Music Video Analysis - (OK GO - The Writing on the Wall)

The writings on the wall is OK GO’s latest released song of their collection coming out on the 17^th June this year (2014). They are fast becoming well known just as much for their amazingly creative music videos as they are for their actual music. This video is no exception, incorporating various optical illusions, challenging your perception and the way you see things. The video begins with a rotating piece which at certain angles can be seen to spell out the bands name ‘OK GO’ before we see the title of the song using your point of perception to make text painted on 3D objects seem 2D.  It seem to be simple overlaid text at first, but the band members soon move to reveal the clever trick of the eye.

We soon find another very interesting and unique feature to this video, as we begin to notice the lack of jump cuts, transitions and change of camera angle. This is due to the video, like many other of the bands productions, being filmed in a single shot. This means what we see is effectively in real time, and they only have one shot of getting it right before having to start the entire video again. This is a big risk that has evidently payed off for the band, in this video and ones previous. Without the aid of transitions, the video has an almost home-made feel to it and we see each band member filming themselves and attaching the camera to various pulleys and mechanisms to keep the video flowing and prevent it from becoming static. This is done to perfection in this video.

The music video provides the user with plenty of mental stimulation, as the band use a number of optical illusions to fool your perception. 1:26 into the video is a perfect example of just that as we see 9 seemingly normal boxes, until yet again the band prove that looks can be deceiving. It can only be seen to be believed! It is possible that this is one of the core meanings of the video, that things are not always as they first seem, especially when it comes to love.

We watch on as the camera is strapped to all sorts of mechanisms in order to captivate the watchers interest and spell out words or sentences strategically placed amongst the set. This is even extended to faces as we see an interpretation of one of the band members created entirely out of a collection of common household objects like staplers, a VHS video cassette and even a spare tyre!

Nearing the end of the video they showcase another clever trick using mirrors. As we see the man filming the scene perform a handheld tracking shot, we notice that there is a different band member appearing each time someone emerges from the back of the mirror. In the reflection of the mirror we see the men frantically getting into position so they do not miss their cue. This highlights how important the management of the music video was in the sense of getting everyone where they needed to be at the right time. Whilst this scene management is on quite another level, I too will have to put good management skills into practice in the creation of my music video later on in the year.

The finale of the music video present yet even more impressive illusions, including no existent steps, very realistic fake band members and last but not least a disappearing and beard, a shot that could have only been filmed once!  The video ends as it started, with the title of the song, this time painted across the entire room.

After the song finishes we hear the director shout “Cut” before a crew of about 40 people emerge from the background. Not only does this show how good they are at keeping out of the shot, but also how many people it takes to create such a masterpiece. Each person played a part and would have otherwise not had any acknowledgement of their achievement.

Like many other modern music videos, OK GO’s The writing on the wall video can be hard to relate to the actual song and its meaning aside from the literal writing on the walls. Despite this, it is yet another captivating piece from he geniuses behind the OK GO film crew. The video is unique in various ways, not least for being filmed in a single shot and the inclusion of expertly executed illusion. Personally I find this music video a slice of brilliance. The piece becomes even more special when you think of the time and effort that went into making and shooting the entire set-up. Unfortunately for this reason it rules out the idea of creating a video alike. On the other hand I can learn a lot from this video, and whilst ideas of creating a single shot music video are unlikely, they are not necessarily out of reach.

Here is the official Music video for OK GO's The Writing on the Wall, of which this analysis is based upon: