MUSIC VIDEO REVISION

This music video for Massive Attack's single 'Unfinished Sympathy' features one main character, a guest vocalist for the band, Shara Nelson throughout the entirety of the video. This is one of the unusual aspects which Massive Attack have used in this music video, possibly referencing the idea of perspective wealth and poverty; as the urban American setting used creates the mise-en-scene of neglected street life. Due to this Shara Nelson becomes a striking contrast to the scenes unveiling around her.  

The video begins with a close-up shot of a black, leather gloved hand with steel balls being rolled around within; here this masculine action sets the scene for the following shot showing a rough looking gang. When the camera zooms out to reveal this group of men on the street, the use of a hand-held shot helps to add rawness to the setting- representing the clear poverty within the urban area. In traditional moving image editing, shots would usually cut from establishing and wide angle shots down to close-ups; however by switching this method around it helps to intrigue the audience as to what the scenes will expose. This tracking shot then continues,to show a clear scene of a neglected street with litter lining the curbs, here this continues on the representation of poverty in the particular American area.

This continuous shot then continues to show a high angle shot of a young boy, dressed in an orange tracksuit playing with a toy gun. This shot is very important within this video as the audience is able to infer many different possibilities which the band may have been referencing. Firstly, by choosing to dress the boy all in orange, this has a very similar aesthetic to that of a prisoners uniform, possibly foreshadowing his future. Similarly he appears to pretend to shoot the toy gun towards the camera; due to the high-angle shot used, this gives the impression to the audience that the cameras point of view is that of an outsider, or of someone who is of a different social background to the boy. Furthermore this child's innocent act of violence with the toy gun may be a break out to the state, to those responsible for the area he is being brought up in. 

Following on from this, the continuous shot tracks alongside the pavement where more children are seen playing. As well as this, the shot panes past a shop window showing children's clothing for sale. Here Massive Attack are creating a clear setting where children are being brought up amongst the violence and poverty of the area. From this it can be inferred that the band may be referencing that poverty is a trap, with the children growing up in exposure to it may never be able to leave, hence leading to an increased likeliness of lives of crime.  
As the tracking shot continues, it becomes clear to the audience that the camera is following one individual character, a women dressed in all black singing along to Massive Attack's 'Unfinished Sympathy'. The camera firstly tracks alongside Shara Nelson then speeds up to face her, this mid-shot then continues for the majority of the rest of the video.   

While this mid-shot of the singer is tracking backwards, the audience is able to see further details of the street scenes she is walking past. Firstly, something which becomes very clear is that she acts as a complete contrast to the environment around her. By choosing to dress the singer in all black this gives the audience connotations of mourning and grief, as if the people and life around her isn't really living. Another clear contrast is that she seems to be the only character who seems to have a purpose. The singer is shown to walk past many others who are stood about, not achieving anything. This could be implying that these people are unemployed, linking the idea of the poverty trap once again within this urban area.