Daniel's Similar Textual Analysis

‘Basket Case’ – ‘Green Day’

Green Day are a very popular band, but they’re also a controversial band because they continue alienating significant portions of their fan base. I have chosen to analyse this video because of the unusual techniques used in it and in which the way the lyrics correspond to the video, it relates to the ideas my group have produced for our music video featuring a local, unsigned band.

This Music video is set in a depthless world in which musicians lip-sync in simulated depictions of musical performance or act out the fragmented narrative elements referring to the lyrics. ‘Basket Case’ is a track from ‘Dookie’, the three times platinum and third album of American Pop Punk Rock band ‘Green Day’, which was released in 1994. The music the band produces seems to target an audience of males and females ages mainly from 11-18. Whether the band considered this whilst writing their music I do not know. Many of the songs written by Green Day are based on personal or group experiences that have occurred in their lives.

The song is about lead singer, Billie Joe Armstrong’s struggle with anxiety. It was written before the front man was diagnosed with a panic disorder as he was going crazy. The lyrics to ‘Basket Case’ tell the story of a man who is paranoid and after and, after meeting with a psychiatrist who tells him that his lack of sex is causing his stress, decides to go to a prostitute. However Doctor refuses to listen, as explained by the lyric. ‘He said my life’s a bore/so quit my whining, cause/it’s bringing him down.’
The video was shot in an actual mental institution called Agnew’s Development Center in Santa Clara County, California.

One of the first sights we see is of men in white outfits and a steel shutter door being closed behind him. Diegetic sound is included right up until the track starts. The whole video was originally shot in black and white and then later colourised, contributing to the unnatural, demented feel of the mise- en-scene. Visible in the first shot is a masked patient whose mask is the only thing that is of colour, making him look unusual and out of place. We see close ups of the music equipment being set up, and a white-suited guy presents a rather nervous and confused lead singer with a guitar. He abruptly comes out of character and begins the song.
The other band members are wheeled in. It is clear that they are all inmates, both by their slightly confused and abnormal behaviour and by the way people in white coats are directing them around. This especially apparent for the bassist, Dirnt. Close ups are used to show the lead singer’s eyes darting around nervously as he sings.

In the second verse, we see front man, Armstrong, standing against a white wall in a bathroom. A high-0angled camera shot makes him look small and insignificant, and yet his dark garments make him stand out. We see drummer, Tre Cool, being wheeled down a corridor in a wheel chair by a white coated man – with another patient similar to the one we see at the start in the background. It cuts back to Armstrong and then to Dirnt, who is looking bored, resting his head in his hands.

The video is somewhat concept driven as it relates strongly tot eh lyrics, but also part narrative as the lyrics do tell a story and the video does contribute to the understanding of the overall message that the song forwards. We see plenty of shots of different band members performing the song together. This is heavily performance driven as it is as though they are performing live, on stage, to an audience. Frequent cuts from different angles prevent the audience from losing interest. A brief cut to Dirnt staring out of a window perhaps in desperation, cuts back to him performing, and then a shot of Armstrong is obscured by a masked figure walking past the camera. A barrage of rapid cuts echoes the machine gun-like drum roll. Throughout the progression of the song, more and more patients appear in the living room. This suggests that more and more normal people are going crazy as well as them.

The drummer is wheeled to a counter where a woman wearing a lab coat provides him with some sort of medicine or drug. He grins as he swallows it. ‘Grasping to control.. .’ sings Armstrong as the camera pans around, showing various people behind him. The pan is slightly unsteady, as though performed with a handheld camera, contributing to the surreal nature of the video. The majority of cuts are all straight cuts. Overall, they are fairly quick paced cuts, yet still dynamic as the cuts are at different lengths to focus on different aspects and sections of the video.
There are a number of high angle camera shots of the lead singer featured as this strongly relates to the fact that he is paranoid, and is particularly effective when he rolls his eyes up anxiously.

Those mental patients in marks seem to be doing a number of strange things, creeping around, playing with exercise balls, and appearing extremely close up to the camera. They remain un-colourised except the masks themselves throughout the video, which makes them all look peculiar. The drugs we are shown close ups of lead to Drummer, Cool, and later Armstrong being surrounded by flying fishes and his own eyes which have been merged into the clip, post shoot. This suggests a hallucination being caused by the drugs seen previously, perhaps?
The video is full of bright colours which makes it seem simplistic and, at the same time, over the top. This contributes to the feelings of psychosis.

