Since Sam and I haven't created any storyboards yet for our music video, we thought it would be a good idea to scout around Norwich to find possible locations which could feature within our music video.
This way, we where both able to come up and share a few more ideas with each other since we knew the surroundings which we where in. Here are the photographs below:
You may also "free-roam" the below Prezi presentation.
"Afrika Shox" by Leftfield was released on the 6th September 1999 as their first single from the album "Rhythm and Stealth". The music video for "Afrika Shox" was directed by Chris Cunningham, who also directed "New York Is Killing Me" by Gil Scott-Heron.
The opening low angle shot is a cultural signifier to New York as the shot displays the famous Two Towers which donate the surrounding mise-en-scene and invokes the feeling that New York is a concrete jungle or maze to live in. Another cultural signifier which represents the location is the flashing lights on-top of the police car in the medium close up. These flashing lights represent the location which techno/dance genre of music would be displayed in "underground" clubs, songs such as "Afrika Shox". This is also backup by the continuing appearance of lights which take over and dominate the mise-en-scene throughout, such as the ambient light at 0:34 seconds and also the logo of a shop at 1:26.
0:34
1:26
As well as the flashing lights, the police car itself could represent the type of audience which listens to this genre of music - outlaws, those on the run, people who go into hiding to listen to this type of music as if they should be behind bars as they're revolting against other genres of music and sound - as if the audience shouldn't be seen by the public eye.
One more interesting point is that the police car could be on the lookout for the colored man character within the video. As if the colored man is on the run and is trying to escape from his "masters" - the police. He is being represented as a slave of the city since he walks with a limp and is alienated throughout the music video which is represented by quick edits and fast paste close ups that shows the colored man's confusion by the presence of white people and dominating buildings with in the mise-en-scene. This alienation could be a possible intertextual reference to the poem "Limbo (, Limbo Like Me)" by Edward Kamau Brathwaite as the imaginary suggests and references the poem's lyrics. Lyrics of "Limbo":
Click to reveal lyrics :
And limbo stick is the silence in front of me
limbo
limbo
limbo like me
limbo
limbo like me
long dark night is the silence in front of me
limbo
limbo like me
stick hit sound
and the ship like it ready
stick hit sound
and the dark still steady
limbo
limbo like me
long dark deck and the water surrounding me
long dark deck and the silence is over me
limbo
limbo like me
stick is the whip
and the dark deck is slavery
stick is the whip
and the dark deck is slavery
limbo
limbo like me
drum stick knock
and the darkness is over me
knees spread wide
and the water is hiding
limbo
limbo like me
knees spread wide
and the dark ground is under me
down
down
down
and the drummer is calling me
limbo
limbo like me
sun coming up
and the drummers are praising me
out of the dark
and the dumb god are raising me
up
up
up
and the music is saving me
hot
slow
step
on the burning ground.
The intertextual references to the poem "Limbo" can be seen throughout the music video, for example, at 1:19 the colored man is falling onto the ground, this is a intertextual reference since the poem describes: "on the burning ground" and also "and the dark ground is under me". Also, the lyrics "the world is on fire" in "Afrika Shox" could be a reference to "on the burning ground" from the poem "Limbo". Another intertextual reference is the other colored man helping the main character off the ground at 4:16, which is a reference to "up, up, up" and "the music is saving me". Lastly, another reference to the poem is the line "knees spread wide", which can mean many different things, however, in context to the music video, it is visually represented by break-dances since their "knees (are) spread wide" during their dance routines.
A while ago, my group and I came up with the idea of using an animation within our music video. One of my first ideas is to use newspapers as the background of the animation and to include Brian (the singer) or a character to travel across the scene in a pan shot which would be inspired by the style of "Russel Howard's Good News" title sequence opening.
To gain more inspiration, my group and I did some research on similar styles and animations which we wish to achieve. One of these which we all liked was found by Sam (Wight):
One of the ideas which my group has been inspired by is the constant appearance of text which spells out different sentences. We hope to use something similar to spell the lyrics of our chosen song - "Information". By doing this, we'll be using one of Andrew Goodwin's theory:
"There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals".
My group could amplify the connection between the lyrics and visuals by possibly using newspaper cutouts to spell the lyrics of the song within the mise-en-scene. The reason behind this is because newspapers are associated with informing viewers/readers about the latest news and stories.The artist himself, Brian Korteling has mentioned that the song is about:
"leaving a situation with no clear idea if it is the right thing to do or not but going on gut feeling....".
By doing this, we would be enforcing the lyrics "give me information" from each verse of the song within the mise-en-scene and the visuals.
One music video animation which I found when researching that I find inspiring and very interesting is called "Rivers and Homes" by "J.viewz". The animation includes 300 of the band's fans which each hold one frame of the band's music video, then a photograph is taken of the fan and the image they're holding to create a second animation. The final outcome is that the music video in the center of the screen appears normally to create a kind of illusion when the two videos are combined together.
One shot I find very interesting, is the shot of when the band are singing in the middle of the lake and the camera pans round onto each member, while at the same time, the "outer layer" camera is doing the same camera movement. I find this shot very memorable and I hope to include something similar in my group's music video if possible.
