Video Analysis: Burn the Witch- Radiohead

The British children’s TV series the 'Trumptonshire Trilogy’ inspired the Burn the Witch music video by Radiohead. The video shoes an inspector being given a tour around a small town by the mayor. The town itself seems pretty normal, neat and well under-control, however it soon becomes clear this isn't the case as we are introduced to the local residents. From trying to drown one neighbour, to tying someone else up to a tree, the inspector, and equally the audience, are quickly aware not everything is as perfect as it seems, and that the town's residents are actually violent and dangerous on a day to day basis. We see the end of the video showing the inspector being tricked into a large wooden cage-type figure, which has been similarly seen in the 1973 British horror film 'The Wicker Man'. Once locked inside its 'stomach', it is then set alight by the town's people, from which we assume the inspector is left to die, but are shown otherwise as he is seen escaping as the very last clip in the video.


The music video is created in the form of an animated story, to which it features small cartoon characters made of clay, rather then people. The mayor of the town, and the inspector are the main characters, who are seen for the majority of the video as they take a short tour around the strange settings featured throughout the clips. As the multiple odd happenings take place, the inspector shows a shocked expression as he takes note of everything in his notebook. The different scenes include eerie settings and ritualistic goings-on, which links to the song's primarily meaning of burning a witch.

The start of the video shows us a small bird in a tree, with a diegetic sound of 'typical' nature sounds. This sets the scene with a peaceful atmosphere, which we later learn juxtaposes the town as each event occurs in the video. A tracking shot is shown after the bird, as the Inspector is drove into the town, to make the scenes flow from one another onto the next part. The scene changes between both the tracking shot and the establishing shot of the village as the mayor talks to the villagers upon the inspectors arrival. The Inspector initially has a quick look around and the mayor greets him, however as the Mayor attempts to shake the Inspector's hand, he is quick obviously rejected, which may link to the immigrant theme presented throughout the video because the Inspector could be presented to be the 1st world countries who regularly, and brutally, reject the refugees and immigrants as they arrive, indicated here by the villagers and mayor who are not as accepted.
Following this, video then cuts to the mayor taking the Inspector around the town and introducing him to the multiple scenes, which at first glance appear to be innocent, yet when looked at closer are actually quite disturbing, showing the town isn't what it appears to be to both the audience and the inspector. During the time all of the different scenes are shown, the mayor and all of the town's residents aren't fazed or even disturbed by the different, unthinkable happenings going on around them, showing they are used to it and also implying the events are just every-day life for them. First, they pass a man painting a red cross on door, a typically violent and murder-related colour, which is also associated with blood. The inspector is then taken to what appears to be a model replica of the town, yet is shown to be disturbing to him as he notices a mini-model of himself and the mayor waving up at him. A medium close up shot is then used to show a girl on a chair, which is zoomed out to show it being on the opposing end of a see-saw which she is playing on with a fellow resident. The shot turns into an establishing shot, which references the old witch trials, as it shows the girl over a lake whilst being in the see-saws. During the scenes like this, where the dangerous or disturbing features are shown, the non-diegetic music uses a harsher violin sound to show increased tension and fear. 

The political context of Burn the witch questions why good things happen to supposedly good people, which links to the immigration issues that surround the song. Towards the end of the music video the Inspector is taken to a large structure which is covered with a large red sheet. The producers have made the decision to use a red sheet, in order to portray the blood and violence previously featured in the video. The red sheet is removed to show the large wooden structure. The screeching violins begin again, at an increased pace in order to indicate horror and danger as the Inspector climbs into the wicker man, which continues as the figure is lit and the villagers turn to the camera in an establishing shot and wave, almost mimicking the ending to a children's TV programme. The scene can be seen as particularly disturbing as the residents stare and wave at the camera in sync in an almost 'possessed' way. As the camera zooms out and starts to move away from the scared, confused and panicking inspector, and the strange town's stranger people, we are taken back to the bird from the start. Following this, the camera pans down to show the Inspector with scorch marks after escaping from the lit contraption, leaving the audience almost reassured that the inspector didn't actually die, and can leave the odd place he has found himself in.