At the end of the video, the metal shutter is closed in front of the camera. This place is closed, and it seems Green Day are to remain inside. Through the shutter, we see the band stop playing and are then stationary.

In my opinions, it is clever portrayal of an anxiety disorder. Although it being slightly strange and disturbing for some, it articulates the message of the songs very well, right down to thinking you’re going insane and mixing up words in your head. And the line ‘Am I just paranoid, or am I just stoned?’ gives a good idea of how it feels to be in front man, Armstrong’s shoes.

What we learnt from our Similar Text Analysis

Before planning a script for this music video, we analysed other music videos to give us a more skilled approach to our own project. We looked at different music genres, like Hip Hop, R ’n’ B and Punk and found that they all had their own distinctive characteristics. For example in 50cents video –I get money, includes the common Hip Hop convention of lots of good looking women dancing around, a form of voyeurism; and in Hinder’s lips of an angel, characteristic of “grudge” music included the band presented themselves as no different from minor local bands ( i.e. not with a large audience in a big stage).

Other similarities I found was that in all the videos we looked the, the artist took a main role in the narrative as well as the performance depending on the structure style. This suggests to me, that in our music video the lead singer in the band should take a role in the narrative we decide to produce.

In addition music videos are a way to publicise an artist and their star image is important to represent in music videos. For example In Rihannas Take a bow video, she’s making a statement that she’s not a little girl anymore, which also works well with the title of the album “good girls, gone bad”. This tells me that when we construct our video, we should take into consideration, what kind of image we are trying to give off, in terms of dress, attitude and behaviour of the artists on screen.

Furthermore, music videos tend to have a fast pace and have lots of jump cuts. Also in terms of camerawork, there is a range of shots, including lots of close ups and tracking shots. I think camera movement is important in music videos to make it more interesting and this gives me an idea about what kind of things we need to add in our music video.

Alex's Similar Text Analysis

Eminem- Stan

Eminem, real name Marshall Bruce Mathers III, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor who was first overlooked and taunted by many due to him being white, where black and Latin rappers were the norm, but has since been hailed by many as one of the greatest lyricists of all time. His rise to fame started with his major-label debut album “The Slim Shady LP” in 1999. The following album, “The Marshall Mathers LP”, became the fastest selling hip-hop album in history, selling over 1.79 million copies in the first week just in the US and earning the title of Fastest Selling Solo Album Ever in the Guinness Book of World Records. It has been certified 9x platinum by the RIAA in the US and has sold over 19 million units to as of August 2009. In all he has released nine albums and appeared in nine films, including 8 Mile for which he was nominated for sixteen awards, of which he claimed ten.

The third single from “The Marshall Mathers LP”, “Stan”, is by Eminem featuring British pop singer Dido. It peaked at number one in the UK and Australia and is ranked #290 in The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, as well as #45 About.com’s Top 100 RapSongs.

The lyrics tell a fictional story of a fan obsessed with Eminem who writes to him but receives no reply. The first three verses are from Eminem as Stan trying to contact him (the first two being letters and the third a voice recorder), while the fourth is Eminem attempting to write to Stan, only to realize that he’d already heard of his suicide on the news.

Eminem himself alongside “DJ Mark, The 45 King” produced the song using a slightly modified break from Dido’s “Thank You” as its basis. The opening lines of “Thank You” are also sampled as a chorus. It has a slow tempo and the programmed sounds have a very dark and depressing feel to them.

The original music video is 8:15 minutes long, but due to many censors in the verses and a shortened intro skit, the short MTV version is 6:00 minutes. It was nominated at the 2001 MTV VMAs for Video of the Year, Best Direction, Best Male, Best Rap Video and Best Cinematography. It was also ranked as #1 and #3 of MuchMusic’s 100 Best Videos and 50 Most Controversial Videos respectively.

It is a closed, single narrative structure with some parallel editing showing Eminem (appearing as himself) on his tour bus reading fan mail and Stan (played by Devon Sawa) in his house with his girlfriend (played by Dido). Although the video is non-linear with its many flashback scenes, it closely follows the lyrics of the song.

