This music video is typical for its media text as it follows the basic structure of a montage-styled series of performance shots by the artist as well as cinematic shots of actors and dancers rapidly cut in synchronisation to the rhythm of the song. The video integrates various visual effects compatible to the feel of the song as it employs a dark colour grading theme to support the gritty feel of the video and rap song, a decision typical of music videos as this makes an incredible difference to the visuals. The post-production choices also includes the use of computer graphical animation relevant to the context of the lyrics in the song, as well as images of politicians such as David Cameron to visually support the auditory information. The use of graphics is typical in music videos as well as the inclusion of typography directly parallel to the song lyrics.
Another conventional factor of the music video is the use of different settings and locations throughout the duration of the video. The choice of using council estate blocks, street locations and a car-park rooftop are relevant to the song and have a strong visual impact which the audience can understand with the use of these particular locations. Switching locations rapidly throughout the video provides a flashy effect which is in-sync to the rhythm of the music and succeeds to continuously engage the audience as the audience will be keen to keep up with the rapid visual changes. The costumes of the actors and the artist Plan B himself, support the desired socio-political messages to be conveyed as they are all dressed in urban clothing and most significantly - hoodies.
The mise-en-scene of the music video is a spectacular feature of the video because the frames are occupied with rapid movement such as dancing to the violent actions of jumping on cars and smashing glass. The lighting transitions at a full scale from the start to the end of the video from the first to the last quarter of the day which emphasises the cathartic feel of the song as audiences may feel the political comments have been expressed for a long time with no lack of social change yet by the 'night-time' in the video. Props include bicycles, bottles and many weapons associated to the London 2011 riots to emphasise the dominant message of the video.
Representation How does it represent the London riots/rioters?
The very first frame displays a suburban London setting with estates and a grey sky polluted with smoke to reinforce the grim atmosphere stereotype of urban London. One of the upcoming clips displays young adults adopting threatening poses as they walk in outfits associated to 'hoodrats' in London, hence acting as a shorthand for the audience to quickly identify the characters in a short period of time - as theorised by Medhurst. These initial representation of London and it's young inhabitants establishes a reinforcement of negative stereotypes associated with the represented location and people.
An even more explicit representation is that of chavs, exhibited with the use of on-screen typography to state 'c.h.a.v' as an acronym for "council-housed and violent" which negatively reinforces the stereotype of young adults in the London riots who were referred to as chavs. This is evidently done in a satirical manner as Plan B aims to poke fun at the socio-political instability in London which he argues caused and provoked the riots to begin with. These scenes in the music video demonstrate binary oppositions as explained by theorist Strauss who explained that direct contraries are featured in media texts to emphasise a particular message. The messages in particular are formed by the producer of the music video who would be Ben Drew in association with his production team so the representation of rioters would be dependent on their personal views and the message they aim to convey to the audience.
The most predominant representation nonetheless is the reinforcement of dominant negative stereotypes linked with young adults, primarily male. The trailer covers numerous scenes displaying large groups of the targeted category shown to be making vulgarous gestures and engaging in anti-social activities such as throwing molotovs and the theft of a television. These are contradictory to Drew's personal beliefs as he himself is from the crooked suburban London origins, however his purpose of implementing these ideologies is to give reasoning for the rioters' actions as the police are portrayed in a negative light throughout the video as well as other powerful social figures such as politicians.
Audience What audience pleasures does it offer?
One of the primary audience pleasures offered to the audience is that of entertainment. The incredible videography complemented with the soundtrack provides auditory and visual cohesion to the music video which makes it enjoyable to watch. The audience would receive the gratification of enjoyment as they use this particular media text to fulfil the purpose of diversion.
In particular, it is considerable that the particular music genre of the soundtrack is UK rap so this would appeal to a niche audience. The primary demographic targeted would be mostly males of a CDE demographic who live in London, as the scenes portrayed and the music featured can fulfil the personal identity gratification of this audience.
To further depth it is noteworthy that the audience would use this media text as a source for information and awareness and they may support and be influenced by the ideologies reinforced by the text. The two-step flow model determines the producers of this music video as the mediator to convey these messages to raise awareness and develop support from the audience.
Institutions How does the music video help to promote the film?
The basis of the music video is to visually support the lyrics and beat of the soundtrack 'ill Manors', which shares the same name as the low-budget film produced by Plan B. This is a form of synergy as the two media texts share similarity to promote one another across different media platforms. The music video is also constructed with many similarities to support the feel and genre of the film, with a relevant setting which is in many ways identical to the grim suburban London portrayed in the film as well as more subtle factors including lighting and costumes.
The distribution of the music video is primarily through social media platforms, thus enabling the content producer to embed hyperlinks and additional information and graphics to promote the film. The music video may be published on the producer's official website as well as on their YouTube channel to be cross-promoted on social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook.
Additionally, it is noteworthy that the music video itself features cameos from actors starring in the film. This can help promote the film because the music video will gain further popularity from the inclusion of the cast and the audience may generate interest in the characters portrayed to be more likely to research and watch the film.
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