This is a powerpoint which discusses the various features of two music videos, each for a different song in the hip-hop genre.

1. Analysis of a Music Video
Clint Eastwood - Gorillaz
Rock That Body - The Black Eyed Peas

2. Clint Eastwood
Both of these songs fit into the same genre of hip hop music,
however their videos differ significantly in terms of content and
style as one’s fully animated but the other features the real singers
and members of the band (as well as other people).
Rock That Body

3. Conventions
Clint Eastwood - Gorillaz
● Close up and low angle shots
● Rap
● Collaboration with other artists
● Majority or all of the people in the video are male
Rock That Body - The Black Eyed Peas
● Close up shots
● Crowds of people and dancers
Typical conventions of a hip hop music video are
as follows: low angle/close up camera shots, large
crowds of people and dancers, features showing
off the wealth of the singer/band, more male
members in the video than female, a link between
the lyrics and video (either lip sync or link to
potential messages in the lyrics and actions shown
in the video), collaboration of other artists and
rapping.

4. Camera Work
As mentioned in the previous slide, low angle and close up
shots are usually featured in hip hop music videos. This is
to throw the focus onto the lead singer/singers to make
them more important than everyone else.
Clint Eastwood
The video starts off with an extreme close up of one of the
members (named Murdoc). The most common types of
shot throughout the video are mid shots and close up
shots. The close ups are mostly on the lead singer (2-D)
and the rapper ghost, which make them the main focuses
of the video (as well as the evil gorillas, who have fair
amounts of screen time). There are more extreme close
ups near the end of the video where 2-D sings and the only
female member (Noodle) runs up and kicks one of the evil
gorillas. Zoom ins and outs are also used throughout as
well as panning from the left to the right and tilts in few
parts of the video.
Rock That Body
This music video features close ups, mid shots and long
shots. The majority of the video is made up of long shots
and mid shots especially, unlike the Clint Eastwood music
video. Throughout the video, the main focus is on the
singers, who get more screen time and close ups than the
crowds of people and the dancers stuck in a glitch on the
street, which makes them more important. Will-i-am and
Fergie get the most attention. There are also pans and tilts
throughout the video, such as a pan when the robots are
flying and a tilt when one of the members are introduced at
the beginning. There are also zoom ins, one of which
occurs when Fergie is introduced, making her one of the
more important features of the video. Another part of
camera work which isn’t in Clint Eastwood is an unsteady
camera, which makes the video look like it has been filmed
by a phone or hand-held camera.

5. Editing
Clint Eastwood
The members of the Gorillaz are all fictional, animated characters (2-D,
Murdoc, Noodle and Russel) thus the entire music video is animated.
The animation is set so that it matches well with the beat and flow of
the music and lyrics, having good lip sync of the characters. Things
such as rewind and replays as well as slow motion and blurs are used
to make scenes/actions fit in with the music, more often so when the
evil gorillas are introduced into the video. There are close up shots
which focus on the faces and instruments of the band members, and
certain parts of the video involve panning shots which show the
audience the band performing parts of the song to the audience
despite being animated, which somewhat breaks the fourth wall as
they are performing like a real life band.
Rock That Body
In the video there are a lot of special effects such as
editing in lighting, the bullets/waves from their weapons
and looping of the actions of the dancers in the street to
show they’ve glitched. The two robots in the music video
are CGI, and are seen throughout the majority of, if not the
whole music video.
Some hip hop artists will use a lot of editing in
their music videos to make themselves look more
interesting and popular than other artists of
different genres. The most common form of
editing seen in hip hop videos can be the lighting
or creatures and people made through CGI
depending on the artist/band you are watching.

6. Sound
Clint Eastwood
Like in many other hip hop music videos, the singing is
constant throughout the video, with only last few seconds
of the video silent. At the beginning and end of the video,
there is an instrumental which introduces us to the music.
There are a range of sound effects involved throughout the
video such as the sound of the ground breaking when the
evil gorillas emerge from underneath the ground as well as
the graveyard. There are also effects used when one of the
gorillas grabs Murdoc and pulls him down to the ground,
and when the line of five gorillas dance. When Noodle,
kicks one, there is a kicking/hitting sound effect used. An
electrical static sound can be heard when Russel’s inner
rapper (the rapper ghost) goes back into Russel at the end
of the video. (Also at the end of the video, there are birds
which can be heard and the sun comes out).
Rock That Body
Just like Clint Eastwood by the Gorillaz, the music video for
Rock That Body has singing all throughout apart from the
last and first few seconds of the video. Unlike in the other
band’s song, the video for Rock That Body involves no
sound effects.
Although the robots fly and one of them collapses at the
end of the video, and guns fire waves which hit pedestrians
and free them from the loop they’re in to make them dance,
there are no sound effects so the focus is more on the
song rather than on the video.

