Task 3 work for media

1. Task 3 Laura Hodgson
Analysis of Music Videos
Eminem- Stan
Genre-
This video is unconventional because hip-hop videos usually have dance choreography but
this song doesn’t because it won’t suit the song as this song isn’t really like a typical hip-hop
song where the artists mostly show off their gangster lifestyle using the male gaze theory to
attract more viewers, showing off their money and also including how many women they
have slept with in their songs, Eminem doesn’t include any of this in his song. Hip-hop
doesn’t usually include, or ever think to include, such deep dark messages talking about
thoughts of suicide, obsession and frustration to a serious level as this could maybe loose
viewers and probably in most cases wouldn’t really be considered as hip-hop. However, we
know this song is hip-hop because the beat is consistent throughout the song and unlike rap
tends to be more focused on than the lyrics themselves. The actual meaning of this song is a
message to the fans from Eminem saying how he’s grateful for all the love and support they
give him but how it’s not healthy to become to obsessed with him and how they should be
thinking about how they might affect other people who love them by revolving their life
purely around him.
Codes & Conventions-
Codes-
There are three types of codes we see when it comes to media, technical codes are things
like the lighting or camera work, symbolic codes are things we see such as body language,
clothes of a character and the written codes are things like the language style and written
text.
The technical codes of this video that we analyse are firstly the lighting and how they put
the character ‘Stan’ in the basement with dim lights and practically now windows because
there’s so many posters of Eminem it consumes the whole room. We also see how through
the whole video its always horrible weather
outside because we know how Stan isn’t
exactly mentally stable so Eminem is trying
express this through the video. In this scene
they use a tilt shot at first as we see him
from the feet upward coming down the
stairs then they use long shot to capture him
and to also include the gloomy background in the back as the beat of the chorus drops.

2. Task 3 Laura Hodgson
Analysis of Music Videos
Eminem- Stan
The symbolic codes that we will analyse are the body language of the character Stan as he is
showing signs of anger and aggression
toward his girlfriend mostly because he’s
angry as he feels Eminem is ignoring him as
he hasn’t written a letter back to him yet.
The next thing is the type of clothes Stan starts to wears to dress like Eminem and how
when he looks at himself in the mirror he sees Eminem because he thinks that’s who he is.
The artist would include this in the
music video to represent how
some of his fans take it too far by
making their minds start to think
they are Eminem because they
have imitated everything about
him and then they get frustrated
when the public don’t give them
the attention Eminem gets or why Eminem himself doesn’t give them the attention they
think they deserve. Eminem also released another song purely based on this problem called
“slimshady” and the song says how he’s the real artist and how he’s thankful for the fans
but people get too carried away and he doesn’t like that because there can only be one
Eminem and that’s him. Also by Stan wearing the colour white a lot in this video symbolises
how he’s insane and not mentally stable as believed in some cultures.

3. Task 3 Laura Hodgson
Analysis of Music Videos
Eminem- Stan
The written codes that we will analyse would be the way in which the artist has portrayed in
his chosen language style for this audience in order to reach out to them. For example, in
the video when Stan is writing Eminem fan mail, he uses some slang type words like “what’s
been up” instead of “how are you” and “hit me back” instead of saying “write back to me”.
He would of used words like this in the
lyrics to be able to reach out to a lower
class audience as that’s who his biggest
fans were and who seemed to imitate
him the most.
Also the type of writing he uses to reach out to the audience is the sloppy handwriting on
the envelope that Stan is going to send to Eminem because a lot of his audience were
definitely from lower class backgrounds meaning that they wouldn’t really have that good of
an education so by using this type of handwriting people could relate to the character Stan
and reflect themselves in him and maybe
realise ,from Eminem’s message, that they
may be taking it a bit far with their love for
him or that maybe they should talk to
someone if they feel they are the same as
Stan. I could also be aimed at maybe a
family member or friend who is concerned
by someone they know or love and now
they can see how obsession can be lethal and they can get them some help.

4. Task 3 Laura Hodgson
Analysis of Music Videos
Eminem- Stan
Conventions-
A convention is a standard procedure or technique used, especially within the arts of a
music video or artist by using small details to create a scenario. this some reasons why its
unconventional.
An example of this video being unconventional for a typical hip-hop song is because it shows
domestic violence in the video from Stan to his girlfriend and this is unusual to show fans
because this is quite a deep topic to talk about which could turn people off of the song as its
quite a depressing subject. As we see here
he is giving no love and attention to his
girlfriend whereas in more common hip-
hop songs the artists will show off their
women and show how beautiful they are
and how lucky they are to have them or so
many of them but this is the opposite.
Another example of this video being unconventional is because it actually shows the
sometimes harsh reality of what fans will actually do to their lives because they are so
focused on becoming their idol artist that they will
go to extreme levels in order to have the artist’s
life. Like in Eminem’s video he shows how Stan got
his girlfriend pregnant because that’s what
Eminem had previously done. As we know typical
hip-hop videos would never show this kind of
effect and depth that happens to some fans.
Finally, Eminem uses the fact that Stan has a younger
brother as an example of how he’s fans are becoming
younger and younger as the older sibling listening to his
music are influencing younger ears and his music is too
explicit for them so to be careful, this is unconventional as
well as hip-hop stars don’t usually care who the audience is
as long as their records sell but this shows how Eminem knows what he’s saying is
unsuitable for a young audience so to warn parents and elder siblings to take precautions.

