2. DRAKE – STARTED FROM THE BOTTOM
The first shot we see of the music video
shows a group of boys playing football in a
small arena. The camera then focuses on
one boy which the audience is meant to
believe is Drake when he was a young boy.
The shot is put there on purpose to show
the transition Drake goes through from the
beginning of the video to right at the end of
the video.
3. The next shot we see straight after the
football scene is Drake standing on top a
very fancy car which we presume is his. He
then jumps out of the car and stands beside
it with snow blowing in his direction. The
snow, the car and Drake’s outfit all have
synergy between each other and the whole
shot has a very white theme to it. This shot is
showing the audience the point in Drake’s
life where he has ‘made it’ as a rapper and
the video tends to cut between from when
he had nothing and to where he is now with
all the money and fame, hence the lyrics
‘Started from the bottom now we’re here’.
4. The next shot we see is Drake along with a
few other men in what looks like a
supermarket where he works. This shot is
constantly montaged with the other shot
of Drake standing next to the car to show
the transition of what he used to be to
where he is now. In the shot of Drake in
the supermarket, we also see him being
handed a badge for ‘Night Manager’ to
show that he has been promoted in his
job and that is one step from becoming
where he is now.
5. The scene after this shows a woman
coming into the store where Drake
works. She then talks to one of the
employees who Drake works with and
he starts to flirt with her asking her to
come round his house. His eyes are
also glued to a certain part of her
body which shows how most women
are represented in these hip-hop
videos. They are used as distractions
to men by using their body parts and
figure or they are shown as
possession's and prizes to men. For
example a man with a lot of women
around him is shown as success in a
lot of rap/hip hop videos.
6. The rest of the video from the scene in the
supermarket is just shots of Drake being
successful. These include shots of him in the
supermarket with his colleagues with confetti
raining down on him as seen on the left. This is a
representation of him becoming a success in his
career. There is also a shot with him at a bowling
alley with his friends and a very clever close up of
Drake exhaling smoke into the camera as it cuts to
the next shot. The next shot as seen on the left
shows Drake again with friends inside what could
be his house now he has become a success. They
are all dancing with Drake in the centre which may
be a representation of how he has developed a
fan base. The people in the house are wearing
‘OVO’ t shirts and so on which is Drakes brand so
there is also some product placement in there.
7. During the video there is also establishing shots
of the city of Toronto which is where Drake is
from and talks about in a lot of his songs and
refers to it as the ‘6’. The camera then pans into
the city and focuses on a billboard which says
‘Started from the bottom’ and Drake is standing
on top of it. This shot is also a representation of
how successful he has become that he has his
own billboard in his own city. On the billboard is
also the OVO logo to show how established his
brand has become and also to promote it to his
target audience.
8. After the billboard shot, there are more
continuous establishing shots of Toronto and a
lot of close ups of the CN tower which is the
main landmark of the city. There are also shots
of Drake in a private jet which we are meant to
believe is his because he has become so
successful and rich. On the private jet he is
holding a glass of champagne with a girl by his
side which may represent that he is now living
the high class life with all the money and the
girls that he gets. This tends to be a stereotype
in a lot of rap videos where the artists use girls
to show their success. The jet is flying over
Toronto as we see the city through the window
of the plane.
9.
10. • A lot of the rest of the video takes place in one location which looks quite tropical and exotic. We
then see that Drake has a house there and there are a lot of wide angle establishing shots to show
the area. He then has friends come to his house and they have a party. During this scene there is also
shots of women not wearing much clothing or there is a close up of a certain body part. This shows
again how woman are represented in hip hop videos as trophies of some sort and eye candy for the
target audience. This scene is mainly a montage of Drake and his friends having fun and doing
stereotypical things such as drinking, dancing and just partying in general. The end of the video then
carries on from a scene we saw earlier in the video with Drake being the main focus dancing. On the
screen we then see ‘Drake’ and ‘Started from the bottom’ in big bold writing to show that it is the
end of the video. We also then see ‘By Director X and Drake’ in big writing to show who produced
the music video and then the video cuts to black from the left side to the right.
• CONCLUSION
• In conclusion, the video to ‘Started from the bottom’ tells the story of Drake’s life in a summary and it
progresses from when he was younger to where he is now with all the money and fame. The video
literally matches the song title and shows how Drake started from the bottom from then being a rich
rapper. The video contains a lot of hip hop stereotypes such as using girl’s to show success, drinking
and smoking, fancy cars and more. The video contains a lot of wide angle shots to show as much as
the camera can. It also contains a lot of establishing shots of the city of Toronto as its where Drake is
from and something he is very passionate about.
