Massive Attack - Angel (posted by Toby)

As a convention of a massive attack music video, this is an example of disjuncture; showing no link between the track and the narrative based video. The only lip synching appearing at 2.48 where one non-descript member of the crowd mimes along to one line, and although he is not representing massive attack as an artist his appearance and 'random' context become part of their persona/image, associating them with highly conceptual music videos and maybe a more of an authentic artist and less commercial- perpetuating their selling point as a cultural commodity.

Most of the video is overcranked which creates a much slower pace to match that of massive attacks trip-hop sound, the slower speed at which the footage is played also means that each shot lasts longer, reducing the cutting pace. This is interesting as the video is a chase scene, where you would expect faster cuts. However this allows for more detail to be shown on the peoples expressions, e.g. the fear in the man being chased at 3.39.

Because the main character being chased is black, and the initial sequence at the car park looks like a planned attack there are connotations of a racial attack through intertextual imagery from films ect. However this is undermined by the mixed race of the members of the group, leaveing the reason for the chase a mystery and removing the issue of race from the video. This creates enigma and maintaining audiences attention through the suspense by making them want to see the conclusion.

The audiences expectations of violence are challenged at the videos conclusion where the main character 'faces' his pursuers and unexpectedly reverses the theme of the video by chasing them away. This can be considered a post-modern twist by giving the audience the recognized concept of a chase scene throughout the video but in a new way by changing the result.

xx