5. Task 3 Laura Hodgson
Analysis of Music Videos
Eminem- Stan
Andrew Goodwin’s Theory- Says how the audience has to try and figure out the message of
the song on our own.
1) The relationship between the lyrics and the visuals in this video are present and fit
together well because the mood in the song is quite depressing and shows anger
through the lyrics and in the video it shows a depressed and mentally unstable
obsessed fan of Eminem, who has anger issues because he’s frustrated Eminem isn’t
giving him attention and he doesn’t get the same attention Eminem does from
people so he takes his anger out on his girlfriend and it clearly affects her as she
sings about it in the chorus.
2) The relationship between the music and the visuals are present because the song’s
beat is quite slow and the cuts from shot to shot come slowly too not like in other
hip-hop videos where the cuts might be faster as the song is more upbeat, this song
has a depressing mood which is represented in the video and characters.
3) The genre- related style is present in this video because Eminem is known for
repeatedly wearing his baggy oversized t-shirts and baggy
trousers with big chains and sometimes a hat. Then Stan
is known to be copying this type of style as this is what
Eminem is associated with as he always wears these types
of clothing in his videos and at concerts etc.
4) There is definitely multiple close up for when each vocalist is singing their part of the
song, as Stan is the main character in this video he has the most close up shots of
him as he is rapping the most. When dido is singing her chorus part there are close
ups of her sitting in a dark corridor as if she is singing to herself. Then obviously as
Eminem is the artist of this track he comes in at the end and has close up shots
throughout the video just reminding the viewers who the main artist is.
5) The typical type of voyeurism isn’t featured in this video as the story is about an
obsessed fan who just wants to be noticed by Eminem and who also wants to be
exactly like him. There is no type of sexual frustration from the fan toward Eminem.
However, you could say that Stan is basically stalking Eminemas he has a major
obsession for him but he wouldn’t want to be in a relationship with him like that he
just wants to be noticed as his biggest fan.
6) The intertextual references are present because the video is based on crazed fans as
Eminem has received letters like this and worse in the past, and to show people that
they shouldn’t let their love for him dominate their lives.

6. Task 3 Laura Hodgson
Analysis of Music Videos
Katy Perry- Friday night
Genre-
This video is conventional because it shows typical features an audience would expect from
a pop music video. We can see the chorus is beated which is how we can tell this song
straight away is pop as you will see in pop music the chorus will have an up-beat rhythm
about it. Also the use of bright colours throughout the video suggest its pop because bright
colours are associated with happiness and that’s the type of image pop tries to give,
compared to maybe rap music where you wouldn’t see bright clothes, more dark colours.
Another thing that tells us this is a conventional pop video is that it includes a lot of dance
choreography which other genres wouldn’t have so much of. They use fast cuts from scene
to scene because it matches the songs mood being happy and upbeat and also the songs
style of fast pace. They use the male gaze theory when Katy Perry transforms into a
different style of clothing rather than the nerdy clothes she was wearing and now because
she is wearing more tight fitted, skin out and bright colours like pink and green which
symbolises lust, she gets noticed and it’s also entertaining for any male viewers that may be
watching.
Codes-
The technical codes of this song that we might
analyse is the tilt shot of her coming down the
stairs when she’s just been transformed from
a nerd into an 80’s fashion icon. The way its
filmed is from the feet upward to give the
viewers a shot like as if they are watching her
come down the stairs. The way she’s walking
though, is very awkward which tells us that
even though people think she looks much better, she’s actually very uncomfortable with
what she’s wearing as she probably never wears heels anyway.

