Radiohead- Burn the witch

11/01/18 L/O: To research selected case studies for use of Media Language & Representation

Radiohead - Burn The Witch  

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

Name of artist: Radiohead

Name of song: Burn the witch

Release date: 3 May 2016

Song meaning: The band wanted to raise awareness about Europe’s refugee crisis and the “blaming of different people… the blaming of Muslims and the negativity

Representation: the use of intertextual, postmodern representations in list B videos to transfer the quality of the video itself to the image of the artists, e.g. the interweaving of referencing of The Wicker Man and Trumpton with contemporary issues of xenophobia in the Radiohead video.

xenophobia: dislike of or prejudice against people from other countries.

the use of messages and viewpoints in the videos that aim to bolster the image of the artist and chime with those of positioned audience, e.g. the representation of a dark undercurrent beneath the apparent cohesion of a tight-knit community contributes to the image of Radiohead and their fans as politcally committed, knowing and pessimistic.

Context

In the news

• Theresa May was campaigning to become Priminister
• Tump was running to be President
• Many celebrities died such as Prince, Alan Rickman, Terry Wogan and George Michel.
• There was the attack on Brussels 
• The queen tuned 90.
•  The zika outbreak hit 75 countries.

The bands context

What happens in the music video:

What’s happening	Angle	Shot type	Lighting	Editing
Bird tweeting on a branch	Low	Medium	Day light	Fade to black
Two men driving along a country road in a car	High	Long	Day light	Tracking
Town choir standing with a group of people around him	High	Long	Day light
Town choir nods and everyone nods back. They then walk away.	Eye level	Medium	Day light	Cut in
Someone cutting grass and another cleaning windows.	High	Long	Day light
Man painting a post-box red.	Eye level	Long	Day light
Closer shot of the two men driving along again one blows his nose	Low	Medium	Day light
Man building something out of wood.	Eye level	Long	Day light
Women decorating with flowers	Low	Medium	Day light
Men driving along again	High	Long	Day light
The whole town	High	Establishing	Day light
Town choir looking at his watch	Low	Medium	Day light	Cut in
A town band playing	High	Long	Day light
The car pulls up into the town square	High	Long	Day light
Town choir checks his watch again	Low	Close up	Day light
Man from the car gets out and town choir shows him around, he makes notes on a clipboard.	Eye level	Long	Day light	Fade to black
They walk past a man painting a door with a red cross	Eye level	Medium	Day light
He directs him through a sign saying, ‘model village’.	Eye level	Medium	Day light
Them looking down at something	Low	Close up	Day light
Town model village of the man from the car and the town choir waving	High	Extreme long shot	Day light
Man wipes his head with a hankie. He turns around and walks off	Low	Close up	Day light	Fade to black
Girl on a chair waving	Low	Close up	Day light
The girl in on a see saw with another child. The man and the	High	Extreme long shot	Day light	Fade to black
Town choir points to something	Low	Medium	Day light
Group of men are doing some sort od dance with swords and antlers on their heads with a girl tied up in the middle.	High	Extreme long shot	Day light
They are dancing around the girl	Eye level	Medium	Day light
They are dancing around the girl	High	Extreme long shot	Day light	Fade to black
They walk to the bakery and view a bleeding cow inside of a pasty.	Eye level	Medium	Day light
Bleeding cow pasty	High	Close up	Day light	Fade to black
They go to where the girls are placing the flowers
The inspectors face looking very shocked	High	Close up	Day light
It then reveals they were decoration gallows.	High	Long	Day light
Shows the gallows from a different angle. The girls wave him goodbye and he walks away.	Eye level	Long	Day light	Fade to black
The town choir directs him though a gate.	Eye level	Long	Day light
They walk by a green house with tomato pickers in it. The inspector is shaking his head.	High	Extreme long	Day light
One of the villagers offers him a bottle labelled ‘XXX’ but he declines.	Eye level	Medium	Day light	Fade to black
They walk though to a market place.	High	Extreme long	Day light
The look up at something high	Low	Medium	Day light
There is a something huge covered in a big red cover.	Low	Long	Sun is about to set
The inspector pulls the cord to reveal what it is. He is shocked but no one else is. All the villagers are clapping.	Low	Medium
There is a huge wicker man	Low	Extreme long
The inspector climbs up the ladder.	Eye level	Medium
They all watch. The town choir waves his hand to close the door.	Low	Medium
The door locks with the inspector inside.	Eye level	Medium
The inspector locked inside	Low	Extreme long
The inspector waving wanting to get out	Eye level	Medium
The girl arranging the flowers gets fire and lights the wicker man.	Eye level	Medium
The inspector is looking more frantic and waving.	Low	Medium
The villagers just watch, and the town choir hold his hands up to present the burning wicker man.	Eye level	Medium
The inspector in the wicker man.	Low	Extreme long		Pan up
Everyone is waving at the camera	Eye level	Extreme long		Zoom out Fade to black
The bird tweeting in the tree	Low	Close up	Low key
The bird in the tree. Pans down to see the inspector with dirt on his skin. He wipes it off with a cloth and walks off.	Medium	Medium	Low key	Pan down Zoom out Fade to black

25/01/18 L/O: To explore the cultural context and overall effect of music videos.

