Radiohead mv deconstruction
Radiohead music video contains fictional genre of horror that signifies social issues throughout the music video.
The music video is made with animation, it is an intertextual reference to the children's programme in the 1960s called Trumpton. People that were in power and politicians were socially a big problem in America and so we could argue and say that this could be a music video that was made especially for 'trump' and for the social anxieties about immigration and national identity. The animated style of the music video does enable a sense of innocence to the video indeed and contrasts with the actual context behind the music video. Radiohead music video has a strong reference to the British Film The Wicker Man with disturbing scenes and death. There are scenes like a man painting a cross on the door, it signifies the plague that was around. Another scene where there are two people on the seesaw and one woman was close to the pond on the seesaw connoted the era when people tested out certain people to see if they were a witch or not by making them drown in water and see if they float and if they did float they would be seen as a witch and be killed, if they didn't float then they just died (basically they didn't have any option apart from death). The music video represents execution and death theme strongly throughout the whole scene but especially on the very last scene where the new townsmen get invited to go inside the 'Wicker Man' and the villagers watch him go in, locks him in and burns it. None of the town villagers seems surprised but rather excited about what is happening in front of them. From this, I am assuming it was to 'test' if he was a witch or not by burning him but interestingly, in the end, he survives from that and we see him again in the very last scene. However, the main focus is the cruelty in the villager's eyes just watching someone burn without a surprise or without anyone stopping them from this. I guess this reflects the social issues of our lives where one says something and the rumour spreads to the rest of the small town, without hearing the other side of the story we tend to just believe it and relate. Sometimes we can even go along with whatever the most 'powerful' one says and believe it's the right thing to do just like the scene where everyone thinks he is a witch and so they decide to just burn him and kill him. This music video contains a lot of social, political issues that are surrounding us every day in our lives and shows us through animated 'virtual' reality form of style which could make the audience think how harsh 'they' are but really those things are happening around us.
The music video is made with animation, it is an intertextual reference to the children's programme in the 1960s called Trumpton. People that were in power and politicians were socially a big problem in America and so we could argue and say that this could be a music video that was made especially for 'trump' and for the social anxieties about immigration and national identity. The animated style of the music video does enable a sense of innocence to the video indeed and contrasts with the actual context behind the music video. Radiohead music video has a strong reference to the British Film The Wicker Man with disturbing scenes and death. There are scenes like a man painting a cross on the door, it signifies the plague that was around. Another scene where there are two people on the seesaw and one woman was close to the pond on the seesaw connoted the era when people tested out certain people to see if they were a witch or not by making them drown in water and see if they float and if they did float they would be seen as a witch and be killed, if they didn't float then they just died (basically they didn't have any option apart from death). The music video represents execution and death theme strongly throughout the whole scene but especially on the very last scene where the new townsmen get invited to go inside the 'Wicker Man' and the villagers watch him go in, locks him in and burns it. None of the town villagers seems surprised but rather excited about what is happening in front of them. From this, I am assuming it was to 'test' if he was a witch or not by burning him but interestingly, in the end, he survives from that and we see him again in the very last scene. However, the main focus is the cruelty in the villager's eyes just watching someone burn without a surprise or without anyone stopping them from this. I guess this reflects the social issues of our lives where one says something and the rumour spreads to the rest of the small town, without hearing the other side of the story we tend to just believe it and relate. Sometimes we can even go along with whatever the most 'powerful' one says and believe it's the right thing to do just like the scene where everyone thinks he is a witch and so they decide to just burn him and kill him. This music video contains a lot of social, political issues that are surrounding us every day in our lives and shows us through animated 'virtual' reality form of style which could make the audience think how harsh 'they' are but really those things are happening around us.
Some relevant points. You do identify some intertextuality and broad themes around representation, but your essay lacks structure so it feels rather chaotic. You need to fully explain each point in turn, using paragraphs and examples. Ensure you illustrate throughout with reference to specific shots, elements of mise en scene etc. V
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