The music video portrays a negative view of inner city life in London through imagery like graffiti and scenes depicting homeless people, drunk young women, and aggressive teenage boys. It follows the artist as he walks through this environment, singing and playing guitar, with shots that contrast close-ups of him with long shots of the surrounding area. The video suggests the artist has a personal connection to this area, so the line "London is a Crime Scene" refers to it being emotionally difficult for him due to past experiences there. It also shows how quickly one's situation can change, as the artist goes from giving money to a homeless man to receiving money himself by the end.

1. Saul Ashby
London is a Crime Scene
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Music Video analysis
Unsigned, British artist. Gained a
scholarship to Berklee College of
Music in Boston, where he
studied to become a jazz
drummer.

2. The first four shots establish the scene for the video and
paint a dull and unappealing view of inner city life. The
graffiti is off putting and already gives the audience a
negative impression of the environment.

3. This clip of the artist makes him appear
out of place. In the background there is a
homeless man asleep in an environment
you would expect to see him in. On the
other hand the artist contrasts the image
of the homeless man , he seems well
presented in his suite and obviously
carrying a guitar makes me appear out of
place.

4. A tracking shot is used to follow the
artist as he walks down the path.
There is first a long shot that shows
him walking, playing the guitar and
shows the environment he is in. It
then changes into a close up of him
singing, then back to a long shot to
show that nothing has changed. It
finally moves onto a close up of his
shows, this breaks the clip up, not
having on continuous long shot of
him walking.

5. These shots give a negative representation of
young Women. In the video one is shown being
sick, clearly after a night out and her friend, still
supposedly drunk comes across negatively and
violent throwing a bottle. The line in the song
‘We’re too old for the clothes we wear, still too
young too care.’ is shown in this clip, the girls
should perhaps not be dressed and act the way
they are, but because of their age they feel its
acceptable as they’re still young

6. ‘ everywhere I look now London is a Crime scene’
The video also portrays teenage boys negatively. It
conforms to the generic aggressive, hooded youth
stereotype in that they are shown as being violent
without being provoked.
The area the video is shot in already shows a negative
stereotype due to the large amount of graffiti that is
present as he walks down the path. This shows a
negative view of London and the people that live
there

7. ‘late nights and drinking by the river’
This shows that he might have a
personal connection to that area. So
rather than London being a crime
scene because what just happened
and what goes on through out the
video, it could be that emotionally the
area is a crime scene for him because
of thing that have happened
previously, so ‘everywhere I look now
London is a Crime Scene’ is due to the
personal history he has his the area

8. At the beginning of the video he is seen putting money
in a cup for a homeless man. At the end of the video a
man puts money in his hat. I think this shows how
quickly life can change, as at the beginning he is the one
giving the money and at the end he is the one receiving
the money. The way the artist looks changing through
the video, at the beginning he smartly dressed and at
the end he is wearing trainers, a hat and coat that he
found while walking. This shows how quickly life can
change as at the beginning he seemed out of place and
at the end he fits in the environment.