Music Video Analysis

Music Video analysis for Eminem's 'Lose Yourself' 

This is a music video which was made for the move '8 mile' which also stars Eminem and the film is about a young rapper named Jimmy 'B-Rabbit' Smith struggling with almost every aspect of life you can think of whilst struggling to achieve his dream of making it big in the rap industry and this is expressed within the music video as Eminem raps mostly throughout on top of scenes from the movie in a narrator like form. 

Editing: As the music video is based off highlights from the movie the editing in the music video is very fact pace as you see his struggle from nothing to not the top but where he wants to be and as it is taken from the movie there is also multiple shot reverse shots switching from his face to other people's faces commonly when within the video he is rapping against other people. 

Camera: As the music video consists of scenes and clips from the movie 8 Mile unlike most rap videos it has a very large variety of camera shots but one movement that is very common is the Handheld movement as you notice this throughout most of the music video and this presents a sense of realism as you as a viewer feel like you are there also watching him so it very documentary style as well, this helps present his message even further as you feel like you have more of a personal connection with the character in the music video which is the message of pushing forward to achieve your dreams no matter what struggles you face. However one very common camera shot is a close up which is still conventional of a rap genre as this shows you clearly the expression on their face and the emotion it expresses often showing intensity. Also Medium close ups and Medium long shots are also very common within the music video showing more of the rapper's body expression and movement whether he is fighting or looking after his daughter showing the struggle he is facing trying to be a caring father but finds it difficult to live a normal life. 

Mise-En-Scene: Setting is very key within this music video as it is very dark and even with shots set in the daylight it is very dim and this could imply the message of struggle and perseverance as he is fighting is own darkness to achieve his goals which links with the lighting when he is free style rapping in the shots as he has the spot light in a dark room showing he is making his dream true and apparent.

Costume- Within the music video he is always wearing a tracksuit like clothing with the hoodies and hats but the difference is it is not expensive tracksuit and he is not wearing a large amount of bling or any item that makes him stand out as an individual conveying a message that anyone can make it and everyone suffers through a struggle.

What we decided to take from analyzing this music video in particular is the costume as throughout the video Eminem is wearing a tracksuit but nothing to "Bling" or flashy which is unlike most rap video's as rap artists usually like the attention to be on them so wear the flashiest style's of clothing but in this it is very basic clothing which makes you focus more on the story rather than the artist which links to Richard Dyer's star theory of the pop singer whose the person who actually makes the music rather than the Pop star who is the main image.  

Lyrics Analysis

Lyrics Analysis

Eminem 'Lose Yourself' 

We printed out a lyric sheet of Eminem's 'Lose Yourself' We looked at them and analysed them in depth to deter-main how else we could interpret them and we saw a lot of lyrics in the song contain themes of downfall but also perseverance so we've taken that turned in from a person struggling to achieve his dreams to a person struggling not to end his life via drugs at a party and the song will be his battle of his mind set whether he should stop and not.

Through the Lyric analysis we've been able to see what how we can interpret the lyrics in a different way which still suits are story of a person struggling with drugs and is trying to subconsciously battling this which links to Altman's theory of pleasure more specifically emotional where this despite being a very specific topic the general theme of it is very key to everyone which is battling a struggle which is very apparent within these lyrics how a lot of them "Oh, there goes gravity Oh, there goes Rabbit, he choked He's so mad, but he won't give up that Easy, no He won't have it." these lyrics show battling a struggle which links very well with our music video and will have these lyrics combined with our ideas of our music videos of shots of the person taking drugs will also be a very in your fave and visceral music video. 

Initial Ideas

Initial Ideas

My initial idea was to recreate a classic rap video such as one performed by Dr Dre such as Dr Dre ft snoop dogg "nuthin but a g thang" as the setting is in a city but by an abandoned building and then later goes to a house party which are very conventional settings of rap even in Tech N9ne's music video for his song "Aw Yeah" is also in an abandoned industrial building so that would be a very conventional setting for our rap video.  

This kind of rap has turned into what we know as mainstream rap and I reckon this would be good for us as it being old fashioned style of rap and considering the settings within I believe that would be easy to replicate also after some in depth research most people preferred this style of rap over alternative rap as this is what they are most used to and like to hear.

With this the main focus would be the camera shots and the sound and obviously the mise en scene as we have to get the location right and rap music videos often consist of a lot of camera shots with very quick pace editing to match the pace the artists rap. 

