The use of media language in “Africa Shox”

Artist: Leftfield ft Afrika BambaataaGenre: Electronic/House/ Progessive dance/ Hip-hop/ DubstepDirector: Chris CunninghamReleased: 6th September 1999

The first shot is a low angle shot of the twin towers. The use of a low angle shot indicates intimidation and puts the building in a position of power. Additionally, it perhaps suggests power and wealth of America/New York. However, the black man is treated disgustingly, therefore it could imply the difference of power and wealth between the different ethnicities. For example, the black man – who can be referred to as a veteran/zombie is looking up a the dominant people and has no control over himself. Goodwin’s theory suggests that there is a relationship between music and visuals. For instance, in this music video New York is represented as a dystopia. Also, crowded streets insinuate the African is alien to this culture. Therefore, the dystopic aspect of the mise-en-scene, connoted by the negative representation of New York, may take audiences who enjoy dance and dub step out of their comfort zone, but the use of cinematography and clean cuts which amplify the beat may strengthen the fan base.

The second establishing shot is a police car. This automatically makes the audience feel threatened and creates a menacing atmosphere. The non-digetic sound of the siren suggests the idea of New York as being a dystopia – an uncomfortable and dangerous place to be. The siren symbolises that this place is an area of crime and chaos. The use of a police car immediately indicates authority. It then cuts to a white security man. This implies that society is controlled by a white culture authority. Furthermore, the police car has flashing lights which reinforces the genre of the music –electronic/dupstep/house/dance, as they could be representing strobe lights in a club type atmosphere. This could link to Goodwin’s theory of music videos having genre characteristics.

This is a point of view shot which puts the audience in the position of the action, which tends to make the audience feel disturbed. This shot shows the black male to be anxious and perplexed which perhaps suggests the difficulty of the black veteran who has returned from the Vietnam war and is unable to fit back in with society.

This shot reverse shot sequence shows the binary opposition between the two ethnic groups. The veteran/zombie reaches out for help, whilst the white man notices but doesn’t hesitate to ignore him and returns to reading his newspaper. The notion of looking is associated with Goodwin’s theory as it is ironically represented in the low angle shots of the middle aged city man reading the newspaper, rather than looking at the black man he turns away as if the broken figure before him is invisible. The white man dehumanizes he veteran/zombie. This shot emphasises the racial inequality that still unfortunately happens in society, but focusing on New York.

Furthermore, film is by nature voyeuristic, in the case of this music video it is the audience who are voyeurs looking passively at the disintegration of the African as he stumbles either traumatised by war which is referenced by the dog tag he wears or has been laid low by drugs which is reference to the club scene. The dog tag implies that he has been treated unfairly and looked down on because Americans were unable to secure victory in the war.

One of the locations used in this music video is an underground car park. The genre of this track can be linked with the location as it is perhaps representing how the genre began in the underground before rising to popularity. It is interesting that the break dancers are white as break dancing originated amongst the African American and Puerto Rican youths living in New York City in the 1970’s,danced to a hip-hop beat and making up one of the four elements of hip-hop. Therefore, his identity is perhaps being taken away from him. The dance and dub step generic conventions are strongly evident within this scene. Furthermore, the use of the noir lighting focuses on isolated characters illustrating the attitudes towards African Americans struggling in New York.The black male walks through the car park which connotes alienation and it is isolated which shows the world he is living in is separate from society and he is perceived more as a zombie, rather than a human.

Goodwin’s theory of there being a relationship between lyrics and visuals is portrayed in this shot of the veteran touching the barbed wire fence, whilst the lyrics are : “lets get electrified”. The use of these lyrics emphasises the electronic genre which represents partying and rave. However, the word ‘electrified’ can be associated with the black mans hand against the electric fence. This has negative connotations as it could be related to prisons or concentration camps where people did not or don’t have any control over themselves. Therefore, this insinuates the man feels extremely trapped and cannot escape from the horrible reality he is currently in.

The low angle shots of New York could be an inter-textual reference to Carol Reed’s surreal representation of Vienna as a labyrinth in “The Third Man” and the dystopic representation of the city in “The Matrix”. The cinematography is in the noir style to suggest connotations of cynicism, melancholy, disillusionment, nightmare and alienation.

The mainly black and white cinematography footage brings to mind noir films such as noir science fiction films like “Blade Runner” – the overcrowded confusing streets which indicate a dying planet in Ridley Scott’s iconic film give the text an edge. The representation of the black man as a zombie also references the horror genre.

This dystopic representation of the city was established in cinema in the film “Metropolis”. The futuristic city of Metropolis is built quite literally on inequality;, the city of the future was identical with exploitation, power, corruption and greed and anticipated the rise of fascism.

Intertextuality

This is a location shot of Vienna in “The Third Man” - it is perceived to be a fractured place from the aftermath of the war. Additionally, it shows the streets to be deserted, dark and shiny which indicates a labyrinth.