60 Second Film - The Night Before

Plan B- ill Manors

Plan B- ill Manors

The song ill Manors by Plan B was released on 23rd July 2012 as the soundtrack to the film of the same name, also directed by Plan B. The genre of the song is hip-hop and protest, focusing on the events of the London riots and reasons behind the actions of those involved. The lead single even won the Q award for Best Track in October 2012. 

Throughout the music video, an urban setting is used featuring tower blocks, council estates and car parks. This reflects the dull perspective that Plan B takes, as he criticises modern society and exposes the reality behind the veneer of tourist London. The bleak backdrop is also in keeping with the urban genre and is representative of the emotions that those living in this state are feeling. In a scene from the video, Plan B looks over the city of London and nearest to him is run down council estates with smoke rising- suggesting the area is contaminated with pollution. In this area, the lighting is grey and plain; however, beyond the smoke a golden light shines on the tourist hub of London. This suggests that that part of London is clean and taken care of and is in it's own bubble, isolating the areas around it and alienating the  people. The smoke acts as another division between the two, showing that although the two areas are close enough to be seen from each area, they are split into two completely different worlds.

London is also an ideal location for Plan B's social commentary to take place as it is the centre of British politics which the song makes multiple references to- 'We've had it with you politicians/ You bloody rich kids never listen', making it the perfect setting for a protest song as it is at the heart of political decisions. The video includes pictures of politicians such as David Cameron and John Prescott which shows proof of the existence of people in power who make poor decisions and are therefore blamed by Plan B's target audience. There is a backdrop of political issues throughout the video which appeal to the alienated audience that Plan B reaches, giving them a voice in a society that has never listened. As much of Plan B's audience may live in London, they may directly affected by the problems that he discusses in his video and so they would be able to relate to it as it is their everyday life.

In the gif from the video shown above, a man throws an egg on John Prescott- a politician. This shows the disrespect those over looked by the higher powers have for politicians, as they have the power and authority to make a difference, but they don't. Prescott then violently responds, proving that disrespectful actions are the only way of people living in these foul conditions getting attention from the politicians. This is an extreme downscale of the effects of the London riots, when people started to cause chaos all over London and in some other cities in the UK, they finally were responded to, even being talked about internationally. The scene cuts to Plan B punching towards the camera, suggesting that people will respond violence with violence, causing an endless cycle and rift between the different groups in society. 

The stereotypical costume of youth is used in the video; including tracksuits, hoodies and caps. Plan B uses this to present the youth as the people who face the issues and alienation shown in the video, as a Guardian article after the 2011 London riots described the hoodie as a 'criminal cloak for London's looting youth'. The artist dresses his cast in the recognisable outfit of a deviant youth in order to appeal to the young people of today whom he targets, along with the genre of the song that appeals to those with similar opinions to him. The costumes used such as bandanas, caps and scarfs also are effective in obscuring the identity of the performers; this links to the 2011 London riots where unprivileged teens used clothing to hide their identity while committing crimes such as theft, arson and violence. Many of the performers even wear gloves, suggesting they are about to commit a crime or already have as gloves stop fingerprints from appearing on objects touched during the crime which would lead the police to the criminals identity. The excess coverage of the clothing also allows for the groups to appear as a faceless mob rather than a collection of individuals, making it relatable for viewers who live a similar lifestyle.

The costume used also reinforces the genre of 'hip-hop' as tracksuits commonly appear in music videos of the same genre. Plan B uses an array of  exaggerated stereotypes to present the youth in his song 'ill Manors' through both the lyrics and the visual impact of the video. He uses this exaggeration to present how, when there is a moral panic, society is quick to blame the youth whom they fear; however he questions the validity of this fear.


The music video for the song 'Shut Up' by Stormzy features a cast who wear tracksuits and caps as shown below:

Plan B also uses props such as mobile phones to further enhance the fact that those facing these issues are the youth who tend to be savvy with modern technology. A girl is even shown to use her mobile phone to record a fight; Plan B may have included this clip to present the less obvious issues that occur in society such as 'happy slapping'. He exposes the grim reality of the lives of the type of people shown in the video. By accepting the fact that people like himself have done wrong such as committing crimes, his opinions become more respected as he takes the different perspectives into account and states the reasons why people act the way they do without denying that people like those shown in the video are at fault. Plan B uses props such as cigarettes to add to the image of a defiant and rebellious youth, as well as baseball bats and pit-bulls to perceive this group as violent.

The music video contains a mix of races but the majority of people shown are black. This may be in reference to the London riots which were triggered by the shooting of Mark Duggan, an unarmed black teenager killed by a police man in 2011. This led many people to believe that it was because of his race that he was shot without showing signs of serious violence, and all throughout London riots began which soon spread into other cities in the UK. Plan B uses references to the London riots throughout his video, even including real footage from the riots. He uses his song and music video to prove that, although people of a low social class do commit violent acts, there are reasons for this that make them not responsible for all of the blame. In multiple clips, teens are shown to be holding red flares which turn the lighting red. The purpose of red flares in general is to call for help, which suggests that the teenagers use them as a cry for help aimed at those who have the power to make a difference as they currently are made to feel alienated from society. 

Editing Using Premiere Pro

Editing Using Premiere Pro:

For our first editing project, we were given a variety of video clips as well as the soundtrack 'Oops Upside Your Head' by The Gap Band. We were tasked with editing these videos together with the soundtrack playing throughout, as demonstrated by our teacher and YouTube tutorials. We were challenged with matching the clips with the beat of the music and cutting down the clips to fit our personal preference. We also learnt how to add a title to our videos which I placed right at the beginning.

When carrying out these tasks, I easily grasped how to effectively match the beat to the actions of the people in the video clips. As there were an array of clips that showed people on hover boards flipping upside down, I was able to show this clips when the lyrics were 'upside your head' on several occasions. This worked well to show how the lyrics of the music coincided with the videos. However, when I added a title on to the beginning of the video, I played it back and the beat was now out of sync with the actions in the video. Having the title appear for a few seconds before the video began but when the music had started meant that the music was now a few seconds earlier than the video. To overcome this problem, instead of having the title appear before the video began, I placed it on top of the first clip and in the corner with the video still visible so that the video and music began at the same time and the title faded after a few seconds.

I think that the synchronization of the beat and the actions in the video clips was successful as they worked well together and had a continuous theme. To improve it, I would like to work on the transitions between each clip to make them flow into each other which I could do by learning how to use transitions on Premiere Pro.