Bo Burnham’s Inside (2021) is a comedy special released exclusively on Netflix, capturing the zeitgeist of the COVID-19 pandemic – it was produced and filmed entirely in isolation, from the confines of Burnham’s own room. In line with Carol Vernallis’ idea of ‘unruly media’ and ‘mixing-board aesthetics’ (2014), Burnham liberally draws from a wide range of audiovisual sources – from Broadway to Instagram.

Burnham performs 20 original songs as part of the special – these songs have since been released on Spotify and are well-produced musical pieces in their own right; yet their relation to the visual media (i.e. the Netflix film) that they originate from simply cannot be overlooked – as is the case for many songs that originate from musical theatre/movie musicals. 

Each of the songs’ accompanying videos employ considerably different visual styles, effects and compositions. For example, in the song All Eyes on Me, Burnham makes use of a pared-down set, singing broodily in front of a projected live video feed of himself. The video is awash with shades of blue and stitched together with slow-paced crossfades and overlays. All of these visual choices echo the melancholy nature of the lyrics, in which Burnham sheds light on his struggles with mental health. The framing, effects and transitions are also highly reminiscent of early 2000s shoegaze music videos – again demonstrating Vernallis’ idea of a mixing-board aesthetic.

Screenshots from Mazzy Star’s Fade Into You (1993) music video (top) and Bo Burnham’s All Eyes On Me (2021) – both making use of similar visual techniques of projections and overlays. 

Burnham’s music changes tones completely from dark and brooding to light-hearted satire in White Woman’s Instagram, where he pokes fun at the trite, contrived content posted on the stereotypical privileged white women’s social media pages – for example “Latte foam art, tiny pumpkins / Fuzzy, comfy socks […] Is this heaven?Or is it just […] A white woman’s Instagram?” And the video reflects, rather literally, these lyrics: Burnham poses as the very trope that he describes, donning a knit beanie and beige knit sweater as he poses before a warmly-lit backdrop of autumn leaves. Notably, the video makes use of Instagram’s 1:1 aspect ratio; subtly incorporating and referencing visual cues that visually reiterate his music’s message. 

In this 1.5 hour long special, music, cinema and social commentary come together to create a powerful, intertextual piece of media that can be analysed both as a cohesive album and feature film – challenging our definitions of both, and blurring the boundaries between music video, television and film. 

By Yanning Tan, BA Media and Communications 

References: 

1. Hudson, A. (2021) ‘bo burnham: Inside’ could be the definitive piece of pandemic art, flaws and all, Exclaim! Available at: https://exclaim.ca/comedy/article/bo_burnham_inside_film_review. 
2. Vernallis, C. (2014) Unruly Media: Youtube, Music Video, and the New Digital Cinema. New York: Oxford University Press Inc.