Case Studies

Youngs Teflon – God Save The Queens

The video is practically just a freestyle so the visual aspect is mostly spontaneously shot and structured. Most of the clips in the video are not edited to make a storyline rather they are used to sync with the songs instrumental. This gives the viewer a more pleasurable viewing experience as it makes the video flow and go together better and at the same time keeps the viewers’ attention on the actual lyrics rather than the visuals themselves. This coincides with the fact that it is simply a freestyle.

The video itself is not really performance, narrative or conceptual based however if one type had to be pointed out, it would be conceptual. The reason for this is because most of the video is shot on top of a building. The theme of the song is just him freestyling so most of it is spontaneous. The way the artist is represented shows him to be on top of his game this collaborates with the filming location.

The camera shots were mainly close-ups, mid-shots and long shots again due to the fact that it was a freestyle there was no particular meaning to each type of shot. The editing was kept simple with a grainy effect added to represent the fact that the instrumental is old. For the transitions simple cuts were used at random times once again to show that the video is just a freestyle. Lip synching is used throughout the whole video to show that the lyrics belong to the artist.

 

Tyler, The Creator – Yonkers

This video just shows Tyler sitting down rapping and basically having a rant with his alter ego. The video shows him eating a cockroach, vomit it out and then hang himself. The video is all about paradoxes.

The video borders on all 3 types of video ideas; it is conceptual because of the way the video is shot with the lens (it switches in and out of focus) this could be to represent the idea that he has two personalities fighting it out and every now and then one takes control of the video. It is narrative in the way that the lyrics tell the listener what’s happening inside his head and finally its performance based as it shows him eating a cockroach, vomiting it then hanging himself. The whole idea of him eating a cockroach to then go and vomit it is one way of showing a paradox. The theme of the track as explored above is simply about how his personalities are fighting over him. The representation of the artist in this is quite negative as it shows him rapping negative lyrics and doing negative things.

The whole video is shot in black and white and incorporates use of some sort of alternating blur lens. The camera shots used are mostly mid to close shots to show his facial expressions. Lip synching was used throughout the song to again depict the fact that it his lyrics.

 

DVS – Hometown

The video shows the artists hometown and where he comes from. It also shows him with his friends in a car. The video is about how he’s gone from being a slum to something bigger.

This video borders on more on narrative and conceptual as it involves many props and filming techniques but also the lyrics state his journey so to speak. The video represents the artist as prosperous and successful as he is driving expensive cars, wearing expensive clothes and drinking expensive drinks. The camera angles used on this video are a mixture of everything and there are not really any special effects as it simply depicts his life and therefore it would only confuse the audience if other effects were used. Lip synching was used throughout most of the track however there were some parts where it was not used due to the fact that other visuals were used at that time.