Textual analysis, without me- Eminem.
Genre characteristics:
The characteristics that are typical to the rap genre in this video are the use of swearing- Eminem swears consistently throughout the video and this is used to show his “care-free” attitude to how other people see him (other than his fans). Another characteristic used in this video is the tattoos, Eminem has tattoos on his arm and on show during this video, this is conventional for rap artists to do in their videos, tattoos connote rough behaviour and this is the look that Eminem is going for in this video as the song is about him coming back and bashing the ‘haters’ by teasing them in his video, so the tattoos help to reveal this part of his personality. Another typical characteristic is the body language Eminem is using when the camera is close-up on him rapping on his own, he waves his arms around while he bounces to the beat- This body language shows Eminem to be dominant and masculine by throwing his arms around but still friendly as he is bouncing to the beat of this up beat track. At the end of the video Eminem is surrounded by a group of males all in tracksuits looking angry but then break out into dance- this is challenging typical characteristics of rappers that dress in tracksuits, but earlier on in the video Eminem also supports this idea of rappers wearing tracksuits ‘typical street clothing’ as he is wearing a grey tracksuit at regular intervals in the video.
The characteristics that are typical to the rap genre in this video are the use of swearing- Eminem swears consistently throughout the video and this is used to show his “care-free” attitude to how other people see him (other than his fans). Another characteristic used in this video is the tattoos, Eminem has tattoos on his arm and on show during this video, this is conventional for rap artists to do in their videos, tattoos connote rough behaviour and this is the look that Eminem is going for in this video as the song is about him coming back and bashing the ‘haters’ by teasing them in his video, so the tattoos help to reveal this part of his personality. Another typical characteristic is the body language Eminem is using when the camera is close-up on him rapping on his own, he waves his arms around while he bounces to the beat- This body language shows Eminem to be dominant and masculine by throwing his arms around but still friendly as he is bouncing to the beat of this up beat track. At the end of the video Eminem is surrounded by a group of males all in tracksuits looking angry but then break out into dance- this is challenging typical characteristics of rappers that dress in tracksuits, but earlier on in the video Eminem also supports this idea of rappers wearing tracksuits ‘typical street clothing’ as he is wearing a grey tracksuit at regular intervals in the video.
What is the relationship between lyrics and visuals?
The relationship between the video and lyrics is illustrative, the lyrics in this song are a bit of a micky take at various other artists and just generally a fun, silly song from Eminem- so in his video he’s dressed as the artists that he mentions in the lyrics and jokes around which is the same theme to the song and the lyrics complement the image well. Everything mentioned in the lyrics
Eminem parodies in the video which raises the level of entertainment to this video which is the primary purpose to the video.
The relationship between the video and lyrics is illustrative, the lyrics in this song are a bit of a micky take at various other artists and just generally a fun, silly song from Eminem- so in his video he’s dressed as the artists that he mentions in the lyrics and jokes around which is the same theme to the song and the lyrics complement the image well. Everything mentioned in the lyrics
Eminem parodies in the video which raises the level of entertainment to this video which is the primary purpose to the video.
What is the relationship between music and visuals?
The music is a heavy beat which is constant throughout the whole video- it fits well with the visuals as it’s a hip-hop/rap track and the beat is conventional of this so this along with Eminem bobbing his head along visually complements the rap genre and will appeal to the rap fans that are watching the video.
The music is a heavy beat which is constant throughout the whole video- it fits well with the visuals as it’s a hip-hop/rap track and the beat is conventional of this so this along with Eminem bobbing his head along visually complements the rap genre and will appeal to the rap fans that are watching the video.
Are there close-ups of the artist and star image motifs?
There are close-ups of Eminem constantly throughout the music video to please the fans and to show his enthusiastic/sarcastic expression as he raps his lyrics into the camera. There are also star motifs as in the background of some of the clips in the video there is a spotlight of a big E symbolising Eminem’s name- This is something fans will instantly recognise and associate with, Eminem also adds a comedy value as this clip is when Eminem is dressed as a superhero.
There are close-ups of Eminem constantly throughout the music video to please the fans and to show his enthusiastic/sarcastic expression as he raps his lyrics into the camera. There are also star motifs as in the background of some of the clips in the video there is a spotlight of a big E symbolising Eminem’s name- This is something fans will instantly recognise and associate with, Eminem also adds a comedy value as this clip is when Eminem is dressed as a superhero.
Is there reference to the notion of looking?
At the beginning of the video there are two girls in the bed with Eminem who pop up either side of him, the clip jumps back and forth and ends up with Eminem rapping at the end of the bed and the two girls posing either side- this supports the notion of looking at Eminem’s target audience will be young teenage boys so by having two girls posing in his videos will attract their attention and make them want to carry on watching the video, hence why they are shown at the beginning. As Christine Gledhill theory states by having these women in the video they are catering to the needs of the demographic they are aiming at.
At the beginning of the video there are two girls in the bed with Eminem who pop up either side of him, the clip jumps back and forth and ends up with Eminem rapping at the end of the bed and the two girls posing either side- this supports the notion of looking at Eminem’s target audience will be young teenage boys so by having two girls posing in his videos will attract their attention and make them want to carry on watching the video, hence why they are shown at the beginning. As Christine Gledhill theory states by having these women in the video they are catering to the needs of the demographic they are aiming at.
Are there intertextual references?
There is a intertextual references as Eminem’s character in the video hands his album to a little boy and tells him he should listen to it- This is major advertising for Eminem as not only are people watching his music video they are getting referred to other Eminem products they can buy in addition.
There is a intertextual references as Eminem’s character in the video hands his album to a little boy and tells him he should listen to it- This is major advertising for Eminem as not only are people watching his music video they are getting referred to other Eminem products they can buy in addition.
Is it performance based, narrative based or concept based?
The majority of the video is performance based as there is strong sense of comedy running throughout the video with the different characters Eminem is dressed up as and the micky taking lyrics of other celebrities. However, it could also be concept based as the song is called ‘without me’ and is about Eminem’s come back into the music industry so it is informing fans that he is back and better than before, with addition to promoting his album in his video which will lead to him having more success after the video is released.
The majority of the video is performance based as there is strong sense of comedy running throughout the video with the different characters Eminem is dressed up as and the micky taking lyrics of other celebrities. However, it could also be concept based as the song is called ‘without me’ and is about Eminem’s come back into the music industry so it is informing fans that he is back and better than before, with addition to promoting his album in his video which will lead to him having more success after the video is released.
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