2. Synopsis
The video is narrative based and tells a story about Tupac’s
mum and how she raised him, it re-enacts parts of his life in
which his mum helped him and the whole video is a love
letter to his mum. The video is told form her perspective, as
she goes through her old family photos and remembers
these events while the music and the lyrics tell the story.
3. Themes
The main themes of the video are love and thankfulness, as
well as introspection, as the video shows how Tupac became
the person he is today. The video shows how his mother
helped him and another theme is how troubled his past was
as the video shows him being arrested and being in a gang.
4. Representation
The artist is shown throughout the video mostly played by
actors as it shows him as a child and teenager. Clips from
other music videos are used to show Tupac as an adult and
show his successful career. Tupac is not represented in a
positive light as he is shown in prison, stealing, and crying as
a child. This highlights the problems he had in life and shows
how his mother worked hard and helped him overcome which
is the overall message of the video. Tupac’s mum is also not
perfect as it shows her doing drugs and in jail showing how
her life was not easy too, however she is still represented
positively as she overcame this.
5. Camera
Depth of field shots are used
for scenes of his past to show
his memories, close ups are
used to convey emotions
which are themes of the video.
Dutch angles are often used to
show discomfort of the scenes
when showing parts of
Tupac’s troubled past.
The camera moves slowly in
order which fits the tone and
the music in the video as well
as showing the emotion of the
scenes in the video for longer.
6. Editing
Many cross fades are used and blurry dissolves show the
flashbacks of his past, as well as match the slow camera
moves. Some cuts are matched to the slow beat of the
music, cross cutting is used to show similar stories which
relate to each other, the mother’s problem with drugs and
Tupac in a gang, highlighting the theme of them needing
each other and his mum overcoming troubles to raise her
son.
7. Mise-en-scene
Low key lighting is used to
show dark shadows which
show sadness, a lot of the
flashbacks are in blue, to
show sadness and violence.
Brown and orange are also
prominent colours to show
the emotion of the scene as
well as the environment, the
contrast also shows different
characters
We see the characters past
was not very rich and this
can be seen through the
clothing and the set design of
the house
8. Sound
There is no lip synching in the video it tells a story, and the
music is non diegetic. The only dialogue we hear is in the
beginning from Tupac’s mother which sets up the theme of
the video as a flashback shows her pregnant in jail. There is
no diegetic sound in the video as the story is told through
visuals and the lyrics of the song.
9. Target Audience
The audience is clearly people from poor socio economic
backgrounds, or people who used to have a troubled past.
This appeals to not only teenagers but adults who would
have experienced it. There music itself is more accessible
than traditional rap with less profanity, but has adult themes.
People can relate to this type of story so the audience is
broader than other rap songs by Tupac or other artists. The
emotional value of the video’s story resonates with people
which would get them to buy it, especially when this was
made in the mid 90s when songs weren't available
everywhere online.
10. Ideas/Inspiration
Telling a story visually interests me and my own music video
could incorporate visual storytelling effectively. The colours
used here to tell the story is also an element I would like to
use.
The depth of field shots with shallow and deep focus are also
very visually interesting and I would want to use those filming
techniques in my own work.
The unique way the music is used, rather than lip synching it
tells the story through the lyrics. This is a different idea which
could make my own video more unique.
