I am a Video Editor – and one of the things (probably the main thing) that inspired me to work in television post production was actually music videos.

Music videos are one of my favourite things in the world and I spent hours and I MEAN literally hours when I was growing up watching them Even now in the modern world, I can find myself getting lost on YouTube watching music videos for hours on end – they are an addiction.

This month we are starting the year with a band that I think are really creative both musically and with their music videos. I got into Panic! At The Disco right near the beginning of their career, their sound was so different to anything I had ever heard and I was mesmerized. Since that very first video I have been hooked with this band. So this month we celebrate a band that is very close to my heart to celebrate a year of this article running and also to kick the new year off with a bang!

Panic! At The Disco – I Write Sins Not Tragedies

Why did you choose this particular video?

As you know I am addicted to music videos and I remember the first time I saw this as it was so different to anything else I had seen. Panic were so emo at first and it was very unique and sort of new waters and this video even to this day is very iconic. There is so much happening that even now I will look at it and see new things.

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So, what is the narrative?

A wedding is about to take place and at the ceremony the groom discovers that his wife has been cheating. The grooms family are from the carnival and throughout the video lots of circus acts appear lead by their ringmaster Brendan Urie.

Favourite parts of the video?

This is the debut video by the band so the introduction has to be really special to stand out and I would say that this is one of my favourite introductions as a debut any band. The shots are really simple in their editing but the amped up colour in the contrast and the cut between the first three shots, long shots and a high angled close up of Brandon really drag you into this world and want to know what is happening and what we are about to witness.

The one thing that I think is used incredibly well in the video is the use of Blur transitions – they are so subtle that you don’t really notice them but they also create a really effective impact on the video. I think it is these blurs that create the cult style that this video has and sort of set up what the band were about to become. I also feel that the blurs sort of connote the fact that the circus intruding the wedding and the reveal of an affair are distorting the image and the idea of the perfect day.

The last edit style which is effective in the music video is the light flashes that happen throughout as they push the narrative along and allow for a lot of different things and events to happen in a short amount of time. The lights are sort of in time to the beat so it looks really effective.