Ghost Town

• Camera shots -> effect on audience

  Low angles of urban scapes -> sets the scene for the audience

  Tracking shots through streets -> immediately reveals the location is London with various working class style buildings

  Exterior shot of the car looking in -> able to see the 7 passengers, diversity of the band representing an integrated/multicultural group, fairly unusual for 1980s

  Crammed in car -> suggests close friendship and community between the group

  Fast paced editing, canted angles, hand held shots and crazed expressions -> connotes wild and rebellious behaviour
• Codes and conventions(BARTHES)

  Enigma code -> empty streets, creating mystery behind why its empty, conveying the town as desolate and sad
• Serious facial expressions -> suggests the song is going to tackle serious issues, depressing tone
• HISTORICAL/CULTURAL CONTEXT

  -1980s Margaret Thatcher as prime minister

  -Majority of Britain suffering from unemployment and poverty, mainly young black Caribbean men as a result of government policy

  -Huge increase in crime, riots and protests throughout the 70s/80s young men extremely angry and frustrated -> the music video allowed them to identify with this

  -Periods of protests in 1981 regarding the governments decision to privatise/close industries

  -Also new introduction of stop and search laws highlighting police discrimination
• Who was Ghost Town by?

  The Specials
• Significance of the music video?

  reflected many feelings of young men at the time after facing huge unemployment and poverty (1980s)
• Racism in 1980 Britain

  -Mainstream media (e.g. newspapers and TV) blamed immigrants and young black men for the rise in crime, poverty and unemployment

  -Caused a lot of friction in Britain such as Xenophobia and anti-immigration propaganda

  -The National Front organisation encouraged the racism and resulted in a larger racial divide -> protests against police discrimination and the National Front turned violent

  -MV represents the anger surrounding this but shows racial harmony and diversity amongst the group
• The Specials Context


  -Mixture of white and black singers & musicians in the band was quite unusual at the time and their overall brand was about racial harmony and equality

  -Their music mixed together cultures and genres e.g British Punk + Jamaican Ska
• -Referring to the BoomTown era when London was bustling with life and filled with jobs

  -Colour grading changes during this, cold to warm -> binary opposites between the moments when they're singing about the past and what London is like for them now

  -Warmer tones connote the nostalgia when reflecting on how Britain used to be

  -Dancing in the car creates a dark comical vibe
• Mise-en-scene

  Low key lighting, cold blue tones -> presents the town as ghostly and dangerous to be around, connotes fear and deprivation -> reinforces stereotype that male aggression is dangerous/aggressive

  Long dark shadows -> representing the buildings of London as oppressive and ominous

  Brutalist grey concrete and glass set against the flat grey sky help connote the uninviting society which built this harsh landscape.
• Camera shots 2

  Tracking shots past vandalised cars -> reflects the crime and riots happening at the time

  German Expressionism- uses visual distortion and hyper-expressive performance over replicating reality. The video incorporates elements of this genre and style in the over the shoulder shots which give an eerie like feel- like we’re passive onlookers.

  The direct address- surrounded by darkness whilst their faces are lit up by bright blue light

  Shadows could act as a semantic code to suggest Britain is a shadow of its former self
• Rapid swerving of the car and no seatbelts -> suggests danger, risky behaviour but their excited look signifies they aren't afraid as they are so tired of the dismal state of the country.

  Moving reflections of the car -> connotes their lives are passing them by and they feel powerless, also disorientates the audience as its out of their control also

  Throwing stones at River Thames -> immature thing to do, the men feel bored as a result of being unemployed

  Chaotic movement -> may reflect or signify the emotional and economic turmoil of Britain in the early 1980s
• Sound effects/Noise

  Whistling wind -> creates a feeling of emptiness, abandonment the ghosts of what London used to be, may also remind audiences of police sirens and add to the anti-establishment theme (crime + law)

  Incorporated discordant horns, haunted chords and demonic vocal harmonies for something decidedly not easy listening.
• Were the men actually presented as violent?

  No, they were represented as angry/frustrated but did not have particularly violent behaviour

  Possibly to challenge perceptions of men or even specific ethnicities that are stereotypical in the media (PAUL GILROY)
• Summer of 1981 HANDSWORTH

  Handsworth in Birmingham: July 1981, property damage, 40 officers injured, 121 arrests. Few females involved, 78% 16-24 men arrested.
• Summer of 1981 BRIXTON

  Brixton in London: April 10th first rioting, over 100 arrested 10 days after, 15 police injured. Confrontations in Finsbury Park, Forest Gate, Ealing. 10th July, second riot.
• Summer of 1981 TOXTETH

  Toxteth in Liverpool: Riots spread from London to Liverpool, arose in long-standing tesnions between local police and black communities. Merseyside police arrested 244 people due to offenses and civil disturbances.
• Unemployment rates during 1981 Britain?


  Britain experienced a rise from 1.5mil to 2.5mil in 12 months. Unemployment among ethnic minorities has risen 82% in the same period.
• The Specials Background


  They released their self-financed first single, Gangsters, in early 1979. A year later, they were one of Britain’s most successful brands.

  
  

  Their success had spawned its own genre and attendant youth cult, called Two Tone: the name of the Specials’ record label and a nod to their multi-racial line-up.

  
  

  Released on 20th June 1981 against a backdrop of rising unemployment, its blend of melancholy, unease and menace took on an entirely new meaning when Britain’s streets erupted into rioting almost 3 weeks later- The day before Ghost Town reached no.1 in charts.t
• Release date?

  The ghost town EP was released on the 12th of June 1981, debuting at no. 21. By the 11th of July it had risen to no. 1.