Narrative:
We have decided to go with an abstract narrative as every music video incorporate this kind of style so this style is to bring in the audience to watch it but we also decided to go with a chronological linear story line to with the music video and even though this is not very typical of the rap genre to have this, Eminem subverts this and has this in a few of his songs such as 'Stan' as it doesn't focus on the artist but the story itself and the message which is trying to be conveyed and as our interpretation of the song still incorporates that serious message so we have decided to go with that to and we also decided to go with this that with our initial questionnaire our audience preffered a song to have storytelling with in it.

Representation:
We have decided to have an equal representation within our music video as rap music videos do often objectify woman from songs such as Tech N9ne 'Hood go crazy' to female rap artist Nicki Manjai's song 'Anaconda'. Conveying both gender's as equal is very subversive of the genre as it the songs mentioned woman are typically objectified and seen as objects as sexual tools and giving our female character a serious role show that female can still be incorporated not only in the music videos but the genre without being sexualized and still playing a vital role. Also we have decided on representing drinks and drugs in a negative way which again is subverting typical rap conventions of music videos as they tend to glorify drinking and drugs such cannabis.

Audience Pleasures:
After studying Rick Altman's genre research and after studying other music videos we have decided to go with emotional for audience pleasures rather than intellectual or visceral as with emotional it allows the audience to still not only listen to the song but be able to relate to the song where as if we chose a song which was very intellectual its hard to keep the audience entertained as well as being able to emotionally connect to the song so choosing a song which the lyrics are simple and easy to relate to allows the audience to be more invested in the song but still contains elements of visceral as the song does give you a reaction when you start listening to it especially as the song starts with piano keys playing which initially tells you the song is going to be quite slow but meaningful as that's what you typically associate with that kind of music. With have we have interpreted the song still having a serious message we want the audience to be able to relate and connect with the song.

Ideology: 
We have decided to have a very serious message within our music video which is more or a message of coping and that partying and having fun is apart of life but excessive doing of this especially when coping with a genuine issue for example here an argument with a loved one where our character has chose to drink to cope and we will have a multitude of different shots all containing different alcohol from bottles to cans and even in different places implies the excessive drinking and also we will incorporate shots of his downfall from being unstable and out of control of his own body till eventually containing a shot were will have him passed out on the pavement outside showing that using a substance alcohol as an example is not a coping mechanism but if anything leads to a further downfall which is a message most people can relate to as everyone in life has times were they really struggle. 

Summary

I have made lots of decisions about the narrative, ideology, representation and audience of our texts. This all goes with the audience research we have done and the theory i have read to contribute towards a music video that uses some codes and conventions of rap such as the close ups on the main star and the urban settings, whilst picking an Eminem style storytelling narrative and a positive social message in ways that keeps to Eminem's style but subverts the mainstream traditional rap.

Codes and Conventions of A Digi pack

Codes and Convention if A Digi pack



Conventions of a DigiPak:

A DigiPak is a patented style of CD or DVD packaging
DigiPaks are designed to fold into a square CD case
The front of DigiPaks tend to have a large eye-catching picture on them - Typically related to a song or image of artist 
DigiPaks come in all different styles and designs. They vary in artwork

Collision Course (Jay Z, Linkin Park 2004): This album is a combination album of the rap artist Jay Z and heavy rock band Linkin Park and just by looking at their album you can expect a gritty in your face style as the images and text on the album has many different styles and are very distorted but in your face making it catch your eye also with the disk itself  its blue with black on the side looking like its been spray painted showing and expressing the gritty nature of the album.

Discovery (Tinie Tempah 2010): This album Digipak is a lot different from the Jay Z and Linkin Park one as you can see its not rugged or street style, Tine Tempah's album Digipak as you can see is very futuristic and even has a image of the artist holding a city in his arms and even though the design may not be typical of the genre it still conforms to a lot of conventions of Rap style for example his upper body and head holding the city fills up an entire section of the Pak showing he is the main focus of it but him also holding the city could imply his songs also relate to achieving your dreams and changing the world or could even imply "The world is yours". Also this was a released 6 years after the Jay Z and Linkin Park album possibly showing how the style has rap has developed but also both albums being released by different artists from different countries as Tine Tempah is a British artists showing it could imply the different cultural styles the countries have.

Summary

After comparing both DigiPaks I can see despite the many differences in still contains many similarities, even though the styles are completely different they can still contain the themes of the genre but both express them few a unique style not typically seen but want to still keep to the roots of the genre. 

We have decided to make our digipak still very urban which will contain many images or urban landscape which is very common for the genre but instead will be urban realism rather than very flashy and also even though are actor appears in multiple images like most rappers do he is still not the main focus as you can't see his face showing there's more to it where typical digipaks will have the artist as the main focus and edited in a way were everything points to them so this way we are still conforming to typical traits of the genre but also subverting it at the same time. 

