MEDIA LANGUAGEANDREW GOODWIN THEORY

AFRICA SHOX-LEFTFIELD

GENRE CHARACTERISTICSGENRE OF AFRICA SHOX: Electronica, underground, dance. ‘In North America in the late 1990s, the mainstream music industry adopted, and to some extent manufactured, electronica as an umbrella term encompassing styles such as techno, drum and bass etc.’(Wikipedia page on electronica)

AFRICA SHOX: The video for Leftfield’s ‘Africa Shox’ was directed by Chris Cunningham and was shot in New York in 1999. The piece mixes aspects of the genre and the social inequalities the director and artist want to present.

The characteristics of this genre tend to be, as the name suggests, electronic e.g the sounds are synthesized or the background noise has a man-made effect. In the Africa Shox music video, for example, the voice of the artist sounds almost robotic at times. This is conventional of the genre and adds to the overall effect of the piece. The genre characteristics also can be found in the music video itself. For electronica, the music video would usually show something urban, tall building, greyscale and harsh geometric shapes are prominent adding to the overall electronic atmosphere to the piece. New York city is also an important place for electronic music, as ‘it became one centre of experimentation of the elctronic sound, with DJs and music producers from areas as diverse as Southeast Asia and Brazil bringing their work to the nightclubs of that city’ This can be seen in the metropolis in the Africa Shox video, the dark portrayal of New York referencing here the genre characteristics of the music and also the messages being presented.

LYRICS AND VISUALSANDREW GOODWIN: Andrew Goodwin’s theory for lyrics and visuals in a music video suggests that there should be be,

a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, and if not then how does this present something about the music or video genre.

He argues there are three categories that a music video and the relationship of it and the music fall into:1) Illustrative- meaning the video illustrates the lyrics at the same time.2) Amplified- meaning the music video amplifies the lyrics.3) Contradictive- meaning the music video juxtaposes the lyrics.

AFRICA SHOX: It could be argued that the Africa Shox music video highlights all three of the aspects in Goodwin’s theory. The music video is highly illustrative of the genre of music, the industrial, grey, almost confined city presents

the ‘underground’ electronic genre of music in creating a heavily man-made landscape to amplify the lyrics. The name of the artist ‘Africa Bambaataa’ is said with a robotic, synthesized sound again reflecting the genre and

creating a dark atmosphere for the piece.

The use of the traffic warden on a walkie-talkie also amplifies this idea, the robot sound is presented as what the warden is saying giving the lyrics an almost secretive aspect. The use of this follows the underground genre as it would suggest the piece is reflecting perhaps something political, not mentioned or talked widely of by those in power.

The video is also slightly contradictory of the video, the lyrics follow ‘let’s get electrified’ as the character stumbles and falls around the surrounding city. The lyrics here suggest an energetic or lively atmosphere whereas the visuals juxtapose this in using a character who is presented as fairly weak. It could be argued that this enhances both the lyrics and visuals just as the previous points do, in having something contrasting in the video the lyrics hold wider meaning for the audience.

MUSIC AND VISUALSANDREW GOODWIN: Andrew Goodwin’s theory on music and visuals suggests again that the relationship of the two is significant

to the meaning of the piece. As mentioned before, the visuals of the metropolis of New York emphasises the genre characteristics of electronica/

underground hip hop. The dark, grey high-rises of the city create an eerie and confined atmosphere for the piece complementing the social commentary on racism and oppression. The first few shots establish this, with the low angle shots looking up towards to tall grey buildings, the character, and audience along with him, is immediately placed below the things around him. This not only physically represents the oppression that is being presented through the lyrics, but also creates a confined area within somewhere huge. The buildings have an effect of closing in, creating a claustrophobic and uncomfortable video. The next few shots of the busy streets also reflect this confined space. The city is also almost dystopian as, although there are many cars and people, the use of the geometric harsh shapes and lines creates a sense of a lack of human contact or emotion. The city seems manufactured and mechanical, this is heavily emphasised by the robot synthesized sounds of the background music.

