Afrika Shox - Case Study

Afrika Shox

The music video, Afrika Shox is by a British band named 'Leftfield'. The featuring artist in Afrika Shox is Afrika Bambaata who is an American artist responsible for the growing popularity in this electronic/dubstep genre. The man responsible for the directing of the music video is named Chris Cunningham. The song/music video was released publicly on 6th September 1999. 

The opening shot to Afrika Shox is of the prolific twin towers located in New York City. The low angle shot of these incredibly large towers makes the audience feel vulnerable, this accompanied with the misty, bleak weather helps to connote a daunting feel to the beginning of the video. This shot also may carry some symbolism as in 2001 the twin towers were famously destroyed by a terrorist attack, most people know that this iconic landmark is associated with that day in 2001 and therefore bringing negative connotations to the image. It creates a sense of doom amongst an audience. The shot of the twin towers may also connote a sense of wealth and power within America, however we see a sharp contrast when shown the main character of the video. 

This vibrant lights on the police vehicle indicates the vibrant life that occurs within the city and also relates to the electronic genre of Afrika Shox. This shot has a very grey and dismal background which makes the vibrant colours of the police car's lights stand out even more. There are even more lights which continue to shine throughout the music video to keep the genres to the beat and suggest people dancing in a club which is what the track is designed to do.



The dark mise-en-scene, urban genre is portrayed through the city views and urban setting within the music video. The camera cuts to a shot of a car park located underground, this a cultural signifier of underground music, its very dark and also includes flashing images which relates to lights that you would experience in a club, this is also unknown to the mainstream music scene. This clip is also in black and white which further suggests that its a non-mainstream music video.

 

This shot shows the main character from Afrika Shox stumbling in a zombie like fashion through the back streets of New York, it is very clear that the character is walking like a zombie or alien, this is further portrayed by the characters costume and make up. The white, cloudy eye contact lenses make him appear blind and not completely in touch with what it is going on around him and sees the world around him from another perspective to those contrasting characters we see later on in the video (Upper class businessmen). He is used as a representitative of black slaves once seen in America who are now forgotten, he doesn't fit in with his surroundings and other people. The fact that there is no colour in his eyes could suggest that his eyes are similar to his life, in that there is no colour in his life and that he lives a bleak and dismall life.

This shot gives the audience a strong comparison between two characters. The business like bystander seems to take an interest in the main character for a split moment with a negative and unfriendly expression on his face, this indicates to us that he is disgusted and disapproves of what he sees infront of him and feels that this man doesn't belong in society. This man is also clearly not willing to help this man and isn't bothered by the distress the main character is showing as he quickly diverts his attention back to reading the newspaper.

 

This shot of the main character holding out his arm suggests that he is in need of help and support from those around him, from earlier shots we know that the bystanders are not willing to give him aid even though he appears to be in desperate pain. This can relate to the black slavery period in America, as they were in need of help but none ever came.