Audience Research

Target Audience

Typically rap music is targeted at younger men as the rap genre is a typically male dominated genre as the most successful artists in this genre are male for example Eminem, Dr Dre, Ice cube and more but still targets some young females as well. The reason the target audience is typically younger is become of the themes rap music as it often references, drugs, alcohol, parties and women but also themes of struggle of youths and how hard it is growing up in this day and age which also primarily targets youths as they can relate more to it. 

In addition with rappers normally starting their career at a young age including experienced rappers like Snoop Dogg, Dr Dre , Ice Cube and more started their careers in the 1980's when they were still very young and even those artists rap about their struggles of growing up and them being similar age at the time to their target audience the audience related more as they understood the true meaning behind their lyrics and understood their lives are a struggle and that they acknowledge that other people struggle to so is often people who are of a lower class or working class growing up in urban areas. Also is a very multicultural genre of music as the lyrics don't target a specific ethnic group unless referring again to the struggles that certain ethnic group might be facing. Making young people the primary target audience 

Summary 

If we are going by the LifeMatrix these people would be considered Tribe wired which means they use a lot of digital devices, considered free spirited and creative young people and Also Fun/Atics who are Aspirational, Fun seeking and active young people and this fits into the genre very well as Rap music is normally about having fun as much as you can whilst you can but also achieving your dreams and goals. To meet their needs we will do lots of questionnaires for them to target what they like now we know what our audience is like.

Next Step Analysis

Next Step Analysis 

In our next step analysis we have chosen to recreate Eminem's 'Lose yourself' as we have seen this video to be very relevant as based off our questionnaire it matched a lot of the criteria that people wanted to see within a rap music video. 

This music video is set in an urban area and is typically dark lighting, even with shots based in the day time the light is still dark which represents his dark story from 'Zero to Hero' as he achieves what he wanted to do even with the struggles along the way. Also like most rap videos this contains a variety of camera shots and movements that I believe we will be able to recreate and adapt very well and make it our own. Also the costume Eminem wears throughout is slightly different from what you see in most rap videos and in most rap music videos the rap artist is wearing expensive tracksuits along with expensive 'bling' but in this he isn't wearing any cloths that make him stand out.

We have interpreted the song differently and we are going to do it in a party setting as that is very typical of the genre. However though it won't be a typical party themed rap song instead this will show the struggle of a young teenager going through a very tough time in a domestic abusive relationship and decides to go on a drug spree at a party and the music video will slowly show his body not being able to control himself and falling apart and is a message of overcoming and perceiving through the hate and abusive and learning that a drug OD is not the answer. 

Camera: 
A lot of shots within this will be close ups and extreme close ups as we really want a close look at the person deterioration as he takes more and more drugs also a lot of handheld movement so it seems more like we are there with that individual which is very similar to rap music videos as rap typically has a lot of fast pace close ups to match with the speed of rapping. 

Charts of Results

These charts show the results from a questionnaire we carried out:

This Chart shows the ages of the people we handed out the questionnaire's to and as you can see the highest number was people aged to 17-20 which is actually very helpful as the target audience of the Rap genre is typically younger people.

This chart here shows what types of rap to people prefer to listen to, Mainstream rap music or alternative and as you can see most people said they listen'd to mainstream but still a large proportion prefer to listen to alternative.

This Chart compares these 2 layouts from a magazine and on the questionnaire we asked people to put which layout did they prefer and also why did they prefer that. As you can see Layout A was the most popular choice and a lot of answers refereed to the fact in was more striking and eye catchy.

This Chart was a multiple choice question where people tick the boxes of what they wanted to see most in a Rap Music Video and the most popular choice was story telling well they want to see a clear developed story throughout the song.

This Question also contained an open choice where people could say specifically why they preferred that poster and one of them was "the first because it has a quote that catches the eye and stands out more" and I liked this answer and if you look at rap posters they like to stand out to the audience. 

We Chose these questions to chart and analysis as we believe these questions gave us a better insight into what people expect and want to see and hear in the Rap genre. 

This is the questionnaire: 

Summary 

From the data I have gathered from my questionnaire I was able to analysis that most people preferred a rap music video which is mainstream and often contains a story with in it and a music video which is a very good example of this as it has incredibly huge popularity as well as a clear story within it is Eminem's 'Lose Yourself' where you see the life of Eminem and is off the soundtrack for Eminem's movie '8 mile' as you see the life as a man as he struggles to live a normal life whilst also striving for his ambition to be a rap artist. This will also help us to do the storytelling narrative that our audience wanted us to do.