The music video I am analysing is Without Me by Eminem, the music video was directed by Joseph Kahn. The genre this music video belongs to is the hip-hop genre and it has some characteristics of it such as swearing, but the video in itself isn't the traditional Hip-Hop video that portrays the glamorous life.
The lyrics have a solid relationship with the visuals. The relationship between the music video and lyrics is showcasing some of the lyrics as visuals, yet telling another story with the video. The music video goes in saying "Obie Trice, real name no gimmicks", and shows a home video taping close-up of Obie Trice with a serious face so we understand he is serious, the actual line was sampled from Obie Trice's song Rap Name and he was Eminem's protégé at the time. Eminem says "Guess who's back,back again", Shady's back, tell a friend", Slim Shady is an alter ego of Eminem, and he is shown in front of our eyes in a mid-shot to show that this is the guy who has actually returned, which was due to his hiatus from the music industry, he also says to tell a friend he's back and we then see clips of various parodied people spreading the word. Another lyric is said "Some vodka that'll jump start my heart quicker than a shock when I get shocked at the hospital, by the doctor when I'm not co-operating", this scene portrays him getting shocked by a defibrillator, and prior to that we saw the doctor inserting what seemed to be alcohol into his bloodstream. "I just settled all my lawsuits; f*ck you, Debbie!" is a lyric directed at his mother who sued him for defamation , and it shows a blonde woman who is actually Eminem dressed as a woman, with her son which looks like Eminem on a talk show and Eminem stands stand up and say "F*ck you Debbie" at the woman who is assumed to be his mother. "Embarrassed their parents still listen to Elvis" , it then depicts someone who is overweight and dressed as Elvis dancing in the bathroom. "And Moby? You can get stomped by Obie", which shows Eminem dressed up as Moby getting beat up by Obie Trice, this lyric is only used in the first place as to Eminem's anger on Moby's comments that Eminem is “misogynist, a homophobe, a racist, and an anti-Semite,” and he said all of this at the Grammys. To conclude I would say the fact that he says "I just settled all my lawsuits; f*ck you, Debbie!" and does the whole talk show scene with a parody of his mother, backs up my point that he incorporates the lyrics simultaneously with the video, yet he also adds his own spin to the video so that its unique and coherent.
The relationship between the visuals and the music are that the music is one that makes the scene rise and get more hectic, as soon as it ups its tempo. The video doesn't cut directly to the beat, but it starts with its own added intro, and the music lyrics start at the same time as the instrumental. The only solo part of the instrumental is towards the end of the video, and this is highlighted a parody chase of Osama Bin Laden , and then later ends up with dancing.
There are many close-ups of Eminem within this clip. The record company are looking to sell this track by having numerous numbers of parodies within the clip. They show the format that they would also most likely want to sell this song on by showcasing the artist's CD within the video. The image of Eminem that is being offered is a devil may care attitude, someone who is really fun and at the same time doesn't care much for people and certain issues. This video sort of relates to his previous music videos that were 'The way I Am' , 'The real slim shady' and 'Stan'. The first was 'The real slim shady' which was highlighting his devil may care attitude, and the next two videos were evidently darker and more serious, 'The way I am' concentrated on people's perception of Eminem, whilst 'Stan' focused on an over obsessed fan. The video was also his return after two years so he wanted it to be more light-hearted. Without me relates to Stan and The real slim shady as there are other people that look like Eminem in the video that aren't really him. This video represents a change in image as it is more friendlier and family safe than his other songs, and is one of the first to add comedic elements.
Within this video we do get a sense that the women in this video are on sexual display as we see the intro quickly flash a woman in revealing clothing but her scratching her posterior lessens the attractiveness, and also we see two women in bed with Eminem in the opening scene. This is done to add an attractive feel to the music video. There are references to looking as we see Eminem give the nods up to someone who is then revealed to be the camera man, this has been used to make the audience feel like they're sort of connected with Eminem . Another one is when we see Dr Dre speak to Eminem via videophone so we're looking at Dr Dre and both Eminem at the same time. We see Eminem on a surgical bed, and it's almost as if we are looking through the eyes of the doctors, and from their perspectives.
There are many different intertextual references in this music video. Firstly with the lyrics there are samples such as "Obie Trice, real name no gimmicks", which is sampled from Obie Trice's song 'Rap song' this is done to show Eminem's affiliation with the rap industry as well as Obie Trice being his protégée at the time. He also pays homage to Malcolm McLaren who is a veteran hip-hop artist by changing the lyrics from "First buffalo gal go around the outside, round the outside, round the outside" to "Two trailer park girls go round the outside round the outside, round the outside", and he also slightly shows his dedication to the hip-hop industry by saying the word "b*tch" in the same manner it is said in the NWA song " A B*tch is a b*tch". Within the video he has references to comics as he the video has comic book blocks and little headliners, and we then also see him as a Bruce Wayne figure , but he turns out to be an actual sidekick as he dresses like Robin, we also see, this is intertextual reference to batman as an 'Ǝ' light is seen in the sky similar to the batman signal, these are used to highlight Eminem's importance, Dr Dre who is portrayed as Eminem's sidekick is a parody of the comic book hero Blade. Another parody of the show ER is portrayed whilst Eminem is in the hospital but they disguise the name under ƎM, he is taking a dig at the show. There's also references to talk shows and Ǝ true stories, which is a parody of E true stories and shows a fat man rolling on the floor as Elvis, this is possibly done to show that he believes the channel is rubbish. Within this video we also see him parody a big brother like show, and CNN AS ƎNN, and Osama Bin Laden. They parody men in black when they make the car speed up to go faster.
The music video is a mixture of narrative and concept based due to the text explaining the situation on the TV, but he is also makes the lyrics relate to the actions.
In conclusion I believe this video is an very creative one, it is original and has a lot of intertextuality which is good because various audiences can relate to the video which in turn may possibly widen his fan base.
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