The camera continues to move below eye level of of the other people in the shots, as the music builds up the camera moves towards the main character. The character is crouched on the ground placing him at the same level as the camera, the first person in the sequence to be shot at the audience’s level. This places the viewer with the main character, as we follow him this effect continues.

The music builds up as we meet the character, a repetitive, electronic drum beat is placed over the top of the point of view shot of the character looking up at the confined space around him. The drums create a sense of panic for the audience and reflect the character’s feelings.

The beat continues as the character stumbles around the city, this creates a sense of urgency and again panic revealing the characters feelings and also what the viewer should be feeling.

THE ARTIST/MOTIFSUnlike many other music videos, the artists are not presented in the music video, this could reflect how the

message of the piece needed to be the focus of the audience. The motifs in this video could be the character that we follow as the video progresses.

Throughout the video the audience is focused around one character, the story and messages of the piece are revealed through this. The character is presented as vacant, or zombie-like throughout, with his eyes glazed over and slow but purposeful movements as though he needs to be somewhere. The character could be reflective of how racism is dehumanizing, the use of the glazed eyes reflecting a monster-like being that could suggest the ways in which the world around him sees him.

The use of the dark surrounding areas could suggest the confines to which society has placed him, and crates an effect of almost imprisonment from the rest of society. This is heavily emphasised by the use of other people in the city. The white, middle class characters placed around him create an idea of isolation in having the character stumble and clearly struggle to walk whilst the other characters either ignore him completely or look down upon him creates the idea that he is alone against society.

The character continues to walk around the city encountering more and more people who ignore him. His limbs begin to break, firstly due to one of the white characters pushing into him, the character does not say anything and begins to walk away. The breaking of the main characters body could suggest the weakening of himself due to the constraints of society and the ways in which the various classes and races are treated accordingly.

NOTION OF LOOKING

Andrew Goodwin’s theory of the notion of looking suggests that there is an element of watching in music videos either by the audience, artist, or character to create meaning.

In the Africa Shox music video, the notion of looking is presented throughout using the characters and the audience.

As mentioned before the audience are placed with the character throughout the piece, the beginning shows a point of view shot of the main character that immediately identifies the audience with them. This gives the effect of the audience being with the character and on the same level in terms of class and/or race, this is important as the message being presented needs the audience to be with the main character.

The other characters also play a part in the notion of looking, the close up shots of the white, middle class characters, e.g the one of the man looking at the main character over a newspaper, creates a separation and dislike between the audience and them. This is significant as it emphasises the need for the audience to be placed with the main character.

INTERTEXTUAL REFERENCESThe intertextual references in this video particularly focus on the idea of dystopia within a city, Metropolis(1927),

Blade Runner(1982), The Matrix(1999) and The Third Man(1942) either present themes of dystopian society, war or a ruined society.

METROPOLIS(1927): Metropolis, directed by Fritz Lang, is of the German Expressionist genre and features a story of a dystopian society. German expressionism usually encompasses harsh black and white geometric shapes and lines, such as sky scrapers or metal structures in cities. This is reflective of the Africa Shox video as the dark confined city surrounding the character holds this convention. The dystopian story in Metropolis also reflects the video, as mentioned before, the city presents a dystopia through the use of the isolation of the main character.

BLADE RUNNER(1982): Blade Runner, directed by Ridley Scott, is a science fiction film depicting a dystopian Los Angeles where engineered humans roam free. The robotic sense in this dystopia reflects the music video of Africa Shox, the white, middle class characters could be seen as robotic next to the main black character due to the fact they seem to have no compassion or human emotion as he struggles past. The dystopia is again reflective of his surroundings and the society that is forced upon him.

THE MATRIX(1999): The Matrix, directed by The Wichowskis, also depicts a dystopian future where reality is simulated. This depiction could reflect that of the character in the Africa Shox video, the dystopia is reflective of the characters view of society, that there is no hope as far as what he faces continues.

THE THIRD MAN(1949): The Third Man, directed by Carol Reed, depicts a dark post-war Vienna that is could be reflective of the Africa Shox video. The low angle shots in this film create an eerie and confined space surroudning the characters just as the New York buildings represent this confinement within society for the main character.