Hozier ‘Take Me to Church’MUSIC VIDEO TECHNICAL ANALYSIS

Techniques, shots and sequencing we could emulate - 1. Narrative•The audience is given an ambiguous insight into what happens at the end which creates enigma. In this video this is done by having clips of the box in the fire but also of him burying it. Seeing as the box is being destroyed in the fire the audience knows that when the man is burying it in the ground, something else has to happen to reach narrative resolution.

•Multiple narratives in the past and present could make our film more engaging as the viewer is waiting for the story arcs to link together.

Box

•This video uses greyscale. We don’t have to use full greyscale but turning the contrast up and down on different shots in the past and present could contrast and distinguish the time zones while setting the tone of scenes.

•Slow motion is another effect that seems to be used in a lot of the shots. It creates intensity and can put emphasis on certain shots, scenes or actions in a narrative. E.g. when the two men see each other and hug for the first time. We would need a 50 fps camera for this and only slow it down to about 0.7 to 0.9 X speed.

2. Effects & editing

3. Camera work•Handicam and Steadicam is used in every shot. This is to create an intimate and realistic film which the verisimilitude makes the audience feel involved in the story, like they’re experiencing it first hard. It creates far more visceral viewing which is perfect for a narrative not breaking the fourth wall.

•Camera movement is in every shot. Even the shots that are seemingly stills are actually tilting, panning, tracking or just wobbling due to the Steadi/handicam. This attention to detail is what I think could make our piece stand out and look professional.

4. Cutting rate•The cutting rate is extremely fast, the average shot being about 1.5-2 seconds long. It’s also consistent in it’s shot length range of 0.5s to 4 seconds long. For our Brighton preliminary our average shot length was far over this, some shots being as long as 7s long. We need to make sure we pay attention to this whilst filming. To do this we have to remember that even for the simplest of actions we should have multiple shots from multiple angles to keep it interesting and keep the cutting rate fast. An example of this in ‘Take Me to Church’ is when he is digging a hole for the box. The director uses 4 shots just to show this.

5. Framing & shot distance•To construct an understandable narrative the director didn’t do too many extreme longshots or extreme close ups. He mainly utilised interesting movement of the camera and different angles to keep it interesting.

10 screenshots we should take inspiration from – 1 & 2

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