Saul Ashby London is a Crime Scene

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=std5iQXBuYs

Music Video analysis

Unsigned, British artist. Gained a scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he studied to become a jazz drummer.

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.

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.

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.

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

‘ 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

‘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

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.