Author: acogan

Pentatonix: Hallelujah

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.

Child, Bride, Mother: Nepal

screen-shot-2016-10-13-at-8-39-45-pm

Please find the full video here, at the bottom of the page.

This is a short, documentary-style video piece providing a glimpse into the lives of three females married around the age of 14 in Kagati village in Nepal. Disclaimer: It’s hard to watch at times.

“Too Young to Wed: Nepal” appears to have been shot with a single camera, as never more than one angle of a certain scene is shown. The lighting is all natural, which feels appropriate for a story taking place in the rural Nepalese hillsides, and it is shot entirely in a witness point of view. The combination of these things makes us spectators of life in this village — we are watching them survive, looking into their lives in what feels a very authentic way.

Our intimate look into these lives is accomplished through wide and tight angle shots. Wide-angle shots are used often to give us context or detail about the story environment, while tight shots narrow in on more poignant moments: hands working in the kitchen (02:45), a somber expression (04:17) or detritus from a ceremony (01:51). We see these two angles work together starting from the first minute, when wide-angle shots of the community are punctuated with tight shots of a young bride getting ready for her wedding ceremony.

I particularly love the way layered sounds, both narrative and environmental, are used to tell and support this piece. It’s not fancy, but it provides a very strong sense of emotion and place.

I think this is done through a great deal of sound and picture juxtaposition, the most frequent example being when the voice of the interviewee is played over visual vignettes of their daily life (for example at 01:08). This heightens our experience with this person; it helps us know them better. We also find sound/picture juxtaposition in smaller moments that strengthen our idea of where we are, for example, when the rooster crows during a shot of an earthquake-damaged building (00:16).

A series of jump cuts take us through the story by carrying us to different moments in the storyline, the day or the scene, in addition to different storylines altogether.

One of the largest transitions I noted is in Anita’s story at around 02:30: One moment she is being ornamented for her wedding, the next she is in the middle of the celebration, if we can call it that. This is a significant change in tone and scene, but it works with the support of a brief L-cut, when we hear the sound of music and horns, before we see the band and the dancing.

This scene is especially emotional, in part because of the topic, but also in part also because of the focal distance. During this scene we are viewing the story at a much closer angle, and at eye level. This gives the feeling that we are standing in this crowd of people, part of the story. The natural audio is very strong and, as is a theme throughout the piece, few bells and whistles are needed to tell the story. It’s powerful, seemingly, all on its own.