Dusan Zdravkovic

EN 121 – 303

Due date: 10/16/2022

Music Video Assignment: Like A Prayer by Madonna

1. The video starts with a low angle, medium shot,

with us looking up the hill. This is a relatively

dark, gloomy scene, with the only available

lighting coming from the moonlight and an accent

of a burning trash can in the background. The

production designer created this as an exterior

scene with Madonna as the only character. The area looks distressed and torn into pieces, just as

she seems to be. The shot slowly turns into a closeup, as Madonna dramatically runs toward the

camera, falling to the ground, looking shocked. There is suspenseful music playing in the

background and loud sounds of a police siren mixed with electrical guitars, bringing additional

drama to the scene. The scene is mysterious, telling us something has happened, but leaves us

wanting to know more.

2. The next scene feels like a rapid jump to a

closeup shot of a burning cross. Visually, it’s

connected to the previous shot and the fire from

the trash can. The scene would have been

completely dark, but the cinematographer uses the

fire of the cross to light up the scene. The cross

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brings spirituality to the story, but seeing it burn, it tells us that something tragic is happening,

and it adds drama to the story. It’s not how we expect to see a cross, so it makes the spectators

feel uneasy. There is also a sharp pounding sound in the background, adding tension to the scene

to further focus our attention. But then there is just abrupt silence, with just a hint of an echo of a

choir.

3. This is another rapid cut, but this time to an

architectural scene. It is a closeup shot of a church,

which is related to the burning cross and adds

additional spirituality to the story. The light in the

scene is coming from an evening sky in the

background, but the accent light we are focusing on

is from the door of the church. It tells us that something is happening inside, and is inviting us

inside to find out more. There are no characters in the scene. The cinematographer wants to focus

our attention solely on the church door. Madonna is starting to sing in the background, but with

barely any instruments, almost like she is praying.

4. What follows is a closeup scene of a street attack,

zoomed in on three males attacking a female. It’s a

rapid sequence of shots focusing on the scene and

on Madonna, trying to show us her reaction to every

single detail of the attack. Later we see Madonna

witnessing the scene, but this in a way makes us

witnesses as well. This is another exterior scene, with the only light coming from the moonlight.

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It almost feels like it’s a spotlight on the violent scene, focusing our attention on the action. The

story is slowly beginning to evolve, and we get more of an idea of the plot.

5. Madonna is entering the church, and we get a

closeup of the Jesus statue. This is also a low angle

shot since Madonna is on her knees looking at the

Jesus from below, and the cinematographer wants

to make us feel like we are as well. A black guy gets

arrested by mistake and the black Jesus is an interpretation of him. Jesus is crying, aware of the

injustice. His tears evoke our emotion. The light in the scene is coming from the church

chandeliers, but we also get symbolic light from the candles in the back, and shadows from the

cage bars. Jesus in the cage relates to the black guy being behind the bars for sins he didn’t

commit.

6. From one closeup face scene we jump to

another closeup scene of Madonna from outside of

the cage. She is on her knees, praying to Jesus,

confessing what she has seen. This is an interior

scene. This is also a medium, high angle shot. It

tends to have us feel higher up, with Madonna

kneeling below. Even though we see some theatrical light on her face, the main light in this

scene is the warm yellow glow of the candles in the background, bringing spirituality to the

scene; evoking the presence of God. A cross pendant on her necklace is further reinforcing the

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presence of God in the scene, but it also adds some sensuality to the scene, having us focus on

her exposed skin. The music is turning upbeat.

7. The next scene is a jump to a totally different

environment. It is again an exterior scene, but we

seem to be in Heaven. Madonna falls in some sort

of a trance as she is praying to God, asking for

help. We get all this light from the sky, and the sun

is shining on her from above. It is another high

angle shot, like we are the God himself looking at Madonna. It is a very simple scene, but it is an

interesting mixture of spirituality and sexuality, since the only focus of the scene is Madonna’s

body and the shadows playing around her curves.