The intro skit of the video starts with an establishing shot of an open window, tracking towards it as a thunderstorm rages outside. We then see a mid-shot of Stan in the bathroom as he bleaches his hair in the sink (this shows his idolism of Eminem, since he bleaches his hair blonde). We then see an over-the-shoulder shot from behind him, showing his expression in the mirrors reflection as his hair turns blonde and he smiles. There is then a shot of Dido, seen to be pregnant, walking across the hall and knocking on the door to check on him. He fiercely opens it and shouts at her, showing his violent nature is not uncommon. A two-shot from the mirror has he her asking what he’s doing and expressing her concern about him “taking this too far”, which shows how much she cares about him and his well-being. He stares at the mirror and asks her if she likes it absent-mindedly, as if he is actually talking to someone in his own head, possibly Eminem himself. His mood switches when she keeps calling him “Stanley” and he shouts and raises his hand which visibly scares her. He then grabs her, pushes her towards the toilet and leaves the room and she sits. This sequence shows that this is their lifestyle and that his abuse has become the norm.

The music then begins with Dido singing the chorus, seemingly to calm herself down after the encounter with Stan. The camera then tracks downwards from a side view mid-shot of her on the toilet, through the floorboards to a long-shot of Stan in the basement. Then camera then sweeps across the room where we see a montage of Eminem photographs, posters, magazine cut-outs etc covering the walls and some parts of the ceiling. Stan sits at a cluttered desk where he has a number of envelopes with the same address on them (presumably Eminem’s) ready to send and a small television with an Eminem documentary. He then starts to write a letter as the first verse begins. The lyrics for the verse are the words from his letter and he says them out loud along with the track as he writes. The first line also has the sound effect of a pencil scratching paper.

The first verse has Stan writing to Eminem saying that he’s received no reply and his first two letters must not have gone through. He shows his devotion, mentioning his room full of posters and pictures as well as referencing some of Eminem’s old underground material, going as far as to say he’ll name his child Bonnie after his song “Bonnie and Clyde ‘97” if it is a girl. He mentions how similar they are, because of them both being fathers and empathizes about his uncle’s suicide, saying he had a friend who did the same thing. He ends by claiming he is his biggest fan and hopes for a reply.

The shots of the first verse are parallel edited and are mainly of Stan in the basement as he writes, alongside Dido upstairs as she sits alone, seemingly worried and feeling neglected. Some close-up shots of Stan’s face show him to have a dark and demented side to his obsession with Eminem. There is also one mid-shot of Eminem in his tour bus as he reads a letter. There is also the use of special effects when Stan is looking in the mirror in the basement and sees Eminem performing in it.

The first chorus begins with Stan finishing his letter and going back up the stairs to the main house. We then see a two-shot from the kitchen showing Dido looking through the fridge and Stan watching television. They start arguing and then he starts losing his temper to the point where he falls on the floor, before he storms out as Dido looks helplessly on. This all shows more of their abusive relationship and Stan’s instability. Alongside the shots of this scene, we see shots of a post office were a single letter falls of a trolley unnoticed. We see a close up and then an extreme close-up of the letter which reveals that it is Stan’s letter to Eminem.

The second verse is another letter from Stan, where he is obviously frustrated. He starts off optimistic, but wavers a bit by the second line “I ain’t mad/I just think it’s fucked up that you don’t answer fans/”. He also expresses his annoyance at Eminem for apparently ignoring him at a concert and refusing to sign an autograph for his little brother Matthew, who he described as loving Eminem even more than himself. The deterioration of his sanity then shows through when he says “Sometimes I even cut myself to see how much it bleeds/it’s like adrenaline, the pain is such a sudden rush for me/”. He also talks about how his girlfriend is jealous of his love for Eminem, but she doesn’t understand. He ends the letter with “Sincerely yours, Stan/P.S. we should be together too" which shows his growing obsession.

The style of the shots during the second verse are very similar to first, except they are slightly faster and more haphazard, showing that Stan is gradually losing his mind. The letter is written at the same desk and we still see Dido sitting alone upstairs. We see other scenes of Eminem’s show with him performing and Stan and Matthew in the front row, as well as him leaving the building and the brothers waiting outside in the snow to meet him, but bodyguards drag him away. We also see tracking shots of Stan’s desk with Eminem’s album artwork as he writes of his self-harming, suggesting that he believes he is following Eminem’s example. At the end of the verse we see Stan take a photo of him and Dido and replace the image of her with a torn picture of Eminem, showing his devotion and that he would rather be with Eminem than his girlfriend.

The second chorus shows Dido wake up during the night to see Stan with asleep with an Eminem magazine. She sneaks downstairs to the basement, as we see Stan wake up and notice she is not beside him. The camera tracks downwards through the floorboards from the bedroom to the basement and we see Dido enter and shockingly discover the doctored picture that used to be of her and Stan. Stan then appears behind her and grabs her. We then see a black car racing through torrential rain, the sound of the engine serving as a sound bridge for this shot and the opening shot of the third verse.

