Influences

Our influences for our videos vary. The main genre we looked at was 'urban'. The connotations to urban videos usually means that the environment is edgy and the colour is downtoned, mostly grey. Here are a few examples we looked at.

Professor Green - Upper Clapton Dance


Upper Clapton Dance by Professor Green contains many signifiers such as guns, drugs and violence within his music video, which gives the video quite a dark connotation throughout the video. To begin with, the audience instantly notice a clinical mise-en-scene, and the bleak white colour connotes a feeling of emptiness. The beginning close up focuses on the artists face, which is him observing his surroundings. Constantly throughout the video it appears the camera is attached to every actors head giving off a powerful effect of point of view, enabling the audience to focus on their expressions and motions, as the editing of the video remains quite fast paced, as the camera doesn't switch angles that much. For example, the un-sturdy movement of the camera matches the odd and quite uncomfortable feel to the video, and is in fact used as a hooking technique due to the fact the audience are completely involved in the actors movement.

Another hooking technique which is used to engage the audience is the story line as such, which of course connotates paranoia. The contrast and variation of all the actors also connotes a sense of poverty within the music video, as the audience can associate the images of the council estate and young single mothers with the issue of working class. This technique is followed by the camera above the head of the black man running and the camera below the thief, which furthermore connotes insanity and the restlessness, and the black and white footage matches the clinical plainness of the setting, making them stand out more. As the chorus is playing, different scenarios are still be played out which connotes darkness upon the video, despite the song itself being quite up beat. However, the clinical setting matches the lyrics, as each sentence reflects what is happening throughout the video such as the baby getting shot or kids acting like gangsters and the clinical white setting can itself be interpreted as violence and madness.

Leftfield & Afrika Bambaataa - Afrika Shox

A similar colour tone is seen in the music videos directed by Chris Cunningham. called 'Afrika Shox' by Leftfield. Afrika Shox is quite a un-settling video with quite disturbing scenes, such as the mise-en-scene is quite un-nerving and makes the audience feel uncomfortable when watching it. For example, the way the camera tracks and pans until the audience are introduced with a mid-shot of a man who is obviously in pain, and almost looks as if he has been possessed as his eyes are bloodshot and he seems dazed. The way that the music video follows his struggle as he wonder's round through a busy city stood out for me, as it's enticing the audience to feel guilty towards him; not a typical storyline you see with other conventional music video's.

The other reason I find this music video very influential is the fact that their is an underlying message of racism and oppression. This is not common with music videos nowadays and as the message is so controversial especially no that there is a black president however we still see segregation towards the black race even though it is supposed to be 'the land of equal opportunity'. I feel that for our music video, I want to implement a subtle however powerful message that the audience can take and perceive in their own way.