A music video i analysed for my a2 media coursework.

1. Eminem Stan Music
video analysis

2.  Rap god Eminem made more of a short film rather then a music video with his 2009 music video
called Stan. The music video was released 9 years after the song on YouTube. At 0.05 we have an
establishing shot which moves into a medium shot at 0.14 of a women who we assume is pregnant
due to the way she is holding her hand on her body. As Roland Barthes explained the producer
encoded this message with the hope that the consumer would decoded the message in the same
way however he also points out there often codes can be polysomic so some audiences may look at
the shot and think that there is other meaning such as the women being unhappy with her weight.
Through this scene there is also lightening flashing in and out of shot which could foreshadow
something bad is about to happen or could suggest the women is scared of something.

3.  At 0.09 the camera moves into a house from the window this Is called
voyeurism and as Andrew Goodwin discussed it is a convention that is
used in music video to make the audience feel like they are peering into
someone's private life. This can make the audience feel uneasy and also
make them suspect what is coming up next

4. Close ups of Eminem
 In the last part of the music video there is a lot of close up of Eminem this is important
as Andrew Goodwin said there is often a demand from the record label for loads of close
ups because not only does that help the customers relate to who there buying the music
from.

5. Binary opposition
 In the scene at 1.07 we see the women and Stan on the screen at the same
time. There is a binary o on screen not only due to gender but due to the
terrified women and the what looks like a strong man. We denote these
messages due to the camera shot of the clip with the women looking
scared and the male being dominant

6. The lighting
 During the whole video the lighting is dark and the scenes are mainly set
at night this may be due to dark colours often being related to power or it
could be related to danger and worry this could again be binary
opposition with the dark scenes meaning danger and worry for the lady
but when the man is on screen it could relate to power. Also during the
music video there is hints at abuse like when Stan yells at his girlfriend in
the toilet.

7. Performance Narrative
 The song is a performance narrative when fitting it into Joan lynch
category's of music. We have lip syncing but then the video is actually
telling a story and this is important as having a story to the music meant
there felt like there was a second meaning to the video. Some people will
have painted there own imagination when listening to the song and they
will like to think of there idea as an alternative version of events. As the
music video has a narrative people are more likely to watch it more than
once and the audience are also more likely to share the video with there
friends meaning its promoting Eminem’s music.