The third verse begins with Stan driving the car and shouting into a tape recorder. He has now clearly gone over the edge and freely expresses his anger and resentment towards Eminem for not reply to him for “six months”. He mentions his sorrow and the goes on to further vent his anger, saying "I hope you can't sleep and you dream about it/And when you dream I hope you can't sleep and you scream about it/I hope your conscience eats at you and you can't breathe without me/”. He then interrupts himself by shouting “shut-up bitch I’m tryna talk” to the back of the car. He then continues with “that's my girlfriend screaming in the trunk/But I didn't slit her throat I just tied her up, see I ain’t like you/cause if she suffocates, she'll suffer more and then she'll die too”, again referencing Eminem’s “Bonnie and Clyde ‘97” where he fantasizes about slitting his wife’s throat, before putting her in the trunk and dropping her off in a lake. Stan then wraps up and reveals he is “almost at the bridge”, implying he is about to drive off. He realizes too late that he has no way of getting the tape ton Eminem, saying “oh shit, I forgot, how am I supposed to send this shit out?”

The shots of the third verse show close-ups of Stan in the car as he drives at “90 (mph) on the freeway” through the rain. There are some over-the-shoulder shots from behind him showing a picture of Eminem hanging from the rear-view mirror. We also see an oncoming car’s headlights in the distance. While he vents his anger, we see sped-up flashback of Stan wrecking the television and furniture with a baseball bat and ripping the posters of the walls in the basement. Near the end of the verse, there is a road block which he ploughs through and drives off the bridge. The car falls in slow-motion, splashes into the lake and sinks.

The fourth verse is Eminem’s reply to Stan, apologizing for not doing it sooner and he had been busy. He asked about Dido’s pregnancy, sent an autographed cap for Matthew and apologized for missing them at the show. He then expresses his concern for Stan’s attitude and tells him not to take his lyrics seriously by saying, “but what's this shit you said about you like to cut your wrists too? /I say that shit just clowning, dog, c'mon - how fucked up is you? /”. He advises him to get counseling and to treat Dido better, before telling him about a similar story that “made him sick” some weeks before about “Some dude was drunk and drove his car over a bridge/and had his girlfriend in the trunk, and she was pregnant with his kid/
and in the car they found a tape, but they didn't say who it was to/” Realization then hits him what the name of the man was and that it was the Stan he was writing to.

The video addresses many serious issues, such as domestic abuse and psychotic fan obsession. Although he sometimes writes songs of a violent nature, many expressing thoughts of his ex-wife, this video seems to show him from a more realistic point-of-view, as a man who writes songs and performs them rather than the psychotic wife-beater of his artist persona.

The shots of Eminem reading mail in his tour bus and performing onstage show him as an entertainer. His reply to Stan’s letter shows him as a regular human being, watching the news and giving advice on his relationship. It shows famous people as powerful, but unable to control how others receive their actions. Eminem may have used this song and video to show critics, some of who oppose his use of profanity and violent scenarios in his songs, as well as his fans that he is an entertainer whose lyrics and thoughts are his own and should not be taken so seriously.

Stan is used in the video to represent the people who worship their idols as Gods, which Eminem is against. Stan is shown as unstable and highly psychotic. Throughout the video there is torrential rain, along with loud, non-diegetic thunderclaps and lightning flashes which can be said to connote the inner, violent turmoil and instability of Stan’s mind, as opposed to the calm atmosphere of Eminem’s tour bus. Many of the shots in the basement track around him either at a high-angle to show his engrossment in the letter, or low-angle which shows shadows on his face and gives him a more demented look. In the first verse, his expression shows him as slightly out-of-touch, yet he seems to be writing to an old friend. In the second begins to really lose his mind and shows his anger and frustration through his words, expression and body language. By the third he has truly lost his sanity and shouts and screams in anger and rage.

Dido is shown as an innocent victim of Stan’s psychotic behavior, as she had nothing to do with the letters and she still paid the price. Her vulnerability was further portrayed by her pregnancy and scenes where she would silently sit in corners on the floor. Her body language when she argues with Stan connotes pleading, as opposed to his frustration and anger.

Ameera's Similar Text Analysis (2)

Hinder- Lips of an Angel

Hinders’ lips of an angel, is a post grunge genre song and was in released in the U.S in September 2006. The song is themed around lost love.

