RA: Shot-by-Shot Technical Analysis

"Bones" by The Killers

Shot	Duration	Camera	Mise-en-scene
1	5s	Poor quality, static, LS	Clip from Jason and the Argonauts, skeletons rise up out of the ground
2	2s	Two shot, MS	Couple in a car. Colour palette is drained and dark.
3	2s	High angle, ELS	Shows cars at a drive-thru, watching the film shown in shot 1, as the sun sets
4	3s	LS	The band, with their instruments, performs in front of the drive-thru screen. There is playground equipment amongst them.
5	2s	LS, poor quality	Clip from film of skeletons marching.
6	3s	MS, over-the shoulder	From behind, we see the couple silhouetted by the drive-thru screen.
7	2s	Low angle	The bassist plays in front of the screen as it shows the film.
8	1s	Low angle, MS	The singer in front of the screen, wearing sunglasses.
9	1s	MS	The drummer plays the drums, further in front of the screen. A playground swing is behind him.
10	4s	CU, low angle	The singer begins to sing in front of the screen, which now shows a car driving at night.
11	2s	CU	The couple in the car, with the woman in the foreground and the man behind her. Black and white.
12	1s	Two-shot	Angle changes to in front of the car as the woman turns to look at the man.
13	1s	Mid shot, rule of thirds	Guitarist plays guitar amongst the playground equipment.
14	2s	Mid shot, low angle	Singer in front of the screen. Behind him the projection shows a car pulling up on a beach in black and white.
15	4s	Long shot to MLS, static	On the beach.Woman shuts the car door and she and the man run out towards the sea. Black and white.
16	1s	CU	Singer from a side angle with the guitarist in the background, in front of the screen with the playground equipment.
17	4s	ELS	High angle shot shows the entire beach with the couple running. Black and white.
18	4s	Long shot, panning	New angle of the couple running. Black and white.
19	1s	Mid shot	Guitarist plays guitar amongst the playground equipment.
20	5s	MS	Singer in front of the screen, which shows the woman on the beach as the man steps into shot beside her.
21	1s	MS, low angle	The man steps backwards. Black and white.
22	3s	Low angle MS	The drummer drumming in front of the screen.
23	3s	Group shot	The band in the playground, with the screen behind them showing an BCU of the woman's face.
24	2s	Two shot	The couple back in the car at the drive-thru, the man puts his arm around the woman.
25	2s		The play ground with the screen behind, which now shows the band performing on the beach in black and white.
26	3s	MS, rule of thirds	Girl on the beach in black and white, she turns away from the camera.
27	1s	CU	Cut back to the singer in front of the screen.
28	3s	BCU	The woman removes her wig to reveal she is a skeleton. B&W.
29	3s	CU, low angle	The man removes his shirt to reveal he is a skeleton. B&W.
30	3s	CU to MS	The woman skeleton turns and runs toward the ocean. B&W.
31	1s	CU	The male skeleton runs out of shot to follow her. B&W.
32	3s	CU, rule of thirds	Singer in the playground with the guitarist behind him now transformed into a skeleton.
33	2s	Low angle CU	A skeletal hand is shown playing the bass guitar.
34	1s		The playground with the screen behind, showing the band performing on the beach in black and white.
35	1s	MS	The bass player performing in the playground, with the drummer and guitarist in the background.
36	2s	MS	Singer in the playground with the drummer and bass player in the background.
37	3s	CU	Singer from the side angle with the guitarist in MS in the background.
38	1s	MS	Drummer in the playground from a side angle.
39	1s	MS, rule of thirds	Guitarist playing the guitar in the playground.
40	1s	CU, low angle	Bassist shot from a low angle with the neon sign for the drive-thru in the background.

What percentage of shots feature the lead singer?
13 of the first 40 shots feature the singer, which is equal to 32.5%. This is much lower than you would expect for a video from an artist of the 'pop' genre.

How long are the shots?
The most common shot duration appears to be between 1 and 3 seconds long.Of the section I deconstructed, no shot was longer than 5 seconds long. I would classify this video as having a fast cutting rate.

How is camera movement incorporated to create pace?
Almost every shot had a completely static camera.

What other framing is used?
One use of framing that I found particularly effective were the multiple two-shots of the couple, taken through the windscreen of the car.

Rule of thirds
Much of the footage of the singer has a completely central framing, but often the footage of the other band members employed the rule of thirds. As well as this, some of the close-ups of the singer we're taken from a side angle, showing another band member in the background, with each of them shown in the horizontal 'thirds' of the screen.

What transitions are used?
The video mostly uses simple cuts between shots.