M.I.A. – BORN FREE9 Frame Analysis

FRAME 1: 00:14 (4 SECS LONG)

At the beginning of the music video, there is a panning establishing shot of a town, followed by the name of the artist (M.I.A) and the title of the song (Born Free). This technique is very unusual to be seen in a music video as it is usually a feature that is seen in films. This gives the music video a more cinematic feel, as if we are not just meant to be listening to the music, but also pay attention to what we see, as if we are watching an actual film.

FRAME 2: 00:35 – 00:39 (4 SECS LONG) This medium close up shot of a man highlights his

attire. He is shown to be wearing a helmet and wearing protective body armour. From this we assume that he works for special forces, perhaps working for the Police or the S.W.A.T team. Throughout the few seconds he is shown, he remains still and maintains an emotionless look on his face. He is also sat in front of what looks to be a cage. This would make us assume he is preparing to raid a house or come into contact with criminals.

FRAME 3: 01:08 – 01:10 (2 SECS LONG)

This low angle shot shows 3 members of the military force racing down a set of stairs. We can see from this angle they are carrying riot shields and wearing gas masks. This gives us the impression they are about to raid some criminal’s apartment and are prepared for a violent outburst.

FRAME 4: 02:27 – 02:54 (7 SECS LONG)

This frame is a medium two shot showing a member of the Special Forces grabbing a man and arresting him. Shots just before this frame showed the special forces behaving violently to innocent people. This shot shows that this man was who the special forces were clearly looking for.

FRAME 5: 03:34 – 03:36 (2 SECS LONG)

This medium shot shows a very interesting frame from the music video. It shows the man who was arrested sitting next to other people who all have ginger hair. They are sat in a prison bus (the natural framing of the bars emphasises this). This makes us assume these are all prisoners based on their ginger hair.

FRAME 6: 05:00 – 05:02 (2 SECS LONG)

This frame backs up my point from the last slide. This is a close up shot of a man with ginger hair but the frame of the bars of the prison bus are over his face. This shows how trapped he and the other prisoners are. It shows that he can not escape while he is around these bars.

FRAME 7: 06:50 – 06:52 (2 SECS LONG)

This is arguably the most controversial part of the music video/short film. It features a Medium close up shot of a young ginger haired girl getting shot in the head, with blood spurting out the other side. This delivered a sense of narrative shock as viewers would not expect to see in a music video, a young child getting shot for them to see clearly. This shot also shows that there could be a potential genocidal situation, after violently killing the young girl.

FRAME 8: 07:05 – 07:07 (2 SECS LONG)

This frame shows an extreme long shot of all of the ginger haired prisoners running for their lives. Other frames show them getting shot at and getting blown up by bombs that were placed on the ground. This frame shows that they are desperate for their freedom but it is being withheld from them, being shot at.

FRAME 9: 08:38 – 08:41 (3 SECS LONG)

This final frame shows a low angle shot of one of the special forces officer beating down on the ginger haired man arrested earlier with a stick. This cements his dominance in the video, demonstrating how vicious he and the other officers are. The low angle shot insinuates he is a much more violent and dominating character.