Guide to the Music Video 'Ghost Town' by The Specials

May 17, 2024

Guide to the Music Video 'Ghost Town' by The Specials 🎶

Introduction

  • Relevance: Important for AQA A-level Media Studies students (optional set text).

Setting the Scene

  • Low Angles & Tracking Shots: Displays urban London settings.
  • Empty Streets: Unusual and eerie for a busy city like London.
  • Visuals:
    • Mix of working-class and upper-class areas.
    • Adds a creepy, isolated, abandoned feel.

Inside the Car

  • Seven People:
    • Diverse races representing friendship and community.
    • Serious, sad expressions aligning with the song's tone.

Context

  • 1980s Britain:
    • Margaret Thatcher's era: high unemployment and poverty.
    • Affected mostly young men, especially young black Afro-Caribbean men.
    • Increase in crime, violence, and protests.
    • Summer of Riots (1981): Protesting government and police actions.

Themes and Representation

  • Anger & Isolation: Video resonated with audiences feeling these due to unemployment.
  • Stop and Search Laws: Police stopping mostly black individuals, causing friction and racism.
  • Racial Harmony: Instead of blaming racial groups, video suggests political failures.

The Band: The Specials

  • Diverse Band: Mix of white and black singers.
  • Hybrid Genres: British punk rock, ska (Jamaican influence), new wave.
  • Quirky, Alternative Style: Different from mainstream music.

Visual and Editing Techniques

  • Fast-Paced Editing: Creates chaos, rebellion.
  • Canted Angles & Handheld Shots: Enhance the feeling of wildness and danger.
  • Color Grading:
    • Cool colors: Depressing scenes.
    • Warm colors: Nostalgic scenes of a better past.
  • Low-Key Lighting & Shadows: Dangerous, bleak representation of the town.
  • Symbolism:
    • Abandoned cars: Poverty and lack of jobs.
    • Shadows of people: London as a ghost town.

Key Scenes

  • Car Scenes: Wild, chaotic, dangerous driving reflects rebellious spirit.
  • Nostalgic Dancing: Warmer colors, upbeat feel, reminiscing about better times.
  • Alleyway Scene: Low-key lighting, shadows, and abandoned visuals reflecting danger and poverty.
  • Throwing Stones in Thames: Symbolizes boredom and lack of opportunities for young men.
  • Siren-Like Noise: Adds to desolate, abandoned feel, reminiscent of police sirens.

Conclusion

  • Overall Representation: London as abandoned, desolate, left to rot by the government.
  • Young Men: Angry, aggressive, violent due to political decisions.
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