Street Spirit (Fade Out) – Radiohead

·       Mise en scene

Costume:

The costume in the video is smart and casual. The main character that we see is dressed in a shirt and jeans, which is fairly conventional for a man of his age who is likely to have a job where smart/casual office wear is the appropriate dress code for work.

The child in the video is dressed in a fairly rugged way, portraying that he may have a fairly deprived childhood where he does not have much and cannot afford good quality clothing.

 

We do not see much of the other people in the video but what we do see of them, it is clear that they are all dressed quite like the lead man, in a fairly smart/casual manner.

Lighting:

The lighting throughout this video is fairly dreary and is pretty much in black and white, giving the video a depressive feel and again symbolising that idea of death and unhappiness.

Props:

The only integral prop in the video is the chair, although in my opinion, it does not seem to have much of a symbolic reference to anything within the video.

Setting:

The setting is clearly a caravan/trailer site. The setting is fairly unconventional and is not that typical as a place to set music videos. The setting does indicate that the people in the video do not have much as they do not live in a proper house, therefore they may not have much to lose if any of them die.

·       Camera

This mid-shot of the caravan with the man falling from it indicates life within one shot as it symbolises the way in which you start from the top (birth) and gradually make your way down to the bottom where hitting the floor means symbolises death.

This low-angle shot shows a tree that looks to be reaching up to the stars, possibly symbolising the idea of climbing the tree to reach heaven (death).

 

This shot shows Radiohead’s lead singer standing away from the rest of the group, possibly portraying his sense of loneliness. Also, the shot shows the man smiling, which could highlight to the audience that he is at peace with himself and the idea of ‘fading out’.

This shot is my favourite of the whole video as in my opinion, it shows the idea of death being chained up, just out of reach of you since you were a child, indicating that one day, it will be let off its chain and it will come and get you.

This shot shows the man being blown back by some unknown force and him trying to resist it, indicating that he is trying to fight against this unknown force. This unknown force trying to push him backwards could be death, highlighting to the audiencen that he is fighting to survive.

This mid-shot of the man smashing the glass windows surrounding him. This could possibly indicate that he is trying to break free of the fragile walls that surround him and escape death.

This final shot of the video highlights to the audience that his life is coming to an end and that he is trying to offer himself to God and reach heaven. This is also shown by the lighting in this picture as the light is shining on him in particular, making him stand out against the black background of the night sky.

 

 

·       Sound

I do not particularly like this song as I think that the lyrics are fairly boring. Also, I do not like the atmosphere of the song because in my opinion it is too dreary and dull, giving depressive feel. The chorus is only 5 words and I believe that songs are catchier when they have a full chorus instead of just a few words as this makes the chorus stand out whereas in this song, it is quite difficult to tell the chorus apart from the verse at first due to the fact that the music pace does not tend to quicken and the man’s tone of voice pretty much remains the same throughout.

·       Editing

The pace of the editing is fairly slow throughout, with almost every part of the first 2 minutes involving shots that have been slowed down to indicate depression and that the man is losing his battle for survival. The pace quickens nearer the end, sending out a chaotic feel, highlighting that the man has accepted death and is recalling his life in a desperate attempt to be at peace with himself.

·       Narrative

The narrative is portrayed mainly through the lyrics as the video is fairly hard to understand. The lyrics talk of ‘fading out’ indicating the idea of death. This is backed up by the man falling off of the top of the caravan in the video.