I'll Manors Music Video

• Forms

How is it typical of a music video? 

It is a typical music video due to the video being around 4 mins long to promote Plan B as an artist and as a film director. This is due to this song being the main theme music used in his film given the same name, Ill Manors. The music video contains performances from Plan B himself. as he lip syncs to the song while showing emotions as to how he feels about the situation he is in. He is shown to lip sync in various settings but mostly in an empty car park, a roof top and outside, accompanied with other young people who seem to be quite destructive. This is a spectacle as he directly addresses the audience which makes it seem as if he is rapping to the viewers which could send different messages such as insults if the audience is well off or unity if the audience is less fortunate like the kids in his music video. The video does not have an obvious narrative but many people may interpret that the music video aims to show a narrative of chavs (believed to stand for council housed and violent by Plan B) will continue to be uncontrollable and cause havoc in society when they are disregarded and belittled by those who have a higher status and financial situation. The iconic themes of the genre of the music, rap, are clearly shown in the constant images of gangs on the street. This allows the audience to understand the message the artist is trying to convey through these images. The music video includes many montages of the chaos that young people create which emphasizes the role the youth have in today's society and how it is conveyed by the media.

• Representation

How does it represent the London riots/rioters?

The London riots are represented to be a moral panic for society as it portrays the youth going out of control. This is a dominant representation of young people from a less fortunate background as it reinforces the stereotype they don't have much of a future and will always be a threat to society. These stereotypes are mostly created by those who are wealthier and of a better background than the youth portrayed in this video as those of a better background are considered to be more powerful (Richard Dyer). However, Plan B challenges the theory that those who stereotype are more powerful as he directly addresses them in his music video by labelling them 'little rich boy' and threatening them to go home or they 'could get robbed for real'. This shows that Plan B wants to put young people in power. As the stereotype of young people being threats to society, Plan B understands this shorthand stereotype (Medhurst) and presents it in a different way to show the youth as powerful.  

• Audience

What audience pleasures does it offer?

As this is a music video, it offers pleasure to those who enjoy  this particular style of music. It may also offer pleasure to those who are similar situations as the youth who Plan B describes in his rap lyrics due to personal identity (Blumler & Katz). Plan B also insults politics and the dominant ideology that the youth is useless which may also cause some people who share similar opinions to Plan B, to receive personal identity and pleasure from the music video. Also some of the audience in similar situations as the youth in the music video may get pleasure as they will feel that Plan B exposes the real reasons why they do what they do and that they have a strong figure (Plan B) to look up to. The youth will feel that they are being represented well and will be able to have a voice in society through Plan B's music. The psychographic group that the music video is aimed at is probably the young strugglers who are constantly judged by the rest of the society but this music video helps these strugglers believe that they are not alone.

• Institutions

How does the music video help to promote the film?
The music video helps promote the film as the content of the music video is very similar to the film; the youth create problems in society whether it is due to selling drugs and being violent or rioting in London. Both the film and the music video portray young people as not having much money and shows them willing to go to any extent to make that money. The music video also contains some of the actors from the film, some which are very obvious where as others are not. As the music video has the same title as the film, viewers who watch the music video will have a high chance of discovering the film along with it. The music video acts as a short hand (medhurst) summary of the film with many stereotypes to help express the genre of music it is, which allows the audience to think about whether this particular genre is something they would like to watch.