The lyrics are about the singer describing his feelings when his ex- girlfriend calls late at night. He refers to the call being a secret, for example when he says “I gotta whisper, cause I can't be too loud”. This suggests he knows having the conversation is wrong; because if he truly believed everything was OK he wouldn’t be afraid to tell his current girlfriend about the conversation.

Themes of grunge music tend to typically be angst-filled, often addressing themes such as social alienation, apathy, confinement, and a desire for freedom. Hinders’ Lips of an angel does show themes of desire for freedom in terms of missing his ex-girlfriend and apathy because he doesn’t feel much passion with his current girlfriend.

The structure of the video is narrative based featuring a lot of performance. This means the video is telling a story but also just has cuts to the band performing. Within the whole production there are three main locations.

The first location is in a house, the video opens with a mid-shot of a house phone, then the lead singer picks up the phone and as he sings it is as if he is talking on the phone. In the house the camera is predominantly based in one place - one on the wall by the house phone; therefore facing directly at the man on the phone. Whilst he is talking, he pulls out a black and white picture of a woman from under some paper; this leads the audience to believe that is who he is talking to.

Throughout the video his current girlfriend is in the background. This connotes that she is not as important to the song or to the man in the video, as the girl he is singing to. Also you can see in the video that his current girlfriend wants the mans’ attention as while she is getting ready, she keeps looking at him, but he doesn’t notice, again signifying she is not as important. In terms of representation this shows that the man is in control of the situation because he has two girls after him, giving him a choice and a upper hand on either one of the girls.

When the song reaches the chorus, and the band plays more heavier notes, the mise-en-scene changes to the second location; a dark room (like a basement) filled with candles. This is where the band is performing. This is a characteristic of “grudge” music, whereby the band presented themselves as no different from minor local bands ( i.e. not with a large audience in a big stage). This is explained by Jack Endino in the 1996 documentary Hype! where he said Seattle bands were inconsistent live performers, since their primary objective was not to be entertainers, but simply to "rock out."

Whilst at this setting, there are a lot faster paced, close up shots of the band and their instruments. However, even within this setting the lead singer is still the main character rather then all the band members getting equal screen time. Post-grunge bands usually use the distorted guitar and apathetic and teenage angst ridden lyrics. However, Hinder uses a more hard rock structure in guitar solos, longer song lengths, more commercial sounding production and generally at a little slower pace. Also, another distinctive feature of Hinders’ lips of an angel is that it uses very melodic and emotional lyrics to get an emotional response out of fans. Bands that do use this feature tend to focus more on the lyrics than the music unlike Grunge who focus more on music than lyrics.


The video also then cuts to its third location. It features black and white shots of the girl in the picture and the lead singer in a car laughing and having fun. This suggests they are on a road trip as a couple. When they reach their destination, they get out of the car and walk hand in hand bare foot on the beach. This is a romantic setting and suggests that when he was with his ex, it was more about love and spontaneity and now he has settled down for a normal “boring” life.

The black and white editing serves two purposes. Firstly, by showing it in black and white, it differentiates the memories from real time, which makes it clearer for the audience to see that the scenes are flashbacks. However it also adds to the romance of the couple, like an old black and white love story.

The song ends just as it began, with the singer saying “Honey why you calling me so late?”, However, when he says it at the end of the song, it is less literal and more figurative, with the underlying meaning "so late" not as in at night, but as in too late in life; because he is now unable to continue the previous relationship.

In terms of representation, grunge musicians usually were outdoor clothing and keep an unkempt appearance. Hinder also keeps this appearance with brown and black t-shirts and messy hair.

Forms and Conventions of a Music Video

A music video is a short film that accomplices a song. The aim of having a music video is a marketing device intended to promote the sale of the music recordings. Music videos started to become popular in the 1980s when MTV based their format around the medium.

Music videos follow particular narrative structures; they can either be performance like JLS’s recent debut single “beat again” (2009); narrative like “November Rain” by Guns n’ Roses in 1992 or concept driven like "Land of Confusion" by Genesis in 1988. Saying this, in recent years a combination of two structures are popular, for example Hinders 2006 hit “lips of an angel”.

Narrative driven music videos use storylines or offer complex fragments in a non-linear order, leaving the viewer with the desire to see them again. Love stories are common in this structure style (e.g boy meets girl, boy losesgirl, boy gets girl back). Schwichtenberg (1992) highlights that action within a story is usually dominated by males who do things and females who passively react or wait for something to happen. Feminists would be against these types of music videos which promote a patrical society. More recent females try to challenge these conventions like Lilly Allen's debut hit "smile" (2006).

