Case Study: Use of Media Language in 'Afrika Shox'

    Leftfield is a British electronic band formed in 1989 in London, England. From 1989 to 2002, Leftfield was a duo of artists and record producers that consisted of Neil Barnes and Paul Daley. The duo were hugely influential in the evolution of electronic music in the 1990's having been described as "the single most influential production team working in British dance music". They collaborated with Bambaataa on their track 'Afrika Shox', the video of which I will be looking at. 






    The video opens with a low angle geometric shot of the twin towers - taken not long before 9/11- which makes the city look very big and daunting, as if it was looming over and possibly dominating the passers by on the street. Due to this, it creates the idea of an 'urban jungle' as well as being representative of the electronica genre which is quite 'in your face' and has a fairly strong presence - much like the tower in this shot. This is an example of Goodwin's Theory which suggests that a music video demonstrates genre characteristics, which is later seen again with the shot of the police car with the flashing lights in reference to the lights you would see in a club, where they would play dance/electronica music such as this.

    Similarly, the later use of a underground car park location could also be seen as reflective of the genre as this type of music would have originally been part of then alternative and 'underground' music scene, where the band Leftfield would most likely have started off their creative exposure. Alternatively, as the location is very hidden and isolated, it could be reflective of the 'character' in the video being alienated - possibly in reference to slavery and racial issues, as later reinforced. The use of a point of view shot through this location helps to put the audience in the character's - or possibly an external observer's - perspective as they are positioned with the action, dragged into the mise en scene of the video.

    We later see the use of binary opposition through the great contrast between the dark, confined interior location to the brighter, open busy streets as the exterior location. This could be used to show the divide between the character and the wider public seen in the street shots, possibly in reference to racial or social divide that is still present to this day. The idea of these issues still being relevant to the modern world we currently live in is reinforced by the use of cultural references in the video, such as the use of yellow cabs and coffee shop signs in the street shots, which could also link to consumerism.

    Another of Goodwin's theories present in this video is there being a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. In this case, the visuals amplify the lyrics as we see the character hold on to a fence with the lyrics 'Let's get electrified' playing over the top, illustrated by the use of visuals within the scene. The combination of the lyrics and visuals could be in reference to an electric fence of which you could find at prisons and would have been used in concentration camps, both projecting the idea of imprisonment of which could be reflective of the African slaves when they would be taken off ships and sold into different countries. 

    The identity of the main character in the video is very ambiguous and therefore could be symbolic and used as a metaphor. The man is quite zombie-like, which links to Edgar Wright's 'Shaun of the Dead'  who also uses the idea of zombies to create a social commentary on modern day life, much like seen in Romero's original zombie trilogy of which made commentary on political and social issues from racism to consumerism. Once again, in Fritz Lang's 'Metropolis', we see a group of workers who all move very solemnly and zombie-like- who much like the character in this video appear to have no identity and are reduced to simply being another face in the crowd. This also shows the use of Goodwin's theory of the use of inter-textual references within this video.

Edgar Wright and cast on set of Wright's
'Shaun of the Dead' (2004)

George A. Romero's 'Night of the Living
Dead' (1968)
 

 

    Furthermore, the zombie image being used to make social and/or political commentary can be seen in The Cranberries' song 'Zombie', which is a protest song about the ethno-political conflict in Ireland, the visuals of which includes clips of children playing, and of British soldiers from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders on patrol in Northern Ireland.

 

 

    Throughout the video, we see the character begin to break, as if he was made of porcelain. The use of the visuals of him shattering could be used to reinforce the idea of social commentary by suggesting a broken society of which enables these aforementioned vicious prejudices and issues to grow. Similarly, these visuals are very much like those seen in the death scene of Angelique in Tim Burton's 2012 'Dark Shadows' - another text which uses iconic ghouls to make commentary on modern society. 

Angelique's death scene in Tim Burton's 'Dark Shadows' (2012)