7. Genre
Despite being part of the same genre, these two music videos are very different.
The Gorillaz fit into multiple music genres such as electronic music, dub, rock, rap rock, indie dance, alternative rock,
alternative hip hop and trip hop. Their song ‘Clint Eastwood’ fits into the genres of trip hop and alternative hip hop (music
that features the range of styles of hip hop music but hasn’t been identified as mainstream). The use of conventions such
as the varying close up shots and panning shots which focus on the band and instruments as well as actions of the band
which match up to the beat make the music video a performance piece where the Gorillaz perform their song throughout
the video like a band would do in real life.
The Black Eyed Peas fit into hip hop, electronic dance and contemporary R&B. Their song ‘Rock That Body’ fits into all three
of those genres. The use of the varying camera shots and angles, the fast cuts throughout the chase scene and final
dance-off between the two robots as well as the futuristic costume and comic-like narrative fit into the genre and also
makes the music video extremely similar to a superhero movie, where the main band member saves the life of the female
band member through chasing the evil robot on his own good robot..
The genres both artists fit into vary however they are both similar in that they have both been categorised into hip
hop/alternative hip hop as well as electronic music/electronic dance music. As mentioned in a previous slide, both videos
feature the conventions typically used in hip hop music videos such as low angle shots and close ups to make the
artist/singer appear more important than the other people in the video by forcing the audience’s focus upon the band.

8. Narrative
Clint Eastwood
The first part of the video shows the virtual band playing
their instruments. After the first verse, Russel’s inner rapper
(the rapper ghost) emerges and starts rapping his parts of
the song. At the line ‘Picture you gettin’ down in picture
tube’, the rapper ghost stamps on the floor and the ground
breaks revealing a red light underneath. From there, evil
gorillas emerge from the ground as well as a graveyard
which surrounds the four band members. At the end of the
song, the character Noodle runs towards and kicks one of
the gorillas, possibly killing it as afterwards, the rapper
ghost returns to Russel and the other evil gorillas die. When
the music stops, the sky clears and the sun comes out.
Rock That Body
The first part of the video introduces the two main singers;
Will-i-am and Fergie, who appear and walk through the
street, using their stereo-guns to shoot people who’re stuck
in a glitch which prevents them from dancing. Later, the
other two members (apl.de.ap and Taboo) are introduced,
shooting people to free them from their glitch. A bad robot
appears and takes Fergie, then Will-i-am gets onto the back
of his robot (the good robot) and chases the bad robot to
get Fergie back as the other two members carry on freeing
civilians from glitching. After a while, the bad robot crashes,
dropping Fergie. The good and bad robot then have a
dance-off for the remainder of the music video. When the
song ends, the bad robot collapses from exhaustion.

9. Performance
Clint Eastwood
The virtual band, the Gorillaz, is shown performing their
song ‘Clint Eastwood’ throughout the video and are well
lip-synched with the lyrics. Although the real life singer who
wrote and sung the song isn’t in the video, the video still
shows performance of the band because the band is a
virtual band and so the man behind the Gorillaz isn’t
necessarily needed in the video.
One feature of a hip-hop/alternative hip-hop music video
would be that the band is shown performing their song in
an unusual place. In this video, the Gorillaz are shown
singing their song in a blank, isolated place which soon
turns into a broken graveyard.
Rock That Body
The Black Eyed peas are all featured in this music video. In
hip-hop/alternative hip-hop music videos, the band are
shown performing their song live or usually parts of their
life or clips of the band messing around, having a good time
are shown. In this video however, they’re shown saving the
world as part of the narrative, rather than performing the
song on stage or in a city, town or unusual place. Despite
this, they’re still performing their song as they sing it as they
go along saving the world with good lip-synching.
A feature of a hip-hop/alternative hip-hop music video is
that the band members wear clothes which match up to the
motif. In ‘Rock That Body’, the band members wear
costume which heavily implies a hip-hop/sci-fi theme,
matching the style and genre of their song.

