Vid EG8 Not Afraid- Eminem

ACT: Eminem

Track: Not Afraid

Year: 2010

Director: Matthew Burnett and Jordan Evans

Genre: Hip Hop

Main Audience: Male 15-25+ as they appeal more to the dark/ protesting lyrics. However, it would appeal to males that come from a rough background who would be able to relate with the artist.

Lyrics




Relationship Between Visuals + Lyrics:

There is a clear relationship between visuals and lyrics in Eminem's music video about how he is basically arguing with his institution on how he is not respected as an artists due to his genre of music and the fact that he is different, as he does not fit the stereotype of being a black rapper. The way in which the visual portray this is that an example would be, when he says "You can try and read my lyrics off of this paper before I lay 'em

But you won't take the sting out these words before I say 'em" and shows the piece of paper on which he came up with the lyrics to this song to show the audience that he makes his own music, instead of getting his industry to write them for him.

Genre Characteristics:

What is specific to this genre of music is the location in which the artists is at, as it relate to the rough lyrics that the artists is singing. Furthermore, The artists himself is wearing dark clothing, which looks like a track suit reinforcing this persona that comes from a rough background and is trying to put his message across that he is 'not afraid' to stand up to society and protest for those who are more vulnerable in the music industry as he addresses various different artists within the song who share the same genre as he does.

Intertextuality:

In this music video not only does Eminem address himself as an artist that is struggling with being recognised and respected within the music industry but he is speaking for other artists who work within the same industry and are being unrecognized within it.

Performance Style:

Lipsyching from the artists shown through various camera shots. Most of the camera shots are oblique to mirror the meaning of the words said by the artists and reinforce their meaning (by this i mean that the words said are quite harsh and direct that the camera movement reflects this by not staying in a still motion, but more rather moving around to create a greater impact on the audience.)

Performance, Narrative and/ or Context:

This music video is mainly focused on the context of it as it's not giving a story through the visuals but more rather through the lyrics by informing the audience on how tough it is for someone who come from a rough background to be able to succeed in such a high rated industry as the music one. Some of the images portray the struggle that the artists is trying to reinforce as his body language is natural and harsh, which makes the audience feel sentimental for the artists.

Looking/ Mode of Address:

Throughout the music video the artists looks into the camera as this song is a message addressed directly to the audience and the music industry. The times when he addresses the camera the most is when he is singing the verses as they are the ones that have the deeper meaning and the direct address will intimidate the audience as he is not smiling at the camera but more rather has a serious facial expression so that they are able to understand what he is trying to say.

Representations:

In this video eminem is representing ethnicity of a gangster looking guy who comes from a rough background. His props and location are references to this persona that he is representing as he isn't only just this persona within the video but also in real life.

Pace + Any Variation of Pace:

The pace within the shots is differs depending on the location that the artist is at e.g. when the artists is situated indoor in the dark basement room the transitions within the shots are quite fast cuts and they are mostly medium long shots to show the surrounding of the artists. Whereas when presented outside at the top the building the pace is quite slow and the shot stays for a while on a close up of his feet on the ledge to create a greater impact on the audience reinforcing the rhetorical meaning of the title of the song 'Not afraid' as he is standing on a ledge giving this impression that he is fearless.

Location/ Mise-en-scene:

The artist is at a rural area where it looks as though there has been a natural disaster (as presented on the picture to the right). The location fits the meaning of the song as the artist repeatedly says within the chorus that he is 'not afraid', the neglected environment reinforces this as it gives us the impression that he is not afraid of dying, reinforcing the idea he is not afraid of the consequences that may come for the lyrics that he is putting across to the audience as he is arguing with the music industry and those others that see him as inferior to themselves. Furthermore, the location is a genre characteristic because rap/pop genre songs are usually presented in a rural environment to show where the artists comes from (a reference to the artist's background).