Radiohead- Burn the witch analysis

Burn the witch by popular English rock band Radiohead, was released on May 3rd 2016. The plot homages to 1970's British horror film "The wicker man" in which corrupt leader and villagers burn the police investigator searching for a reported missing girl alive. They manged trapped him into believing that a girl is missing and have her for human sacrifce but instead the target is in fact the christain police man himself.

The music video opens with a bird singing on a tree, the imagery here is innocent and simple reflecting the idea of a child-like video. As the inspector arrives, the mayor is gathered by the people of the town. Initally, they appear to be a peaceful and normal town as the plot progresses, this begins to slowly esculate (e.g people wearing animal masks gathered around a girl seemingly practicing a ritual). At the end, the mayor convinces the inpector to climb up the huge statue of the "wicker man" setting it alight making him into a human sacrifice. However, to much of the viewers surprise, the inspector is revealed to survive, ending on a much lighter note in comparison to the actual horror movie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI2oS2hoL0k

Mis en-scene:
-To begin with, since the video does not feature real people, this analysis will exclude hairstyle and makeup ect. but will instead focus on the style in which this video is presented.
- On first glance, the video appears to be set in a child-like TV show model village, and very innocent looking.
-It's inspired by 1967's British stop motion children's television series, Trumptonshire trilogy.
 -As no real people are presented in the video, it's also fait to suggest that the video MES is "artifical".
-The lighting throughout the video remains the same, visually quite colourful but in terms of lighting, we could argue that there's a mix of warm/bright and dullness to the ambiance. However, towards the end of the video (specifically when the large wicker man statue is introduced and the villagers burn the inspector alive) the lighting and artifical sky turns into a very sinister dark red and pink colour. - this reflects what is happening in the scene and further intensifies the horror of the plot, making the viewer feel uncomfotable.

Camerawork:
-A series of long shots showing the daily chores of the villagers at the opening of the video, and they initally seem very normal ( e.g. people decorating the town with flowers)
-Limited use of close ups or extreme close ups or close ups because no facial features or expressions can be conveyed with stop motion figures.
- Therefore mid shots or long shots are commonly used to give more of a visual action to present what the charcters might be saying and feeling ( body language or hand gestures)
-For example, when the inspector is trapped, his actions are more vigorous conveying the idea that he is panicing while everyone else waves to the camera in an establishing shot, which signifies that they are happy
-Another commonly used shot is two shot, featuring the mayor and the inspector, key figures in the video
- A high angle is used at one point where a decorated hang is shown to the inspector. This could be used to symolise how powerless the inspector feels at that point through the tour and forshadow the ulimate fate in which the mayor has planned for him.

Editing:
-The editing is continuous, following through a story with the previous shot conected to the next
-Fade to black is used when the inspector visits the next location in town
- Progression of time
-Match on action

Sound / Lyrics:
                                    
                                                    

Stay in the shadows
Cheer at the gallows                                               
This is a round up

This is a low flying panic attack
Sing a song on the jukebox that goes

Burn the witch
Burn the witch
We know where you live

Red crosses on wooden doors
And if you float you burn
Loose talk around tables
Abandon all reason
Avoid all eye contact
Do not react
Shoot the…

Red crosses on wooden doors
And if you float you burn
Loose talk around tables
Abandon all reason
Avoid all eye contact
Do not react
Shoot the messengers

This is a low flying panic attack
Sing the song of sixpence that goes

Burn the witch
Burn the witch
We know where you live                          
We know where you live

                                                      

As the people of the town wave to the audience and the inspector is forced to burn alive inside the wicker man statue, the pitch of the Col legno grew higher, creating more of an uncomfortable tone      ( similar to the 1960 horror movie "physco" shower murder scene). The sound here fits perfectly to the whats just been presented to the audience and the m/v plot.

Intepretation:
This music video explores various themes and ideas. One in which i believe is the idea being that the town is part of a Cult with the mayor being the lader of this cult. They object to outsiders and people who belong to a different background as them, therefore kill them. (This also liks into the issue of groupthink ;a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome. Group members try to minimize conflict and reach a consensus decision without critical evaluation of alternative viewpoints by actively suppressing dissenting viewpoints, and by isolating themselves from outside influences). Here the people are convinced by the mayor for the inspector to be killed as he is different. The town itself is very colourful and a typical native is brightly dressed, by contrast, the visitor/ inspector is dressed in black and white - this could be visual representation of the differences between the rest of the town and the inspector. In the bigger picture, this could symbolise the issues in todays society as well as groupthink but also racial concerns and divergent relgions.The stylistic element of the video additionally adds to the effect of a "simple" and "innocent" town which turns out to have such deranged mindsets and/or rituals - it makes the viewers feel a sense of nostaliga that ends with shock since the style and plot does not correlate (misleading).
However, it makes the audience realise the intentions and social issues in which Radiohead tries to address. In my opinion, it's a very well made music video, that some viewers may not completely understand the first time coming across it but gradually understand messages after re-watching. The group manages to address this message in a clever and direct style.