10. Media Language
Clint Eastwood
Positioning is used to show who’s more important in the video.
Murdoc can be seen trying to take the spotlight from 2-D when
2-D’s singing in the very first part of the video, being fully
visible/coloured unlike 2-D in the shot. When the rapper ghost
emerges from Russel, he takes up the majority of the screen and
appears most in the video, which portrays him as an important
character/member of the band. This can be backed up by the
fact that the vast majority of the other songs sung by the Gorillaz
involve rapping by either Russel’s ghost rapper or other famous
rappers. The lyrics are well synched and the facial
expression/body language of the band, more specifically 2-D,
match up to them to make the video more realistic, and
strengthen a possibly depressing, dull mood in the chorus.The
choice of words, more specifically in the chorus give out an
interesting message. For example ‘i’ve got sunshine, in a bag’
refers to possessing drugs like marijuana (it’s also a reference to
a line in a film the actor Clint Eastwood is in). The rest of the
chorus gives off an almost disheartening feeling, which is taken
away with the last line of the chorus ‘my future is coming on’.
Rock That Body
As mentioned in a previous slide, the focus is on the two
main singers throughout the video and so you can tell that
they are the more important features of the music video,
which is a typical hip-hop/alternative hip-hop music video
convention. They have more close up shots and in general
have a blank expression and a body language which makes
them appear important. They are the only ones in the video
wearing the sci-fi clothing which shows that they’re the
main characters, main heroes in the video and so should be
the main focus as we are more drawn to them rather than
the civilians because they stand out. The singing in the
video is sung with a blank expression which doesn’t fit with
the expected beat, expected intention of the song itself but
what it does do is further portrays the band members as
the typically important, grand singers that they are, ‘their
music is so good they don’t need to sing it with
enthusiasm’.

11. Representation
Clint Eastwood
Gorillaz was never going to be a real band with real band members so
Damon Albarn made the animated characters 2-D, Murdoc, Russel and
Noodle instead. The characters are digitally animated, which suits the
songs as the vast majority of the songs written and sung by the Gorillaz
can be classed as digital music. A link can be made to anime/mange
from the music video to Clint Eastwood because it’s similar to
anime/manga, having a lot of destructive imaging in the music video
such as a broken graveyard emerging from the ground as it cracks and
breaks, giving space for the evil gorillas to emerge and cause trouble.
The band doesn’t conform to hip hop conventions either, in terms of
their appearances. 2-D and Murdoc are the best examples for this point
because they have the most contrasting appearances from the genre.
They have crooked and broken teeth which defies the idea of wealth in
hip hop music videos as they appear to be quite poor which is the
opposite to how lead singers/band members are usually portrayed (you
can also tell by their hair and clothes). The name of the song is the
name of the American actor which Damon was a fan of. You can see
other references to Eastwood and his films in the lyrics and music
video such as the lyric ‘i got sunshine, in a bag’.
Rock That Body
In the music video, the main setting appears to be a set of streets in an
American city. Unlike the usual dirty streets crowded with homeless people
or those suffering from poverty, these streets are sanitised and the people
have fairly expensive outfits and accessories such as Beats headphones.
The music video has a heavy superhero feel to it, one part of which can be
felt when the two robots (hero and villain) are flying around the city,
weaving in and out of the buildings just like the hero and villain would do in
a movie or comic book. The first hero to be introduced is Will.i.am, who is
shown in a rather bulky outfit, equipped with a large weapon. This presents
masculinity as it shows power and strength. His facial expression is that
which shows that Will.i.am is tough and so adds to a violent display of
masculinity. The second member, Fergie, is shown with a smaller weapon
and is dressed in a rather alluring outfit which has less armour than
Will.i.am’s. The cones on her breasts and the short dress highlight the
parts which make a woman an ideal woman (breasts, nice figure). This
shows that Fergie is more inferior compared to Will.i.am, strengthening an
ideal that masculinity is more important than femininity and that men have
more power than women. Later on in the music video, Will.i.am gets a
mask, which directs the video further into the idea of superheroes. Fergie
gets taken by the villain, which also connects to the stereotypical
superhero setting as most superheroes wear masks and in most films and
comics, the heroine is kidnapped by the villain. Will.i.am chases the
villainous robot on his own robot which shows that he is in control as he’s
the one riding and directing the robot throughout the city streets to get
Fergie back from the bad robot, displaying the importance of masculinity.

