Music Video Analysis

Ryan. A. Henson

Introduction

In order to give me a better understanding of how music videos are structured, my first piece of research will be an analysis of a music video relevant to the genre of music I am planning my music video to be. Analysing other music videos of the same genre, which is HipHop, will allow me to study the conventions that take place in these videos and place them in the production of my own music video. The music video I will be analysing is:That Part – Schoolboy Q ft. Kanye Westhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ_DHRI-Xp0

What is the genre of the music video?

I am able to tell the genre, HipHop, of this song/music video by it’s conventions. A couple of key visual features that suggest this are the use of women dancers as sex appeal and the main artist smoking or simulating smoking drugs. These two visual conventions are both heavily tied to the HipHop industry.

Analyse the setting of the music video

The setting of the music video starts off in a very minimalistic and at times run down setting and then progresses to a rich suburban neighbourhood with large houses. Perhaps suggesting to the audience that the artists have come from basic/rundown backgrounds but have progressed in their careers allowing them to live more luxurious lifestyles. I believe the director has chosen this video for the same reason as it shows the contrasting journey the two artists have gone through to get where they are in life.

Analyse the décor of the music video

The décor used in the video for the most part appears basic however some of the décor fits the genre closely, for example the stripper pole. Ideologies of women being sexual objects have been present since the start of the genre, the video follows conventions of the genre. Further more for the pole to be inside the home of a rapper shows that the conventions of the genre are a lifestyle. The School bus with “SCHOOL BOY” on the front of it is in reference to SchoolBoy Q excelling through the 12th grade at school. School boy was the name he had been given when he joined the Hoover Crips in his neighbourhood in LA, the reason for his name is his ability to be selling drugs and being in the Hoover Crips whilst still doing well at school.

Analyse the costumes of the music videos

The costume of SchoolBoy Q actually suggests who the artist is if the audience didn’t already know, the hats (often bucket hats) and sunglasses with circular lenses are tied to his star image. All the women that are featured in the video are dressed in revealing costumes in order to sexualise them, linking to the genres conventions. The men in the beginning od the video smoking with SchoolBoy Q have their faces covered, this may be referencing his past with the Hoover Crips and how he can’t name names or talk about situations. He has to keep them covered up like the masks are covering up the faces of the men next to him. Which may represent the Hoover Crips.

Analyse the props used in the music video

The practice of carefully splitting a cigar in order to take out the tobacco and replace it with cannabis is growing within the HipHop industry. It is seen as a more discreet and luxurious way of smoking the drug which is so heavily tied to the genre. SchoolBoy Q is repeatedly shown smoking the blunt through out the video, connoting to the audience that he believes its fine to smoke/do drugs. I also noticed 2 cases of props being used for product placement, Hype energy drink and the new beats pill speaker. The placement of the hype energy drink was much more discreet than that of the beats pill as no shots of the front of the can were shown and it took me 4 or 5 times watching the video to notice it as it blended in so well. The beats pill on the other hand was very easy to spot as close up shots showed the speaker being turned on and also a close up of the beats pill itself. Furthermore the beats pill is already present in so many other music videos of this genre so it comes at no surprise to see it and it is almost expected.

Analyse the body language in the video

The body language in the video suited the rhythm of the music as it was confident and forward to the point, so it fits the genre. It suggests to the audience that the artists in the video are confident and successful due to the way that they open their body up to the camera. Some audiences may see this as the artists just being cocky or arrogant, where as others may see it as the artists being proud of what they have accomplished with their lives. The artists who star in the video do move differently to other people in the video as the stars are much more focused on the camera, all of their movement depends on the position of the camera. The stars face the camera as much as possible when when walking away from the camera, the stars also mainly remain in the centre of camera shots. The director has chosen to do this as they feel that the stars are the most important people in the video so they need the most screen time to effectively get their star image across to the audience.

Analyse the performance of the artists in the video

The artists’ performance in the video is very important as the whole song is about them and bragging about the lifestyles they live, referencing their riches through out the song. A music video to go alongside a song about the artists bragging about how they are rich and successful not featuring the artists themselves bragging abut their luxurious lifestyle wouldn’t seem appropriate. What does seem appropriate is to have the artists walking around the music video wearing flashy jewellery and clothes, whilst lip syncing to themselves bragging about their success. Which are all conventions of the HipHop genre.

The narrative of the videoThere isn't really what would be described as a narrative, the music video is treated more as imagery alongside the song. When Kanye west is talking about being rich and going to strip clubs a scene is hot of him opening what is supposed to be his luxury home. He lets the camera man in gives him a brief tour in which the audience see’s a pole dancer inside a room where the lights are a dark red as if its a real strip club inside of the house. The whole point of the music video is to give imagery to the words of the song in case the audience is not able to visualise it themselves. The music video is effective at getting across the different personas of SchoolBoy Q and Kanye West. For example we can see through Kanye’s body movements that depict the harsh way he raps his lyrics in the song that Kanye West is more aggressive and SchoolBoy Q sways more with the flow of the song loosely swinging his arms. The music video is important to see the artists star images.