The music video I analysed in this presentation is Love the Way You Lie - Eminem. The main factor we looked at was Genre and Andrew Goodwin's 8 main principles on his Genre theory.

2. A set of characteristics/ formula recognised by
audiences over time e.g. iconography, narrative, mis-
en-scene etc.
The concept of "genre" is fraught with problems and difficulties. A
particular genre is not a fixed or static framework: it could be argued
that 'The Western', for example, can only be defined by referring to all
of the 'Westerns' which have ever been written or produced, and that
each new example of the genre changes the overall character of the
genre as a whole. Similarly there are few examples (in film or literature)
which conform exactly to the codes and conventions of a particular
genre; more often than not films or programmes will cross "genre
boundaries" and draw on a number of genre characteristics. A final
important point to remember is that genres develop over time, and in
response to social and historical contexts. They may simply go out of
fashion, or they may undergo transformation over a period of time.

3.  Daniel Chandler – The problem of definition:
whilst genre seems it is all simple and kind, it is
actually much more complex than it seems.
 David Buckingham (1993) argues that ‘genre is
not…simply “given” but the culture rather it is in
a constant process of negotiation and
change’
 Steve Neale (1980, 48) declares that ‘genres
are instances of repetition and difference’. He
adds that ‘difference is absolutely essential to
the economy of genre’: mere repetition would
not attract audience.

4.  Steve Neale – “No genres go through a cycle of
changes during their lifetime”, “Genre is a set of
great expectations”
 John Hartley- “The addition of just one film to the
Western genre... changes that genre as a whole -
even though the Western in question may display
few of the recognised conventions, styles or
subject matters traditionally associated with its
genre”

5.  Goodwin’s theory is based on 8 main principles:
1. Links between lyrics and visuals
2. Links between music and visuals (complimentary,
contradicting or amplifications)
3. Genre characteristics
4. Intertextual references
5. Notions of looking (objectification of women)
6. Voyeurism (direct gaze, other people looking at artist, insight
into artists life, screens and mirrors)
7. Demands of the record label (representation of the artist)
8. Performance based, narrative based or concept based
music videos

6. Love the way you lie is a song recorded by American rapper
Eminem for his 2010 studio album ‘Recovery’. Released on
the 10th August 2010. The music video was influenced by
Rihanna’s and Eminem’s ex relationships.

7. In the music video, Rihanna portrays the female actor and Eminem
portrays the male actor. Most of the lyrics for the video reflected in
the way the actors themselves are acting. For example, when
Eminem raps “She f***ing hates me”, they are fighting and being
aggressive towards each other, to show that she really hates him
because of the other girls number she found written on his hand. By
her spitting in his face, it shows she doesn’t have any respect for him
and she doesn’t mean anything to him. Another part of the video
where there is a clear relationship between the lyrics and visuals is
when Eminem says “where you going?” and she replies “I’m leaving
you” and he says “when its bad its awful, I lay my hands on her I
guess I don’t know my own strength” - these lyrics are being lip
synced by the actors which may tell us there’s more going on than
we think. The last bit of the video shows the house going up in flames
with both the actors kissing, and ending up broken, displaying they
cannot be together.

8. At the beginning of the music video Rihanna is
singing and we are seeing shots of the
narrative having special effects of fire in the
palm’s of the female’s hands. The music slowly
stops and there’s a sound of a record being
taken off a record player as the rapping
gradually kicks in about the abuse in the
relationship. Throughout most of the video, the
music is generally in sync to the beat of the
song, for example when the actors are shown
to be fighting, there is a slow paced beat of a
drum in the background.

9. The main genre of this music video is R&B
and Hip Hop. Most R&B songs involve love
and break ups performed mostly by
females with the males either rapping or
singing in the backing track. There are also
quite a few close up shots mainly of the
women. In this music video, there are a lot
of close ups of both the actors and Eminem
and Rihanna, however, the video itself is
shot as a film combined with a story line.

10. It is not surprising that so many music videos
draw upon cinema as a starting point,
since their directors are often film
graduates looking to move on eventually
to the film industry. For example, Love the
Way You Lie was used in the move Dear
John (5th Feb 2010).

11. Throughout the video there is a continuous use
of close ups of both Rihanna and Eminem. This
is a demand of the record label as they are
using star power to promote their artists as
much as possible. Normally this is presented
through a large amount of screen time, with
close ups/mid shots of just them in a frame to
place the attention solely on them. Being
close to someone suggests you are
comfortable with them, a close up of the artist
is personal and allows the audience to build a
close relation with the artist shown on screen.

12.  This music video is largely a narrative based as
the story of the lyrics is being acted out in some
way all the way through. This style relies on
imagery to produce a story for the audience to
follow. This type of music video seems to be
used a lot in slower song, and often tend to be
love stories. Love the Way You Lie is like a mini
film, with a beginning, middle and end.
Narrative based songs tend to be popular as
songs which are featured in films. Although this
song is featured in Dear John, there are no
clips from the movie which are being included
in the music video.