The music video for Pentatonix’s version of the song “Hallelujah” is a beautiful example of visual techniques and sound mirroring one another, and working seamlessly together to convey a feeling. I noticed the repeated use of several cinematic techniques to support the smooth, sinewy movements of the song, particularly crossfades, graphic match cuts, motivated and unmotivated tracking shots, and the use of positive and negative action.
Before moving on to the camera techniques, however, I want to point out the use of muted, natural light. This white, almost dusty light provides a soft, heavenly aesthetic that sets the tone for the entire piece. The use of natural light to signal the end of the song, as we watch the sun set toward the last half (2:45), is a nice visual and conceptual conclusion, as well.
This piece opens with a motivated tracking shot of the first singer walking through the desert (:07), and we gradually meet the other singers through a series of graphic match cuts (:14, :17, :18, :24). However, the match cuts aren’t clean — they’re done using a crossfade technique that makes them less severe. This could run the risk of looking cheesy or amateur in many cases, but for this piece it works beautifully; it supports the fluidity of the music and we see this practice throughout the piece (1:32, 3:22, 4:08).
Motivated tracking shots are used frequently in the first two minutes, as the camera follows the walking movements of the singers. But at about the two-minute mark, the singers stop walking and the camera movements largely become unmotivated mounting moves (2:19, 2:27, 2:35). I particularly love the jump from subtle, medium-angle mounting moves to the faster, wide-angle move when the music crescendos (3:33). The camera movement at this point provides visual interest and, as is the theme throughout this piece, visually matches the sound of the music.
There are also several other points toward the end of the piece where this tactic is used effectively, and which also introduce negative and positive action to provide visual reinforcement for the intensification or softening of the music. For example, the unmotivated mounting move at 2:45 uses negative action as the music ascends, and positive action as the music mellows at 3:35. The same technique is seen at 3:35 and 4:20.
I love how the producers of this piece consciously use particular cinematic techniques over and over again to visually augment what the audience is hearing. The movements of the camera and the transition between scenes are almost as lyrical as the music, compounding with the song to create a strong, consistent and compelling piece.