Representation of class

Representation of ethnicity

In terms of ethnic groups the ranges are not diverse. The animation is based around the Trumpton trilogy aired on BBC which was all about teaching children about community values. These conventions http://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/radioheads-burn-the-with-video-deciphered-8645  

Representation of age

Representation of Radiohead

Representation of the lyrics

Stay in the shadows
Cheer at the gallows

This is a round up

-While “shadows” are often associated with unsavoury activities, the authority figure that lends its voice to the song actually wishes its subjects to remain anonymous, to steer clear of any potentially revolutionary limelight. It also prefers them to be unenlightened, trapped in Plato’s cave and staring at shadows on walls instead of seeing the “light.“ Meanwhile, it urges the people to cheer on the punishment of disobedient peers who have been "rounded up,” thereby ensuring conformity.

This is a low flying panic attack

- Seems to be a reference to the popular saying: “Flying under the radar”, meaning “untraceable” or “invisible”. The people are severely panicking (so much that it is a “panic attack”) but they don’t even know it.
Low-flying attacks were historically carried out by bombers, flying low to avoid radar. This is a play on words; instead of a bombing attack it’s a a panic attack, one that the sufferer is not aware of until it’s upon him.
Could refer to use of drones by law enforcement, and/or technologies sometimes believed to induce panic in the subject without their being aware of the source, such as infrasound/ultrasound and microwave radiation, used for crowd control (more conspiracy theory than fact, but still, it’d certainly fit into the theme of enforced conformity).

Sing a song on the jukebox that goes

-The authority figure popularizes the act of burning, such that it becomes something like a song on a jukebox that viscerally unites the people against the witch, directing attention away from the regime. The use of “jukebox,” a relatively modern invention, contrasts sharply with the 18th century “song of sixpence,” insinuating that the beast of fearmongering and scapegoating has lasted and will last throughout the ages.
Additionally, while a jukebox offers users options, those options are limited by the person who owns the jukebox. It gives the user the “illusion” of choice.

Burn the witch

Burn the witch
We know where you live

-A witch-hunt historically meant “a search for and subsequent persecution of a supposed witch”; Thom Yorke has used related imagery on songs like “Up On The Ladder” and “Cut-Tooth.” Yet the definition of “witch-hunt” has expanded in modern times: it now can mean “a campaign directed against a person or group holding unorthodox or unpopular views.”

This proves particularly salient here, as the speaker appears to be an authority figure forcing the people to turn on a dissident. It provokes this violence by reminding its subjects of their vulnerable and subservient state (“We know where you live”); if they fail to obey, they may come into danger. By “burning” insubordinate citizens, the authority figure deters any rebellious thoughts and ensures that its people will continue leading calm, unremarkable lives.

Red crosses on wooden doors

Dating back to the 17th century, a red or black cross was painted on the front of a door to signify that the resident had been afflicted by a plague, and served as a warning to others.
Lyrically, this imagery adds to the song’s overall description of the actions of a society being driven by superstition and paranoia:
anyone deemed “sick” is marked by a plague cross, and anyone suspected of witchcraft is burned.

And if you float you burn

Dunking was a punishment common in the Medieval and early modern eras.
A form of dunking known as “ordeal by water”became associated with witch trials in the 16th and 17th centuries. If the suspected witch sank, she was considered innocent; if she floated, she was considered guilty. Those that floated were later burned at the stake. Those that sank sometimes drowned to death.

Loose talk around tables

“Loose talk” is conversation that is “careless and indiscreet.” The authority figure of the song wishes to limit such talk, which threatens their regime; anyone who doesn’t watch his or her words will be labeled a witch and be punished accordingly.

Abandon all reason
Avoid all eye contact
Do not react
Shoot the messengers

The authority figure recommends its subjects respond to “loose talk” with paranoia and fear. They ought not even try to understand what the person is saying; rather, they must forgo any attempt at relating to the person by avoiding eye contact, as eye contact “produces a powerful, subconscious sense of connection.” Furthermore, they must “shoot the messenger,” or treat the bearer of bad news as the one to blame.
This induced moral panic, frequently associated with witch-hunts, “often results in the passing of legislation that is highly punitive, unnecessary, and serves to justify the agendas of those in positions of power and authority.”

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