Analysing Music Videos Within The Hip-Hop Genre

'MANY MEN' - 50 CENT

Camera Angles: A lot of wide angles, perhaps to show the 'grittiness' of his hometown. Use of close ups to show faces of significant people of the storyline in the music video. There are a lot of awkward camera angles which makes this music video stand out allot.

A wide angle that shows the scene where 50 Cent is getting shot by his enemies. I shows the mise-en-scene (which is in relation to the genre of the song). The mise-en-scene is a stereotypical street corner which would typically describe a place a drug dealer would perform his illegal conduct. It also gives a good perspective of how 50 Cent is shot and how brutal the attack was. The lighting in this shot is mainly provided by the sunlight has they are outside, however, RBG editing has probably helped to decrease excess lighting and any shadows.

This close-up shot is effective as it shows the facial expression on 50 Cent's face, after the incident where he had been shot. In this scene, 50 Cents confronts one of the culprits who were involved with the attack. The viewer would be able to connote that 50 Cent has a large amount of anger built up within him which he is planning to take out on the culprit. The close-up also shows the plasters and bandages which were put of him as a result of the incident. The lighting in this shot is extremely low-key, which can denote to the viewer that 50 Cent has evil thoughts of revenge in his mind which are going to be performed on the people that put him in the predicament he is in now.

Lighting: The lighting throughout the whole music video was low-key. Perhaps this was intentionally done to emphasise the dramatic crimes that were occurring in the music video. In addition the low-key lighting gives a sort of 'feel' to the music video.

Editing: The editing of the music video gave it a crime-noir theme to it which emphasised the lyrics in the song, which were mainly lined to homicide, extortion, drug dealing etc. This was accomplished by the transitioning being fast-paced which led to consequential events.

For example, in these two shots (one of a bottle of wine being popped open and one of 50 Cent being shot) the editing was done to show a butterfly effect. The editing was done so that when the gun shots go off it shows a bottle of wine being opened but also quickly transitions back to 50 Cent being shot (which takes a lot of single frame editing). As wine is usually opened during celebrations, this can denote to the viewer that who ever ordered the hit on 50 Cent, is now celebrating on his death. This then goes on to the next shot of his enemies celebrating with alcohol and girls, at the same time these lyrics are said, "Many men, wish death upon me, blood in my eye, dawg and I can't seem, I'm trying to be, what I'm destined to be, and n***** trying to take my life away".

In these two shots, it shows 50 Cent getting retribution after one of his friends tried to order a hit on him; it also shows the 'friend' tied up to a chair in a very low lit room. At the same time these lyrics are played, "Slim switched sides on me, let n***** ride on me I thought we was cool, why you want me to die homie?"

'GIRLS CRY' - CAM'RON & VADO

Camera Angles: In this music video there is a use of allot of cinematic camera angles, which are used to show some sort of dialogue between two people. Which is basically what the song is; a dialogue between two people in a relationship

Lightning: Throughout the whole music video, the lighting was high-key lighting, again which is a cinematic effect.

For example, this shot (wide angle) is effective in the music video as it shows the composition of the two people within the shot. It also shows facial expression and body language which helps the viewer denote what the situation is within the current scene. In this shot Cam'ron is having a argument with is girlfriend and his girlfriend is agitated and infuriated by the thought of Cam'ron being unfaithful. This is denoted and connoted as Cam'ron is sitting as if he is uneasy or agitated. His body language shows that he is more on the receiving end of the argument. However, his girlfriend seems to be the one bombarding him with questions of him being unfaithful. And also in this shot the RBG settings look like they have been altered to give the picture a cinematic look.

This shot is another wide angle, and is effective as it shows a friend explaining his story and problems to his friend. Again the camera shot goes hand-in-hand with the composition and also by the body language of both of them.

This is a close up shot of Cam'ron. The lyrics that are being played on this shot are, "I went to the door, turned around and I said baby, you my one, no other, but discovered undercover that you're jealous of my mother, baby, so from here girl I blow a kiss and it's me I know she miss cause when I left I told her this". This shot is effective in showing how the artist is really feeling has the expressions are seen through his face and body language (for example in this shot as he is pointing his finger at her with an aggressive manner).

This is a point-of-view shot, which shows the view of one of the actors/actresses; this shot can be extremely effective in getting the viewer to empathise with the artist more as it seems as if the artist is speaking directly to them. For example, in this shot the lyrics that are played are "We got beef? Go ahead, speak your mind (talk!), like I was with you before, when you ain't had a dime", the main point of these lyrics is that the artist is expressing how much he cared for his girlfriend and how devastating it is for his girlfriend to be unfaithful to him. Furthermore, the emotion of guilt is increased through his body language; for example, in this shot as he says those lyrics he points at her with his hand which in can somewhat denote the far extents his love went to for her.

LIL SNUPE/MEEKMILL FREESTYLE PART 3

This is a music video which I aim to reconstruct in my final piece. The main feature of the video which I enjoy is that it is not scripted and is free flowing. This differs from most music videos, creating a different perspective for the viewer. Also it gives us a sense of being"behind the scenes" which draws the audience closer to the artist.

Camera Angles:  There are relatively few camera angles and different shots. The song itself is from the Hip-Hop genre where often music videos are fast paced and have on beat editing. The lack of this in this video can be considered to be quite draining and boring for the audience as it damages the flow of the video. Therefore I intend on using more camera angles with the transition from shot to shot being much quicker than in this video.

Lighting: There doesn't seem to being any external lights which have been put in place to enhance the lighting in the video. It all seems to be just lighting from the surrounding areas. Again this adds to the basic and free flowing feel of this video.