I will be analysing ‘lose yourself’ by Eminem.
It was released in 2002 as part of the sound track to the film ‘8 mile’ also
staring this Hi-Hop artist. He wrote and produced this song. This music video
belongs to the Hip-Hop genre; this can be seen through its many
characteristics. Firstly the clothing is very urban, the men are all in
oversized tracksuit bottoms and t-shirts, they are hooded up, and fit the
typical male ‘gangster’ stereotype without the guns and weapons etc. This is
seen through their clothing and Stance. Eminem wears nothing but oversized
clothing and hats throughout the whole video. Hip-Hop music videos generally
have the artist playing toward the camera with many close up shots to establish
themselves. Strong back lighting is normally used, this can be seen when Eminem
is standing in the road interacting with the camera as though he’s performing
to the audience. Its pitch black outside yet the light’s behind him are
extremely bright; the ‘8 mile’ sign is what’s most noticeable. The setting is
very urban, this is shown by the graffiti and they are in which the video was
filmed, most clips were taken from the film ‘8 mile’ which makes it much easier
to establish the genre.
There’s an
extremely close relationship between the visuals and the lyrics. Usually in
videos there’s not such a close relationship but it is as though the visuals
are annotating the lyrics. The mise-en-scene is also perfect. The lyrics and
visuals continuously amplify one another, making it easier to understand the
song as it is very fast and some people may not understand the whole concept
however with the help of the visuals this is made possible. It begins in
Eminem’s first verse ‘there’s vomit on his sweater already moms spaghetti’ this
lyric is mirrored with exactly that image, Eminem vomiting down the toilet
although you cannot the actual substance it’s very clear what has happened due
to his facial expressions and the setting of a nightclub toilet.
The music video
changes pace throughout at the beginning it starts of very slow with the piano
piece, it speeds up as the beat drops and Eminem begins to speak but when he
begins to rap it speeds up again. The verses itself have the same pace
throughout, however they have a different range of cuts during the chorus
however the pace changes continuously, an example for this is each chorus
throughout the video, not one is at the same pace, it is as though it speeds up
through the duration of the song.
To the audience it seems as though he has had a
troubled life, the colours grey and black present a very bleak and troubled
image which is mirrored in his lyrics, however the light behind him gives hope.
The artist almost seems desperate when he’s performing because he’s putting his
all into it, it’s clear as a viewer that Eminem as a character is working extremely
hard he looks desperate to get his point across not only through his
expressions but his body language. The video is similar to Eminems previous
video ‘Cleaning Out My Closet’ simply because it’s also bleak the colour scheme
is the same, it’s also an emotional song which is illustrated just as well was
‘Lose Yourself’ through Eminems emotions. there’s a slight change in Eminem as
an artist when it comes to ‘Lose Yourself’ his videos before then were
generally quite sarcastic or goofy, ones where he makes fun of people or
generally act stupid but in this video the motif is different he shows his
desperation, his serious side, his vulnerable side and his strength all in one
which he doesn’t usually do. This can either be because of a massive change in
his life or the label taking him in a new direction.
Unlike other
Hip-Hop video’s there aren’t any half naked women or sexual exaggerated dances
happening. To put this convention in this video would define the lyrics and
change the whole mood, turning it into a typical sexual video instead of a
serious one. Without the sexual references I feel that the viewer pays more
attention because they are not used to seeing this coming from this specific
genre.
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