12. Institutions
Clint Eastwood - Gorillaz
Gorillaz have used many record labels but the one used for
the song ‘Clint Eastwood’ is Parlophone. They were
founded in Germany, 1896 and in 1923 a British branch
(The Parlophone Co. Ltd.) was formed. It’s distributed by
Warner Bros. Records (United States), WEA International
Inc. (International) and is self-distributed in the UK. Other
notable artists other than the Gorillaz signed onto
Parlophone are The Beatles, Queen, Pink Floyd, Kylie
Minogue, David Guetta and more.
Other record labels the Gorillaz have signed up to are EMI,
Universal Music Group, Def Jam Recordings, Virgin
Records, Warner Bros REcords, Geffen REcords and Virgin
EMI Records. Damon Albarn (the creator of the Gorillaz)
was apart of the band Blur, which was also signed up to
Parlophone and so it’s not generally surprising that he was
able to sign the Gorillaz up to the same record label.
Rock That Body - The Black Eyed Peas
The Black Eyed Peas have signed up to a few record labels
but the one used for their song ‘Rock That Body’ is
Interscope Records. Interscope Records is an American
record label founded in 1989. It’s distributed by
Interscope-Geffen-A&M (United States), Universal Music
Distribution (International) and Polydoor Limited (Europe).
Other artists such as Imagine Dragons, OneRepublic and
Eminem have also signed up to Interscope REcords.
Other record labels The Black Eyed Peas have signed up to
are A&M Records, BMG Rights Management and will.i.am
Music Group.

13. Values and Ideology
Clint Eastwood
The main chorus is sung by the band member 2-D, who appears to be passive throughout
the whole video. The other parts of the song are sung by Russel’s ghost rapper, who
represents music/beats as a whole in the song. The main chorus sung by 2-D involves
lyrics stating that he’s not glad but happy, accepting his place when he has ‘sunshine in a
bag’ (which could refer to drugs or the contentment achieved through purchasing
consumer products) and although he feels that he’s useless, he believes in his future. In
the video, he’s rather passive, not doing anything much other than standing and singing.
The line “time for me is nothing cause I’m counting no age” refers to the idea that music is
immortal, it lives forever. Music also sets you free and potentially eliminates what makes a
person unhappy and that there isn’t specifically a price tag on what music can achieve, as
hinted through the lyrics “I’m good at repairs” and “Priceless / To you because I put you on
the high shit”. The ghost rapper potentially encourages you to embrace what can be
achieved through artistic creation such as that of music through his line “Panoramic view”,
as you’ll be taking in the whole 360° view of the world and music’s capabilities. He also
potentially encourages you to create your own music after hearing a piece which will
inspire you when he raps “You like it? Gun smokin’ righteous with one toke”. Another lyric
persuading people to go and create their own music would be the line “Bust a few rhymes
so mother fuckers remember where the thought is” as it suggests that he’s telling 2-D to
create music which will remind other passive humans that music is created through the
power of the mind and not just created in the blink of an eye. The song title itself could fit
into the idea of immortality within artistic creations as despite being old at the time, Clint
Eastwood continued to direct and produce movies rather than retiring
Rock That Body
The lyrics to this video could be interpreted as the singer wanting to
simply dance with someone, or could be interpreted as the singer
wanting to sexually interact with someone. As the hiphop genre involves
both dancing and sexual activity, both of these meanings could be
applied. In the modern time, hip hop videos and lyrics tend to imply a
more sexual theme than dance theme, however it hasn’t increased as
much. The music video seems to focus on a superhero theme however
looking at the lyrics alone, a sexual theme can be applied.
“Super fly ladies, all on my,”, “I wanna rock yo body” and “Up in the music
and rock yo body right” can be interpreted as sexual, more specifically
the first example. This is because in hip hop songs, the lead male singer
typically gets themselves involved with such things as lap dances from
fine bodied women seen as ‘sexy’ or ‘fly’. Saying that you want to rock
someone’s body is another way of saying that you’d like to have sex with
them and so, without the pairing of the music video, this Black Eyed
Peas song has a sexual ideal.