Performance based music videos on the other hand; predominantly feature the artists performing on a stage of some sort. Gow (1992) suggests "the predominance of performance indicates that music video defines itself chiefly by images of artistes singing and playing songs". This allows the audience to have more varied access to the performer than a stage performance can. The aim of performance bsed videos are to give a live show feeling, such as a concert experience. The close ups allow eye contact and close observations of facial gestures.

Concept videos are structured with the use of metaphores. Firth (1988) explains that concept videos are used to create a mood, rather then tell a story and try to create a emotional viewing for the audience. Concept videos can be interpreted in different ways and there can be mulitple meanings for the metaphores.

There are overall conventions of music videos and Andrew Goodwin (1992) identified some of them. For one, music videos demonstrate genre characteristics, for example heavy metal bands generally have stage performances, such as the band Judas Priest and their 1982 hit “Bloodstone”. This is in contrast to girl bands that may have a cerographed routine; an example of this is like Girls Aloud, “Can’t speak French”. Also there is always a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals (The Scripts’ video “the man that can’t be moved”, 2008). Another key convention is a lot of close-ups of the artists. This is to give the audience a feel of the emotions connected with the song. Furthermore over time, the artists begin to develop their own iconography, which over time becomes their star image. The term iconography is related to visual features that accompany performances by the star like costumes, jewellery or settings. Another noticeable convention of music videos is the references to voyeurism, particularly in the treatment of women; an example of this is “Destination Unknown” by Alex Gaudino in 2007.

Finally another feature of music videos is that they are often intertextual references to films, TV programmes, other music videos etc. This suggests that some music videos relate the concept of video to another video for example Madonna’s music video to her song Material Girl (1985), which draws on the film “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend”. In this case the intertextual image is not necessarily of Monroe, but of the Hollywood stereotype of the sexy blonde who uses her looks to get what she wants. It makes sense that many music videos draw upon cinema because inspiration for music videos must come from somewhere. Saying this, not all audiences will spot a reference, which would not mean that they would not enjoy the text itself, but greater pleasure might be derived by those who recognise the reference and feel flattered by this. It also increases the audience’s engagement with, and attentiveness to the product.

Key elements of music videos are also how camerawork is used along with editing and the mise-en-scene. Camera movement may accompany movement of performers, but it may also be used to create a more dynamic feel to stage performances, for example constantly circling the band as they perform on stage. By using close up shots to predominate the shots it provides a sense of intimacy for the viewer emphasising half of the product on sale – like the artist itself.

In terms of editing, music videos generally use fast-cut montages, rendering many of the images impossible to grasp on first viewing, which therefore means the audience needs to watch the video several times to notice everything. Saying this, some videos use a slow pace and gentler shot transitions to establish mood. Dido is an example of this because this style of editing appeals to many female solo artists with a broad audience appeal, another music video example is Alexandra Burkes “Halleluiah”.

Mise-en-scene varies greatly in music videos according to genre. The bigger the star, the bigger the budget, which means they can afford more exotic/ impressive locations as well as props customs and dance routines. In 1993 Michael Jackson and Janet Jacksons “Scream” was the most expensive music video produced at the time, and was set in out of space. The mise-en-scene can be effectively used to guarantee authenticity of a bands musical virtuosity, it also be used to emphasise an aspirational lifestyle, and as part of voyeuristic context by suggesting a setting associated with sexual allure, such as a sleazy nightclub.

By Ameera Tayabali

Gavin's Similar Text Analysis

50 Cent- I Get Money

I get money is a rap song off 50 cent’s third album “Curtis”. It is an iron fisted code to living large. In this song the artist talks about the large amounts of wealth he has and many ways of which he spends it. This song is a representation of the artist’s power< dominance and control over the rap industry. He also lyrically explains that all of his wealth has not come from his rap career but other ventures such as vitamin water. The video for this single was made initially as a promotion video for the Internet to create a buzz for his upcoming album, however it eventually made its way onto television.

At the beginning of the video there s an onscreen flame along with an audio snippet of an explosion, the explosion introduces the large letters across the screen which spells out “50 Cent”. This states the artist of the song. We also hear a voice which says “this guy has a lot of money man”. This is an early example of what message that this song and video will be portraying. We are introduced with large green letters that say the song title “I Get Money”, the colour green is to represent the American green dollar which also represents his wealth. The type of colour and font used stands out from the background. The word are also backlight which make the title look more important.

