The Specials - Ghost Town: Blog tasks

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

To link the lyrics and the video as it’s a ghost town, the video shows a sense of dominating buildings and no people 

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

Punk and ska 

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

High unemployment and a lot of riots with young people 

4) Cultural critic Mark Fisher describes the video as ‘eerie’. What do you think is 'eerie' about the Ghost Town video?


The low angle shots of buildings to make them seem powerful, the switch of calm and dull to fast and excited in the video shows how eerie it is, as they could do what they liked 

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 writer suggests the video shows urban decay and a sense of hopelessness, I somewhat agree as usually London is busy and not a ghost town but the excitement they switched to can show a sense of hope 

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

1) How does the article describe the song?

Ghost Town, 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?

Released on 20 June 1981 against a backdrop of rising unemployment, its blend of melancholy, unease and menace took on an entirely new meaning when Britain's streets erupted into rioting almost three weeks later - the day before Ghost Town reached number one in the charts.

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

With a mix of black and white members, The Specials, too, encapsulated Britain's burgeoning multiculturalism

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

Postcolonial identity, the use of ska, a Jamaican musical genre reflects the influence of Caribbean culture on British society 
Cultural hybridity is shown through a multi racial band 

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 worked on the James Bond series and he was famous because of his distinctive and influential style 

Ghost Town - Media Factsheet

Watch the video several times before reading Factsheet #211 - Ghost Town. You'll need your GHS Google login to access the factsheet. Once you have analysed the video several times and read the whole factsheet, answer the following questions: 

1) Focus on the Media Language section. What does the factsheet suggest regarding the mise-en-scene in the video? 

Suggests it uses the style of British realist films characterised by working class men 

2) How does the lighting create intertextual references? What else is notable about the lighting?

The low key lighting, chiaroscuro shadows on the wall links to fritz lang m

3) What non-verbal codes help to communicate meanings in the video?

The facial expressions are dull and bland almost mimicking a ghost creating the ghost town 

4) What does the factsheet suggest regarding the editing and camerawork? Pick out three key points that are highlighted here.

On board travelling shots sometimes on the interior, establishing shots and low angle shots of a montage of large buildings

5) What narrative theories can be applied to the video? Give details from the video for each one.

Todorovs equilibrium can be shown through start with a disequilibrium linking to a ghost town then an equilibrium can be shown when the camera speeds up and they think about the good old days 

Props character theories can be shown by the protagonist can be anyone trying to restored order and antagonist serve as obstacles 

6) How can we apply genre theory to the video?

Steve neale repetition and difference this can be shown in ghost town as the repetition of ghost town and the camera work to show this 

Schatz 4 conventions can be shown as paradoy us shown when the speed up of editing and the dancing and innovation and classical can be shown through the start with a mixed group and blank expressions to represent the ska genre 

7) Now look at the Representations section. What are the different people, places and groups that are represented in the Ghost Town video? Look for the list on page 4 of the factsheet.

The city, urban youth, race and masculinity 

8) How can Gauntlett's work on collective identity be applied to the video?

By reflecting the social issues of high unemployment allows viewers to relate to the song as the lyrics and video represent a shared identity 

9) How can gender theorists such as Judith Butler be applied to Ghost Town?

Judith butlers gender performance can be shown through gender actions are sociall constructed as riots and low unemployment has led the specials to have blank facial expressions followed along with low key lighting 

10) Postcolonial theorists like Paul Gilroy can help us to understand the meanings in the Ghost Town music video. What does the factsheet suggest regarding this?

Paul Hilton argues that there is double consciousness here as seeing black representations being constructed for white people and this was the first mixed group