Case study two : Eminem

Eminem in collaboration with Mark Bass produced the original sound track to 8 Mile on October 22^nd 2002, named ‘Lose yourself’. The album version is five minutes and 26 seconds, in comparison to the clean radio edit which is 4 minutes and 26 seconds.  Eminem is part of Interscope records and has his own label, Shady Records.

The music video directed by Eminem, Paul Rosenberg and Phillip G. Atwell depicts the problems faced by the main character “B-Rabbit” while trying to reach his ambition of being the next big rapper.  It features scenes relating to his daughter whom he does not spend enough time with because of his music, it also shows how crowds mock him. Eventually near the end problems are overcome and the footage shows how life is different as a rapper.

The video is narrative based, as it relates to scenes in the movie 8 mile. However there are performance elements to it as it shows the artist rapping on a stage in front of crowds, and many a times, lip syncing the words, even though these scenes are part of the movie.

Themes and motifs include poverty, parenting, gang culture and showcases that we should all be motivated to live our dreams also that anything is possible if we set our minds to it.

The artist Eminem is represented as the character ‘B-rabbit’ in 8 mile, and mainly focuses on hardships faced as an artist, shadowing Eminem in real life.  The video exemplifies times Eminem got booed off stage and issues with his mother as well as having a lack of time for his daughter once initiating his rap career.

The use of the camera is particularly effective in this video. The camera zooms into the eyes of his daughter and shows footage of the past where Eminem had not had a rap career, playing with his daughter. It brings back the emotional attachment that was seen before Eminem was famous , this makes the audience feel empathy.  The editing at the beginning of the video which shows a montage of clips on location using short fades and several bits of footage caught my interest. The intro comprised of the track just started with no vocals and the mixture with the montage gave the music video a subtle touch to it.

The target audience are any hip hop listeners, possibly teenagers and adults. They are encouraged to buy the record as it is available online for easier accessibility, its offered as a single and as part of an album. It was also sold at shops when released in volume and is still available at some places.

The ideas that can be used from this music video is the transitions and fades used in the beginning of the footage. It could allow the audience to have a feel of the emotions portrayed in the video before being indulged in it fully.