stumbles upon a cult who sacrifice virgins inside a 'wicker man' in order to save their harvest. He finds the girl and it is implied that she is the one intended for sacrifice, however when he helps her escape she goes back to the islanders willingly. It is then revealed that he is the one who has been selected for sacrifice.

Hot Fuzz is also referenced, a homage/parody film which itself has many intertextual references, such as to the wicker man.

Direct Intertextual reference to 'Trumpton'

• Trumpton was a children's TV cartoon created in 1967. It depicts a perfect town, with the story revolving around its local and tightly knit community. Its stop-motion cartoonist aesthetic, with cute lovable characters, is designed to look innocent and calm. This aesthetic is directly copied in the 'Burn the Witch' music video, with the same stop motion clay models being used in order to again create an innocent look, however this time it is being used to create a false sense of security for the audience, playing on their existing understanding of children's TV conventions.

Shot Analysis:

The opening shot of this bird, accompanied by an exaggerated birdsong, can be seen as a sign of childlike innocence which helps to establish the tone of the music video. Perhaps after watching the video, it could be interpreted that the bird is alerting the village to the arrival of the inspector. Although the video largely follows a linear narrative, it could be suggested that there are elements of a cyclical structure, as the opening shot of this bird is repeated at the end with a more sinister meaning. 

The next shot is a two shot, showing the 'inspector' being driven along a country road in an old fashioned car. This has lots of intertextual references to romanticised children's cartoons of English village life. Much of the Mise-en-scene, such as the top hats and moustache of the driver, further emphasise this idealistic children's show view.

There is a wide shot of the villagers. It looks like a meeting of village representatives in a square. This has cultural codes of medieval times which are reinforced by the looks and personality of some of the characters.

There are multiple insert shots and cutaways of pastoral English village imagery, with multiple intertextual references to the show 'Trumptown', with the music at this point almost acting as contrapuntal sound working against the mood of the pastoral imagery.

A range of age-groups are represented and portrayed with a carnival feel. There are tense stylings of the song which contrast with this happy image and foreshadows the darker undertones to come. Notice that the villagers ethnicity is completely white.