Music Video: The Specials- Ghost Town

The Specials - Ghost Town: Blog tasks

Reading and questions

Read this excellent analysis from The Conversation website of the impact Ghost Town had both musically and visually. Answer the following questions

1) Why does the writer link the song to cinematic soundtracks and music hall tradition?

The writer links the song to cinematic soundtracks and music hall traditions because it reflects and engenders anxiety.

2) What subcultures did 2 Tone emerge from in the late 1970s?

2 Tone emerged from Mod and punk subcultures .

3) What social contexts are discussed regarding the UK in 1981?

There was a recession and riots happening at the time.

4) How can we apply cultural critic Mark Fisher’s description of ‘eerie’ to the Ghost Town video?

The description of eerie can be applied to the music video as there are aspects of the gothic genre as they are driving through a dark mysterious tunnel and the car is swerving.

5) Look at the final section (‘Not a dance track’). What does the writer suggest might be the meanings created in the video? Do you agree?

The meaning behind it could be ' a cry out against injustice , against closed off opportunities by those who have pulled the ladder up and robbed the young, the poor, the white and black of their songs and their dancing, their futures.

Now read this BBC website feature on the 30th anniversary of Ghost Town’s release. 

1) How does the article describe the song?

The article describes the song as strange but unforgettable and it is 'a depiction of social breakdown that provided the soundtrack to an explosion of civil unrest'.

2) What does the article say about the social context of the time – what was happening in Britain in 1981?

The article says that there was rising unemployment and there were people rioting.

3) How did The Specials reflect an increasingly multicultural Britain?

They had a mix of black and white members.

4) How can we link Paul Gilroy’s theories to The Specials and Ghost Town?

Paul Gilroy's theory can be applied to the music video as the representations in the video are racially diverse and represents Britain's emerging multiculturalism.

5) The article discusses how the song sounds like a John Barry composition. Why was John Barry a famous composer and what films did he work on?
John Barry is a famous composer who composed the scores for 11 of the James Bond films.


Close-textual analysis of Ghost Town

Watch the video several times and make bullet-point notes of your close-textual semiotic analysis using the following headings:

1) Mise-en-scene: Setting, Lighting, Colour, Actor/performer placement and movement, Costume and props. How are some of these aspects used to create meanings?

Setting- eerie shots of East End London
lighting- expressionist lighting draws attention to different meanings of the lyrics
colour- dark
dressed in classic two tone costume creates a sense of eerie genre
strip lighting reflected on the windshield creates eerie atmosphere

2) Cinematography: Camera shots and camera movement.

low angle shots of high rise buildings create a sense of foreboding of a threat 

3) Editing: Pace, juxtaposition, timing.

pace editing increase in the chorus section creates tension and foreboding.

Now apply media theory to the video - perhaps by considering whether Ghost Town reinforces or challenges some of the media theories we have studied. Make bullet-point notes on the following:

1) Goodwin’s theory of music video.

Goodwin's theory can be applied as the music video has certain genre characteristics and the video seems like a performance and has a narrative.

2) Neale’s genre theory.

The video uses recognisable genre conventions of film genres such as social realism and horror.

3) Gilroy’s diasporic identity/postcolonial theory.

The music video reinforces Gilroy's theory as the representations in the music video are racially diverse.

4) Bricolage and pastiche.

There is pastiche as there is a merging of British film genres such as social realism and hammer horror. The narrative offers briocolage- a postmodern take on the road movie but with not destination or quest to complete.

5) Strinati’s definition of postmodernism.

The combination of an arthouse film style with a popular genre of music provides an example of Strinati's definition of post modernism as a blurring of art and popular culture.