Ill Manors Music Video Analysis

1) Ill Manors by Plan B covers most music video conventions such as that the video is edited and the music beats is synced to the video. There's a lot of intercutting between the performance of Plan B and the London riots and previous video clips of politicians. There is a lot of shaking and most of it seems like handheld which makes it look more authentic and realistic. There is a lot jump cuts which automatically removes continuity editing out of the scene which isn't even an issue because it's deliberately done for the effect of fast paced editing. It also follows the convention of being a short video, about 2-3 minutes short however it may appear long because it's a montage of different videos edited together. Plan B is seen lip-syncing at the roof top of an estate I'm assuming which emphasis that he's on top of his area and he speaks for everyone in it. The symbols of fire burning and cars destroyed and objects being vandalized reinforced the typical stereotype of young people and his fan base of rap.

Every person in in the video is represented to be a criminal, except the politicians. There are more males than females in the music video by a large amount which again implies which type of audience follow Plan B's music and males are more likely to love violence and vandalism than woman. Due to the genre of rap and grime, the setting of the music video and the streets are not visually pleasing and that is intended by the director and rapper Plan B because he wants to show the rough and run down bits of London. 

There are a lot of props being shown in the video including guns, bottles, drugs and fire. In most rap and grime music video you'll see gold chains, drugs, guns and a bad patriarchal view of woman. It's a very dark setting and the lights are very dimmed which gives it a grimy and grungy look.

2) The London riots in 2011 were heavily and primarily blamed on the youngsters and how they are rebellious and trouble makers. There was often claims that they should be jailed for their disgusting behaviour. The males in the video were seen as the protagonists in the video as they were attacking the police and looting but females were there for joint-enterprise and recording videos. None of the girls were classy and they were all trashy. Some were smoking in the background with guys and another was filming a fight between the guys.

The dominant reading for this is that it helps subvert the fact that disadvantaged youth and young people are a big threat to our society and Drew successfully done that through his low budget film and music video. However the alternative and correct reading of all this is that Ben Drew is promoting the London riots and he is supporting the actions of all the ill mannered looters. He is also promoting vandalism when he and another take a bottle with fire and burn a car down. There are also other examples of where they are looting, fighting and destroying things. 

3) The fast paced aesthetically pleasing handheld effect was very nice and gives the audience pleasure because of the fast paced montage editing. Simple because there was so much to see and to keep up with would keep the audience intrigued. The music video also pleasures us the audience as it has a controversial view point and a very strong political view which makes it more intriguing. They use cartoon cut outs at the first when he mentions 'urban safari' or something like that. Footage from the past through comical political media build a story and would educate the youth and attract the older audience because it should be a nostalgic trip.

4) The music video promotes the film a lot mainly because there's actors from the film in the music video as well which is great promotion and awareness for both the music video and the film because fans of the actors are more likely to watch and listen to the music video if their favourite actors are in the video. This also allows the audience to get familiar with who is in the film and recognise and it builds knowledge about the film before it's even out. This also makes the music video clips more conceptual and there is a clear synergy here as the narrative is subtly introduced through the short music video film.

Ill Manors Soundtrack Research:

• The Recording company for the Ill Manors album was Warner Bros and was produced by multiple producers most notably Plan B and also Labrinth. The Edge Recording Studio in London was used to make the album.
• The single Ill Manors peaked at no.6 in the UK Singles Charts and the whole album went up to no.121 in download sales in the UK. The renowned Metacritic gave the album 83/100 which is quite high considering Kanye West's Dark Twisted Fantasy got 94/100. 
• The Telegraph rated the album 5 stars out of 5 which is interesting because the Telegraph backs the tories which Plan B has strong views on and illustrates that in his album.