Radiohead - Karma Police.

Radiohead - Karma Police: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=5LeLAELIxKY

• Camera is positioned to allow audience to see through the driver's eyes.
• This adds verisimilitude as the audience feel as through they are present and are part of the action.
• It is obvious that the video is narrative based and does not feature genre characteristics such as the band performing etc.
• There seems to be some sense of narrative as the figure in white is running away form the car, the audience are invited to wonder why this car is chasing the figure.
• However, it is not explained why the figure is being chased - narrative fuzz.
• There is not a complete narrative - the ending is completely unexplained and unexpected so the video has a degree of repeatability.
• The non-verbal language of the character in the back seat seems to imply he is not bothered and almost bored by the figure in front of the car.
• The construction of his persona by Glazer adds authenticity and allows the audience to recognize his 'grain of voice.'
• The video appears on the surface to be anexample of disjuncture.
• However, the gantle pace and rhythm of the music is in sync with the slow, smooth movement of the camera to show the character in the back seat and then back to the figure in white. i.e. there are hardly any cuts or sudden movements of the camera. (Visual technique.)
• The view of Tom Yorke leaning forward as he sings can be considered a meat shot. (Even though he appears to be mumbling, not singing.) This is another visual technique used to bring the audience closer to the lead singer.
• The appearnace of York at the start of the video and his disappearance at the end add enigma, mystery, repeatability and ultimately make the viewer think - the aim of videos in this sort of genre.
• There don't seem to be any ideologies being reinforced or challenged. However, the fact that the man being chased comes out on top (blows up the car) could be reinforcing the ideology that you should never underestimate the underdog.
• The video does not have any specific genre characteristics other than the narrative fuzz. i.e. it is not performance based.
• A vulnerable figure in white seems to appear in quite a few Radiohead videos so may be a visual motif established by the band.
• This may be considered as an intertextual reference to their other videos in which case the video can be classed as postmodern.
• The band have a reputation of having such postmodern videos in which they don't often appear so they are selling the product by using the same techniques that their target demographic has come to expect.
• The fact that Yorke is sitting in the back seat may be a reference to popular culture as it is most often the rich important people who sit in the back. The audience are able to draw ths assumption and form their own reading of the video based on this knowledge.
• (The mis-en-scene inside the car adds to this feeling of them being rich - leather, etc)
• Becasue of this, the video may be portraying the idea that such rich poepe don't treat poorer people (the white figure) in a decent way. The fact that the car is set on fire at the end might therefore be a reference to these 'poorer' people fighting back.
• This video is most likely to be cnsumed n the internet as it is not a very well kown song and fans of the genreknow that such videos are most commonly watched on YouTube.
• The narrative structure and appeal of the video mean that it requires focused viewing. (This narrative also adds to the videos repeatablity.)