The Vaccines - All in White
The video, released this year, was directed by a Spanish producer named Canada who has also done videos with the scissor sisters and two door cinema club.
I liked this video as it has a theme of freedom, enjoyment and losing control. I liked the way the colours of the shots along with the effects of the slow motion and the themes within the story are tied in together and used through out to give the video a wholesome feel. This video follows no specific story line but several threads of story's and a running theme through out.
The video begins with a high angle dolly shot of white ground which is briefly overlaid with a shot of a snake on rocks. The camera then swoops up to see a sort of sculpture of two large hands. The video only contains the non-diegetic sound of the song. As The bass guitar comes in (which is a running bass line) the shot changes to someone lighting a fire in the dark, then a man throwing wood onto the fire. The shots are slightly in slow motion to give the movement a graceful look. The camera is handheld which gives the effect that is feels homemade. The people in the shot are all wearing very regular clothing in warm colours. The colours within all the shots have a warm palette, this along with the handheld camera gives the video an earthy feel. There is then an extreme long shot of fireworks from beside the bonfire the shot then moves up to see them explode.
Then for twelve seconds there are various handheld shots of people lit up by the light of the fire, throwing things onto it and carrying torches. A girl throws petrol onto the fire and there is an eye line match to the fire lighting up then a mid shot of her. There is then a shot of the torch being planted in the ground which is matched to a loud guitar strum in the music.
There is then a handheld shot of a girl running through darkness with artificial light following her movement suggesting that she is being chased. A shot of rope round someones wrists being broken by the flame of a candle is then shown quickly before returning to the girl being chased up stairs. The editing of the shot of the breaking rope next to the girl running suggests escape or freedom. The girl is then seen to get behind a door and close it behind her.
The shots then change to scenes of a sexual nature running with the themes of losing control and enjoyment. These shots are several short takes becoming shorter as the music builds along side two shots of someone using aerosols and a lighter to create fire in the dark. When the music reaches its peak there are longer takes. The camera sweeps round to a man walking in a trance towards the camera. There is still the same colour palette of warm yellows whites and blacks. There is then a shot from behind the man opening the door creating a silhouette. Silhouettes are often used to emphasise iconic moments and this helps to build up the atmosphere. Match on action is then used to show a close up of the mans face. The room he enters if filled with smoke creating a mystical/unreal feeling to the video. Clever editing is used as the man walks up to a levitating girl there are several eye line matches from him to the girl where the person watching the girl changes implying that more than one person witnesses this. Closeups of their faces are then edited one by one very quickly next to shots of rooms in peoples homes which introduces the next phase in the storyline.
A man levitates a small pyramid in his hands, the same scene in a close up, a mid shot and a long shot is shown and the shots are edited to the beat. This editing to the beat technique ties the video to the music closely. A theme of levitation is now brought into the shots. There are shots of a man levitating a chair. Then short takes of half a sculpture rotating alongside the hands from the beginning burning which ties the beginning and the theme of flames together. There are then more shots of levitation of various objects.
As the music begins to build again there are shots of a wild party in black and white showing the themes of freedom. The shots of the party are edited alongside shots of the same themes which have been shown before such as sexual scenes, running through the dark, fire, some of the shots in negatives to create even more variation, which layers the themes from each of the shots together creating a swelling feeling of enjoyment and excitement as the music crescendos and builds.
The peak is reached and a similar thing continues but with slightly longer takes and some new shots of confetti sticking with the free bohemian atmosphere. A similar thing continues of various different shots being shown quite quickly creating vague confusion until a contrast happens and at three minuets new material is introduced and the takes become longer again.
For the height of the video, the biggest build, when the peak is reached the shot moves from a low angle to a high angle shot showing a man dressed all in white (which ties in with the lyrics of the song being 'all in white') is seen riding a horse standing. This slowly rising shot creates a sense of awe when the spectacle is revealed which is the desired effect as it is also the peak in the music. The colours of white and bright green contrast to the duller shades of warm yellows and browns and blacks and whites before. A shot of a girl breathing smoke is layered over by a wolf creating the idea of the inner animal showing freedom and losing control.
The bass line then leaves the melody and the vocals are left almost alone. The shot changes to the male characters together on a green lawn which brings together two different parts of the story; the start were the men are from and the green colour palette of the out doors. They are throwing petrol bombs at the sculpture of hands from the beginning using the same slow motion effect that had been used through out. The hands burn bringing the theme of fire in a full circle as it comes back to the sculpture of the hands which frames the video.
An example of super-imposition
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