Jamiroquai- Deeper Underground Brief Analysis

This video was very well known in 1998 due to the very large budget that was assigned to produce it. This is because it was released as the official soundtrack to the American film “Godzilla” with the video acting as a promotional tool. Director Mike Lipscombe used the video to act as a condensed version of the film by mirroring certain main events. Although people may know the storyline, you are still intrigued as an audience as to what is going to happen in this miniscule scale of the actual film.

The narrative elements included in this music video is very representative of the actual film. However it is mainly focused on what would be the climax during the film. This makes the video exciting to watch therefore entertaining the reader whilst also keeping them intrigued.

It was shot on location at Grays State Theatre. The video begins by showing an audience in a cinema screening of “Godzilla”. the non-diegetic music is eerie, setting a tense atmosphere. The actual song begins at 54 seconds when the film comes alive. The screening shows ‘Godzilla’ walking in the ocean and then it is brought to life with his foot bursting through the screen. This causes all of the water to come flooding into the cinema screen and the audience trying to evacuate. Also shown are numerous cars crashing onto the cinema seats, as well as a helicopter, highlighting the large budget used.
Various stunts are used involving surrounding the character with fire, making the video exhilarating to watch.

Towards the end of the video a montage of shots are used to show the action during an instrumental. These shots are shown whilst the camera zooms into the projector. This reminds the audience that all this action is taking place in the cinema adding to the surrealism.

When you hear the vocals of the track, lead singer Jay Kay is shown dancing on the top of the cinema seats, walking into the action. He is featured from then on and recognised as the lead character. This builds the connection between the non-diegetic music and the video. This makes the video very surreal and intriguing.

I really like the way this video is a condensed film for a purpose, not just for the sake of it. The ties in with “Godzilla” which is such an iconic world recognised film, adds pressure to the director to ensure this echoes the success and provides adequate promotional material. The narrative in combination with all the special effects just makes the video a stand out during the 90’s.

This challenges conventions of a typically jazz funk band as a concept this huge would never normally be experimented with. However due to the success of the single as the official soundtrack, the video was crucial to support the on-going success.


Kristie Henry

Link to video