8. With this scene, we jump back into the interior

of the church where Madonna is setting the black

Jesus free. This is a closeup shot of the two of

them, with Jesus kissing her in the forehead,

thanking her for setting him free from the cage.

This scene relates to a later scene, where she helps

the black guy get out of the jail. Even though this is a religious environment, this is almost a

purely sexual scene and, for the time, pretty controversial, with the two characters being of

different races. The music is slowing down again, letting us focus on the moment and the

relationship between the two of them.

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 9. Jesus leaves, and Madonna is turning to the church

choir for answers. She dances with the priest and the

choir, and the music goes back to upbeat, lifting up

the mood. This is another high angle interior scene

and relatively wide shot, with plenty of characters as

we see the full choir and the stage. Light is coming

from one end, like the holy spirit in the renaissance painting, as a sign of God coming to witness

the scene and works like the only light in the shot. Having us positioned on the top, the

cinematographer positions the viewers as spectators, watching the performance of the choir.

With a smooth rhythm between the next few shots, he wants to make us feel like we are dancing

together with the performers, focusing on Madonna on one end and the members of the choir on

another.

10. Madonna finally goes to the police to tell the

story and set the black guy free. This is a medium

shot scene, with 4 people in it. The light is

coming from multiple angles, but we have a

special light pointed at the policeman’s books,

which might be related to the Bible. This scene

resembles the church scene, since we again see black Jesus in the cage and Madonna on her

knees letting him out. So, the scene creates the full circle, going back to the church where it all

started, and also focuses on the relationship between the two of them.

Extra scene: The last scene is a wide shot with all the characters in it. We as spectators are again

positioned at a high angle, watching it all as an audience. Plenty of lights here from candles,

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 chandeliers, and lamps, making the scene feel

bright and works as a happy ending. By telling us

it was all a show and make-believe, the shot is

also giving closure to the video, as it would with

a movie in a theater. The curtain is coming down.

It’s not always that the music video directly reflects the lyrics of the song. But in this specific

case, we can see how well they blend. Yes, this is still a love song, but the spiritual side of it is

such a big part of the video and is present in absolutely every scene. We see how both sexuality

and religion are extremely important in the life and personality of the artist, and how well they

can be used at the same time to express a certain emotion. From one scene to another we are told

the full story, as if we are an audience in the theater. The video starts with scenes that are mostly

dark and mysterious, and naturally transition to the more light and cheerful ones near the end. At

first, we are just given glimpses of what might be happening but, by the end, we are led through

a full story, almost like we are watching a movie going full circle to resolving the mystery and

getting the justice. More often than not we have high angle scenes, as if we’re sitting on the

balcony watching the story from above. In other scenes, we get zoomed, closeup views so we

can focus on what’s important in that specific moment. That camera transition between the

closeup and distant view brings a certain dynamic, so we are constantly entertained and focused.

Light has a specific role in this video as well, not only by providing general, ambient light, but

also by accentuating different elements depending on their importance in the specific scene. It

brings our focus to a character by illuminating their face or a part of their body, or providing

special background light to add a sense of something holy and divine happening in the room.

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Various uses of chandeliers, candlelight, or just moonlight add special sensibility to the scenes.

Most of the time, the colors in the video are minimal, or just very subtle and toned down. The

main focus is the light and the dynamic of the story. At the moment in the video when Madonna

cuts her palms with a knife, we see a touch of red blood, but just in a way of connecting her with

the blood of Jesus himself, adding dramatic effect to their connection and the theme itself.

Playing on the borderline between sexual and religious, the video is trying to reconcile these two

extremes. It’s pointing out that by looking from a different perspective and by being told in a

well thought story, they can coexist and seem like they naturally belong together. The video also

pointed out the issues of bi-racial connection at a time when that was still sort of a taboo, and

trying to educate and bring acceptance to different categories of people. Finally, it all ends with

the music. Switching from extremes of slow melody of prayers to more up-beat music of gospel

singing, and Madonna dancing with the choir, this song ended being one of the most memorable

ones of its decade, and strongly influenced many other musicians of its time.