This music video uses cinematography and imagery to portray New York City as a dystopian and threatening place, especially for African Americans. Various shots establish this, such as low angles of the twin towers implying their power over others, and shots of a police car that make the audience feel menaced. Scenes depict the struggles of a black veteran, showing him reaching out for help while a white man ignores him. Locations like an underground parking garage isolate and alienate the main character. Intertextual references to films like "The Third Man" and "Blade Runner" further the dystopian and alienated atmosphere through techniques like a noir visual style.

1. The use of media language in
“Africa Shox”
Artist: Leftfield ft Afrika Bambaataa
Genre: Electronic/House/ Progessive dance/ Hip-
hop/ Dubstep
Director: Chris Cunningham
Released: 6th September 1999

2. The first shot is a low angle shot of the twin
towers. The use of a low angle shot indicates
intimidation and puts the building in a position of
power. Additionally, it perhaps suggests power
and wealth of America/New York. However, the
black man is treated disgustingly, therefore it
could imply the difference of power and wealth
between the different ethnicities. For example,
the black man – who can be referred to as a
veteran/zombie is looking up a the dominant
people and has no control over himself. Goodwin’s
theory suggests that there is a relationship
between music and visuals. For instance, in this
music video New York is represented as a
dystopia. Also, crowded streets insinuate the
African is alien to this culture. Therefore, the
dystopic aspect of the mise-en-scene, connoted
by the negative representation of New York, may
take audiences who enjoy dance and dub step out
of their comfort zone, but the use of
cinematography and clean cuts which amplify the
beat may strengthen the fan base.

3. The second establishing shot is a police car.
This automatically makes the audience feel
threatened and creates a menacing
atmosphere. The non-digetic sound of the
siren suggests the idea of New York as being a
dystopia – an uncomfortable and dangerous
place to be. The siren symbolises that this
place is an area of crime and chaos. The use
of a police car immediately indicates
authority. It then cuts to a white security
man. This implies that society is controlled by
a white culture authority. Furthermore, the
police car has flashing lights which reinforces
the genre of the music –
electronic/dupstep/house/dance, as they
could be representing strobe lights in a club
type atmosphere. This could link to
Goodwin’s theory of music videos having
genre characteristics.

4. This is a point of view shot which puts the audience in the position of
the action, which tends to make the audience feel disturbed. This shot
shows the black male to be anxious and perplexed which perhaps
suggests the difficulty of the black veteran who has returned from the
Vietnam war and is unable to fit back in with society.
This shot reverse shot sequence shows the binary opposition between
the two ethnic groups. The veteran/zombie reaches out for help, whilst
the white man notices but doesn’t hesitate to ignore him and returns
to reading his newspaper. The notion of looking is associated with
Goodwin’s theory as it is ironically represented in the low angle shots
of the middle aged city man reading the newspaper, rather than
looking at the black man he turns away as if the broken figure before
him is invisible. The white man dehumanizes he veteran/zombie. This
shot emphasises the racial inequality that still unfortunately happens
in society, but focusing on New York.
Furthermore, film is by nature voyeuristic, in the case of this
music video it is the audience who are voyeurs looking passively
at the disintegration of the African as he stumbles either
traumatised by war which is referenced by the dog tag he wears
or has been laid low by drugs which is reference to the club scene.
The dog tag implies that he has been treated unfairly and looked
down on because Americans were unable to secure victory in the
war.

5. One of the locations used in this music video
is an underground car park. The genre of this
track can be linked with the location as it is
perhaps representing how the genre began in
the underground before rising to popularity. It
is interesting that the break dancers are white
as break dancing originated amongst the
African American and Puerto Rican
youths living in New York City in the 1970’s,
danced to a hip-hop beat and making up one
of the four elements of hip-hop. Therefore,
his identity is perhaps being taken away from
him. The dance and dub step generic
conventions are strongly evident within this
scene. Furthermore, the use of the noir
lighting focuses on isolated characters
illustrating the attitudes towards African
Americans struggling in New York.
The black male walks through the car park
which connotes alienation and it is isolated
which shows the world he is living in is
separate from society and he is perceived
more as a zombie, rather than a human.

6. Goodwin’s theory of there being a relationship
between lyrics and visuals is portrayed in this
shot of the veteran touching the barbed wire
fence, whilst the lyrics are : “lets get electrified”.
The use of these lyrics emphasises the electronic
genre which represents partying and rave.
However, the word ‘electrified’ can be associated
with the black mans hand against the electric
fence. This has negative connotations as it could
be related to prisons or concentration camps
where people did not or don’t have any control
over themselves. Therefore, this insinuates the
man feels extremely trapped and cannot escape
from the horrible reality he is currently in.

7. The low angle shots of New York could be an inter-textual reference to Carol Reed’s
surreal representation of Vienna as a labyrinth in “The Third Man” and the
dystopic representation of the city in “The Matrix”. The cinematography is in the
noir style to suggest connotations of cynicism, melancholy, disillusionment,
nightmare and alienation.
The mainly black and white cinematography footage brings to mind noir films such as
noir science fiction films like “Blade Runner” – the overcrowded confusing streets
which indicate a dying planet in Ridley Scott’s iconic film give the text an edge. The
representation of the black man as a zombie also references the horror genre.
This dystopic representation of the city was established in cinema in the film
“Metropolis”. The futuristic city of Metropolis is built quite literally on inequality;,
the city of the future was identical with exploitation, power, corruption and greed
and anticipated the rise of fascism.
Intertextuality
This is a location shot of Vienna in “The Third
Man” - it is perceived to be a fractured place
from the aftermath of the war. Additionally, it
shows the streets to be deserted, dark and shiny
which indicates a labyrinth.