Heaven Essay

With reference to Emeli Sande's 'Heaven', how realistic are the representations offered by the video? In your answer, you should consider the social and cultural context.


Emeli Sande's music video for her song 'Heaven' is a conceptual video that displays themes of struggle and hope. The music video was shot in Bethnal Green, East London which is a way to create empathy with the target audience as the area is local to some and likely well known to audience members who live in London. The video is composed of shots of different people who belong to different genders, social classes, age groups etc, who all appear to be struggling in some way. The decision to use Bethnal Green as the location to shoot the video establishes it as urban and real as many of the audience members have probably been there or are able to identify it. This makes the music video much more realistic and believable to the audience, implying to them that the struggles that are presented in the video are real. The video consists mainly of long shots and close ups which contrast each other however both serve individual purposes. The long shots are used to show the setting that the people are in to establish their position in life and society. These are contrasted by the close ups which utilise direct address to break the fourth wall and connect with the audience so that they can understand and relate to the music video, forming empathy. Often times when the camera pointed towards Emeli Sande a low angle is used to portray her as dominant and having greater significance. The lyrics are often synchronised with a shot that either personifies or just displays what the Emeli Sande is talking about. The cuts and editing are set at a mediocre pace, giving enough time for every person shown in the video to have their lifestyle and struggle exhibited to the audience. The music video is heavily theological as it links to the concept of heaven and there is angelic symbolism throughout the video. This of course suggests that the people shown in the video and Emeli Sande herself are heavily reliant on the concept of God and religion and are desperately trying to overcome the struggles of the current world and ascend to heaven. This is further suggested by the constant shots of Emeli praying and glimpses of the sky which is where heaven is known to be. This could however cause controversy amongst the audience as many of them may belong to different religions and have believe in different things or may not believe in heaven and God at all. Perhaps, the music video was intended to broaden the perspective of some audience members who may not agree with the ideas and concepts presented in the music video or the music video may just be targeting those who believe in God & heaven in a similar sense, maybe those who belong to Abrahamic religions as they follow very similar tradition of God.

Burn The Witch Essay

How are media language and intertextuality used in “Burn the Witch” to construct representations of groups, messages and values?

Approx 800 words

In the music video for Radiohead - Burn The Witch an abundance of media language and intertextual references are used to construct representations of groups, messages and values. The language in the lyrics links directly to the animated scenes in the music video which connote very strong and deliberate intertextual references. For example, in the lyrics of “Red crosses on wooden doors” which is also one of the early shots in the music video of an animated wooden door with a red cross on it. The lyrics seem to suggest that this is how people would be able to identify the residence of a witch however in historically speaking, the red cross on doors was a way of warning people to stay away from the marked houses as they were the houses of people infected with the plague. Red is often depicted in media, culture and religion as being a colour that represents either danger, evil or love, in this likely symbolising danger. Of course now the red cross is often known recognized internationally as a symbol of protection, neutrality and military medical services.

Throughout the music video there were many different methods of execution presented to the audience which when relating to the lyrics and the title of the song, it is made apparent that these were historical methods of exposing witches which often led to a dilemma or ultimatum for women who were accused of being witches as it was rumored that if the women were to survive their execution their identity of being witches would be confirmed however if they did not survive they would have been normal women. Examples of execution methods presented in the music video included hanging, drowning, waterboarding and burning. This may have been done with the purpose of sharing historical fascinations Radiohead may have had with historical life.

The music video is a narrative video composed of many long shots with occasional close ups to present the animated protagonist’s expressions reflecting his feelings. The animated protagonist represents the audience watching the music video as they are experiencing the wonders of this strange town and likely reacting similarly to the animated protagonist. It is however, not the typical narrative music video mainly due to the fact that it is animated along with an actual narrative that is heavily connected with the lyrics of the song.

The bird, the inspector and the woman in the house that is being marked with a red cross happen to be the only characters with mouths. The inspector of course is attempted to be burned alive by the town and the woman in the marked house was intended to represent the witch who the town’s people probably intend to execute as well and from the title of the song it can be assumed that the woman will also be burned alive when executed. Just like the woman and the inspector, the bird is oblivious to what is going on and is singing in the opening seconds and scenes of the music video. Perhaps this is a metaphor for those who are oblivious to what is going happening being unable to accept what they are unfamiliar with therefore they “sing” as a way of expressing themselves just like how mouths were given to the two oblivious characters to express their emotions. This could be a representation of society where people who are accustomed to how society operates do not speak out or express their concerns as they have adapted to it and accepted it into their lifestyles. It is often those who are oblivious, ignorant and unaccepting of society that tend to speak out against it often outcasting themselves and society trying to remove them.