7. Task 3 Laura Hodgson
Analysis of Music Videos
Katy Perry- Friday Night
The symbolic codes that are analysed in
this video are the clothes that the
characters are wearing throughout the
video. In the beginning she wore very
modest typed clothes and was also
wearing baby pink and baby blue to
symbolise femininity and innocence from
the light colours. She also wore a whole
face brace and had messy/ nerdy typed
hair with the big glasses with a plaster in
the middle and her body language was very awkward showing off how her character was
more of an unnoticed outcast who wasn’t popular with boys and just keeps herself to
herself and her studies.
Another code found in this video is that when her friend
transforms her and changes her whole entire look putting
her in tight a pink revealing top, to represent femininity,
and a tight, short neon green skirt, to attract attention to
herself, with a big curly perm and gets rid of her glasses and
braces while putting her in very high heels, she finally is
noticed by boys. The connotationsof thisparticularscene
suggestshow there issomuch pressure ongirlsthese daysin
societytolookgoodand dresswell inorderto getnoticedby
boysthat no one acceptspeople fortheirnatural beautybuttheneveryone wantstohate onpeople
that try to fitinbecause theyre “fake”. And also due to her body language still being awkward
even after she’s receiving the attention and praise, by people who wouldn’t normally give
her a second glance, suggests how really she’s not in her comfort zone at all but she’s just
listened to her friend and followed the way society requires her to dress so she fits in.
A last symbolic code analysed in this video is the fact
that its 80’s theme, they made the parents of Katy
Perry’s character actual 80’s icons with the dad being a
character from the popular 80’s film “The Goonies”
Corey Feldman and the mother famous 80’s singer
Debbie Gibson.

8. Task 3 Laura Hodgson
Analysis of Music Videos
Katy Perry- Friday Night
The written codes that are analysed
in this video are the fact that it’s
started off as a type of short film as
there is a short introduction and at
the end there is a short ending as well
as obviously the song during the
middle. They do this so the video
intrigues more viewers as not many
music videos are set out like this so it
makes a change for the viewers and can show how the artist is capable of doing more than
one style of entertainment. Also because the music video is 80’s themed, the producers
have included a paper boy in the beginning so we get a sense that of life 30 years ago as
these days most people either buy or download their newspapers.
Conventions-
This music video is conventional because it fits in with the typical pop music video because it
has the upbeat feel and also with the music video following the lyrics as she describes a wild
house party that happened the night before and how she is finally being noticed as
everyone loved the party. The typical love triangle of the geeky girl who fancies the typical
football player but he doesn’t notice her and she’s unaware of the geeky boy who fancies
her and think she’s perfect the way she is where the
football player won’t notice her for the inner beauty she
has unless she shows him something exciting first. The
fact he was wearing a type of ‘jock’ jacket shows how
he’s defiantly one of the typical American high school
boys that everyone wants to be.
This music video is also considered unconventional as well because as we can see it is set
out as a type of short movie which is something no other pop videos will include into their
videos as it’s not really relevant. Also by them showing upper class houses in the video is
trying to give the message that the rich and spoilt kids are just as likely to throw a crazy
house party as much as the lower class teenagers. By her not
getting into trouble by her parents after throwing this crazy house
party suggests how they are trying to re-live their teenage years
and so they don’t mind her having some crazy times as long as she
has as much fun as they wish they could have or they want to be a
part of.

9. Task 3 Laura Hodgson
Analysis of Music Videos
Katy Perry- Friday Night
Andrew Goodwin’s Theory- Sayshow the audience has to try and figure out
the message of the song on our own.
1) The relationship between the lyrics and the visuals match up in this video
because Katy Perry is talking about how a bunch of teens throw a house party
while their parents are away and everything is wild but it was the best night of
her life and she wants to do it again, this is shown in the visuals.
2) The music and the visuals also match up in this video because this is a pop
song and the directors use fast cuts of each scene at the beat, also they use
the same visuals each time for the chorus so the audience can recognise it.
3) The genre related style that Katy Perry uses for her fans to also recognise her
is the theme of bright colours in many of her videos, including this one,
because the mood of her songs are also upbeat and she wants to be known
for her bright, sometimes outrageous, outfits as a pop artist.
4) There is multiple close up shots of Katy Perry in this video so people can know
her as the main artist of the as she is playing a variety of characters and
scenes so this could confuse some people of to where she’s staring in her own
video, so they use close ups for no confusion among the audience and to keep
them intrigued.
5) There is a use of voyeurism in this video when the popular ‘jock’ touches Katy
Perry’s bum when she is quite drunk, showing use of the male gaze and also
that in society, boys don’t have respect for girls that dress a certain way. Also
the geeky boy who spots Katy Perry as she first walks into the party, as her
geeky self, follows her around daydreaming of them being together and we
know this as he is present in the scene of the boy grabbing her bum and he
steps in to ‘save’ her as he thinks he is her knight in shining armour and wants
them to be together forever.
6) The intertextual references used in this video is that Katy Perry has made a
type of sequel to the not so popular Rebecca black song ‘Friday’ and even has
her staring in it as the ‘nice girl’ from across the street. This video is basically
making a joke of this video but also trying to make Rebecca Black look cooler
than people think she is as she’s staring in a Katy Perry video.