As the intro ends the opening to the video is started with a birthday cake made up of stacks of dollar bills and among it all are the candles which are numbers “5” and “0”. As the camera then pulls out we see that 50 cent has blown out the candles with a fan made up of hundred dollar bills. This opening is a good example of a convention that is seen in many rap videos; that being the appearance of large sums of money. This represents the amount of wealth that 50 Cent possesses. Then as the song begins with the repeated words “I Get Money”, an onscreen display of lyrics that match the vocals is seen along the top and bottom of the black straps.

As the words are repeated with matching visuals of the lyrics we are presented with an array of fast shot scenes which compile of the artist along with various members of the rap group “G-Unit” violently bouncing around with the beat of the song. This portrays a very masculine image to the viewers and represents the power 50 Cent has along with his group.

The music genre of Hip-Hop is very clear though the early images of the video. The conventions of good looking women, exhibiting seductive behaviour is present. There are many medium and close up shots of 50 Cent as he repeats the words “I, I get it”. The cuts are very fast and ar parallel with the speed of the words. In the first verse of the song he has a visual performance that matches his lyrics. As he says “ have a baby by me baby, be a millionaire , I’ll write the check before the baby comes, who the fuck cares”, onscreen there is a women standing next to 50 Cent whilst he holds up a child then it cuts to the women holding up a cheque to the screen with the artist name on it. Then as the bass beats the camera gets closer to the cheque so his name can be eventually seen.

As the verse goes on there is illuminated writing that appears along the bottom and top of the black screen. It is used as an advertising tool and persuasive tool in this video. For example in the end of the verse “pay attention stupid” comes up which noticeable attracts the attention of viewers to the action on the screen. Then as an advertising tool it is used to promote many Hip-Hop Djs which are known to the fans and viewers.

As the video progresses we see another audio visual link when he says “I bake the bread”, we see 50 cent rips open a loaf of bread. In the hip-hop culture, the word bread is used to represent money, so bread is money. This convention video is used to maintain the audience’s interest and put a message across clearly. In this case is used to illustrate that 50 Cent posses his humour in his lyrics. Then immediately it cuts to another shot where the straps along the bottom message to all viewers, that being “this is hip-hop”. By doing this it is ultimately telling the audience that the artist creates real hip-hop therefore bettering his image in the hip-hop community as a rapper.

Then the second verse he states that “I got rid of my old bitch, now I got new hoes”, as the lyrics are said three images are split on the screen with 50 Cent with three different girls beside him. This is an reinforcement of the hip –hop video convention that good looking women are always apparent. By using the effect of three separated images on the screen at once is that the viewers see he means what he says and that he can get any girl he wants. This shows his characteristics of being dominant, muscling and wealthy. Women are being represented as an accessory, given a degrading name, as hip-hop culture are criticized for there vision of woman as being a pleasurement or a toy.

We then see another employment of the advertising and promotion side of the video. Where the straps along the bottom if the screen displays the illuminated words “Curtis is coming”, which is 50 Cent’s third album which was soon to hit stores. Whenever the text appears it is always colour co-ordinated with the main colour and so was the clothing the artist and the women are wearing, along with a blue Lamborghini, this also being a representation of his wealth.

As we approach halfway the lyrics and again accompanied by matching video, when he states “I’ll make your whole click break dance”, we see a man performing break dance moves. Break dancing is very popular in the hip-hop culture and is used to symbolise that in this video. Then we get a shot of 50 Cent alone with the words “I’m #1”, this is to reinforce that he is the best at what he does. Then we get the words “I’m still undefeated” “undisputed”, this is more of an aggressive and physical notion. Because undefeated and undisputed are words normally associated with more physical sports which require masculine power and strength. Therefore in this case undefeated is used to signify that no one has yet beat him in the hip-hop industry and undisputed is used to reiterate that he has accomplished all there is to accomplished.



We are then presented with 50 Cent and four other women clinging onto his body, whilst the background is decorated with his upcoming album cover. The use of women in this shot is to show that he is desired by women and he can also acquire women. The camera then closes in on his chain. The use of chains around rappers necks are used to show their wealth and style it is used in almost every hip-hop video as a key convention. Then once he chain is in clear sight the next shot is within the chains pendant. As it gets closer we can see the chain is of a television with another shot. The television is then blown up into full screen. This editing technique is used as a wow factor. It creates a more special edit rather than just a plain cut.

