Music Video Analysis

Music Video Analysis

What are the songs about?

Unfinished Sympathy by Massive Attack is a song about a women's love for a man which she believes to not yet be completely fulfilled, as demonstrated through her craving for more, e.g 'now i've got to know much more'.

Burn the Witch by Radiohead is a song that tells the story of a group of people that have the motive to kill a witch. This is demonstrated through the eerie warnings in the song and the obvious links to witchcraft, e.g 'if you float you burn'.

What messages do they convey to the audience?

Unfinished sympathy represents a woman's deep and unhindered love for a man, as shown through her being completely and utterly oblivious to her surroundings. It also represents the street background which links to the roots of the band themselves as they come from the streets of Bristol themselves. 

The video for Burn the Witch conveys the message of a group of peoples fear of outsiders and their perceived hatred towards them. The purpose for the video was to supposedly demonstrate the ongoing immigration crisis in Europe, as the video served as an awareness and warning to the people that this is a problem and that immigrants should not be treated as poorly as the man in their music video.

How have the artists been represented in their respective videos?

In the video for Unfinished Sympathy, the street setting represents the roots and background of the band themselves, who of course were born and raised in the streets of Bristol. The 3 main members of the band are shown in the background of the video, but the main focus is on Shara Nelson who is continuously the primary focal point in the video. It allows her to be represented as lovestruck and obsessed. 

In Burn the Witch, animated characters are used instead of the band members themselves in an attempt to convey a story. It might also demonstrate the bands attempts to try and separate themselves from the ongoing  immigration crisis which the story in the video is loosely based upon.

Why have they been represented in such a way?

Massive attack have chosen to be represented in this way as it gives the genre of music that they make an identity and demonstrates where they and their music originate from. The setting for the video is key in showing the street background of the band.

For Burn the Witch I believe that Radiohead were primarily concerned with demonstrating the message within the video of the appalling way that immigrants are treated, so they therefore decided to exclude themselves from the video in order to concentrate the focus on displaying the message behind the video.

Do the videos represent the artists successfully?

Due to the video for Unfinished sympathy becoming an iconic in the history of music videos, it is impossible to say that the video does not represent the artist successfully as it demonstrates all the key aspects of the band in an aesthetic way.

The video for Burn the Witch represents Radiohead as thoughtful through the message within the video and so it therefore demonstrates that they have been represented successfully as the purpose of the video is clear.

What styles of filmmaking have been used?

For Unfinished sympathy one continuous tracking shot has been used to maintain the focus on Shara Nelson to give the impression that the audience are following her and creating an interest in where she might be going. 

Stop-motion animation in the style of the Trumptonshire trilogy is used in Burn the Witch to demonstrate as story within the video.

Why does the Radiohead video reference Trumpton and the Wicker man?

References to Trumpton and the Wicker man are used in the video for Burn the Witch because the combination of both allows for a simplistic message about treating immigrants kindly can be embedded in a story using the type of characters which are associated with children's TV programmes.

How and why has 'the street' been used in the Massive attack video?

The street setting has been used in the video for Unfinished sympathy to demonstrate the Bristol street background where the band and the genre of music originate from.

Do the visuals work well with the musical and lyrical content?

The lyrics for Unfinished sympathy are very romantic and love based which the video itself does not really convey at all. However the musical content works extremely well with the visuals as the street setting is where the genre of music comes from. 

Both the musical and lyrical content of Burn the Witch work perfectly with the visuals in the video as it demonstrates a man being burned and the creepy style of music is presented in the creepy style of music video.

What 'pleasure' does the audience get from each video?

Massive attack fans get the pleasure of seeing the street setting where the members of the band and the genre of music come from and it gives them an impression of what people who like trip-hop live like in general.

Fans of Radiohead get the pleasure of viewing a typically creative and slightly odd style of music video which the very creative band have become somewhat famous for over their long career as a band.