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 – This Is Gospel

Why did you choose this particular video?

This is one of my favourite songs by the band and the one thing that I love about the music video is that video editing is used to create the drama that is experienced in the video.

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So, what is the narrative?

In the video Brendan is being tied down and inspected on by a lot of surgeons, in another section of the music video he is trapped in a box that is filling with water and by the end he is released into this bright light.

Favourite parts of the video?

The first thing that I really like about this video is the opening shot, the slow pan up the body until the face and then a really slow zoom out of the shot which is very slow that it is slightly invisible to the naked eye. I really like the colour grade on this shot, the way that the light of the colour tones of grey and blue have been emphasised by bringing down the colour saturation. The heart beat noise underneath makes you aware that it is something to do with hospitals or ‘life’ but the visual does not and the colour tones make it look quite sinister at first. This effect makes you really look at the shot and take note of the lyrics that are being sung.

When the chorus kicks in the shots use some really simple yet effective editing techniques that really make it stand out. This shot for example emphasises the drama because it is slowed down in speed and it highlights the emotions in the shot. This is then followed by a lot of shots of people trying to operate on Brendan and him refusing to be sedated. These shots are fast and cut together quickly with motion blurs to create this sense of drama.

The shots when Brendon are under sedation are really interesting at first they sort of follow the same editing pattern as the shots of people in the hospital and then you get to this shot where he is being buried alive by water. The shot colours dramatically change to show that it could be the ‘end’ and the lighting is really emphasised. It is such a quick shot but it is so clever that I really like it. Also the fact that he sung underwater as well is pretty hardcore as an artist so that also makes it look really effective as well.

After Brendan escapes from the box filling with water the video goes very surrealist where his heart is replaced with ropes and there are ropes being tied around him and constraining him. From watching this and listening to the lyrics it feels like it is there to connote anxiety and these images highlight this strongly and very well. The lighting, the really fast shots and the edit make it a really powerful piece and emphasises emotion very strongly.