We then are presented with a woman fanning 50 Cent with a wad if dollar bills, this image is used o represent his wealth hence the title “I Get Money”, and his constant company of women. As the shot cuts to 50 Cent wearing a bullet-proof vest with the words “I Run New-York” are presented along the top and bottom straps. The bullet-proof vests shows his hard, gangster image that he has and probably will still go through violent situations. The text is used to show that he is still the best rapper in New-York and that his power is so great he alone dominates the cities hip-hop scene.

Then as the last chorus starts we are shown various shots that are cut along with the repeating kick from the beat. The shots contain the artist along with a large mob of men. They are all dressed similarly and have cameos in which other famous rappers and Dj’s are present. The cameos are used to show that they are well connected with other big Dj’s and rappers. Then as a high pitched synthesizer is used in the beat which eventually drowns out it portrays a slow motion experience which is represented by a woman on the floor wiping her hand across in front of her face, and is slowed down to match the beat. Finally as the upbeat chorus comes to an end, 50 Cent turns his back on the camera and walks away from the screen. At this time the wall behind is decorated in the album cover in which the single is used to promote, also on the back of his bullet-proof vest is an image of him wearing a crown suggesting he is “King 50”, this is another representation of his power and dominance in the hip-hop scene.

Ameera's Similar Text Analysis

Rihanna – Take a bow

Rihannas’ Take a bow video was released in April 2008. It is a mix of pop and R&B style genre, and is from here album Good Girl Gone Bad.

The song is about a girl breaking up with a boy because he has cheated on her, and not wanting to take him back even though he is consistently trying to make amends’. The lyrics in the song make her look very independent and in control and the video just helps promote this image. A key theme of the video is girl power.

The video begins with a close up of Rihannas’ crossed arms, we are focused on her left hand, were the audience can see she is wearing a ring on her ring finger, suggesting she is married. The camera then tilts up to see her looking at her hand then the camera, whilst she sings sarcastically “How about a round of applause, A standing ovation”. Sarcasm is s form of mockery; we can tell she is being sarcastic by her facial exprerssion while singing suggesting she is not happy. By responding like this it shows she doesn’t feel belittled by the situation but she is confident.

The video shows Rihanna in two situations. In one she is wearing all black and is standing behind a black back-drop, this is very simply and focuses all our attention on the artist. This is a performance, because she is singing to the audience. There is a lot of close ups of her face in these scenes to show her annoyance and anger, to link her to the second narrative situation. A lot of the time in these scenes, her arms are crossed. By keeping her arms crossed, it suggests she is using it as a defence mechanism and is therefore not allowing the man in her life to affect her, or some close to her emotionally.
As she closes a door behind her she sings the lyrics “don’t tell me your sorry ‘cos your not, baby when I know you’re only sorry you got caught”, whilst doing this she points directly at the camera, connecting her confidence and assurance.

In the second situation, she is shown wearing a red jacket with bold red lipstick and sunglasses in a expensive car. This shot alone provides a lot of representation issues. Red represents sexiness and the red lipstick emphasises this because lips are a very sexual body feature. By wearing sunglasses, she is covering her eyes, this suggests she doesn’t want to show any emotion because eyes are key to seeing how someone is feeling, for example the saying goes “eyes are the window to the soul” suggesting eyes can show how you’re truly feeling. By Rihanna covering her eyes she is trying to suggest she isn’t feeling any emotion, and she is a strong woman. Finally by driving a expensive car it suggests she is economically independent, as in she can finically look after herself and she doesn’t need a man, to promote hegemonic gender roles.
As she is driving down the road, the man in her life is following her by foot. The fact she is in a car and he is walking shows that she has the upper hand.
When she gets back to the house she sends a text to the man that reads - Come to my house at 6 45, I have something for you. There is then a shot of the man receiving the text. Again this shows that Rhianna is in charge of the situation at hand.

At the beginning of the next scene there is an establishing shot of the room, it is a large room connoting again that Rhianna is well off. There is a close up of her picking up matches and then a point of view shot to look at her watch that reads 6 45. The man walks into the room and Rhianna stands up in slow motion, highlighting her curves connoting a “body beautiful” theme. She then lights his clothes on fire and walks away leaving him to put out the fire. As she walks out the room she sings “but it’s over now” – the last lyrics of the song and finally suggesting she has got her revenge so her relationship with the man is over too.

Rhiannas’ star image is adapted in this video. An artists’ star image is basically how the artist is perceived by the audience. This video shows her as a fierce, independent woman, which corresponds with her album title “good girl gone bad”, suggesting she isn’t the little girl she was portrayed as before.
Her haircut in this video has influenced modern hairstyles showing her star power, in terms of ideological power – that suggests she can influence a majority with her unique style.