Task 3:

Analysis of “Stan” Music Video The music video of “Stan” is quite narrative. The genre to this song is

quite Hip-Hop but further Horror core. This is one of the sub genres

of Hip-Hop which is darkly transgressive due to the lyrical content.

This is as the music video tries to send out a message to their

audience and persuade them. For instance, Stan is a non-fictional

character who is a crazed fan and obsessed over Eminem. He goes to

every concert, signings and even writes him letters daily.

As the video progresses so does the story showing a clear idea of

what ‘Stan’ is going through. The story also relates to the lyrics

throughout and to the audience’s experience. For example, break

ups, where ‘Stan’ is always having an argument with his pregnant

girlfriend or death. So the music video is quite dark as the whole

time the weather has been heavy rain and thunder including

lightning.

Also notice the way ‘Stan’ is always in

the basement writing to Eminem and

has his posters, etc. The basement

was a perfect setting as usually even

in horror movies, the basement is

always creepy, scary or

uncomfortable so the environment

suited Stan’s character as a whole.

lighting used creates a little spot on the lady, light coming through

the window but the rest of the room is pitch black. This also explains

the low-key lighting used throughout the video. When you get to

fifteen seconds in Stanley is looking at himself in the mirror, this

shows that he is looking at his identity, he might be questioning

himself of his appearance and his thoughts.

In the first eight seconds

of the video you already

feel like it’s a horror film

because of the darkness

and the camera zooming

in through the window.

All you can see is a lady

lying on a bed but the

You can see at the

beginning; Stan is also

bleaching his hair blonde

which shows his

commitment and how

much he also seems to

look like Eminem. He is

happy in his thoughts however, when he sees

his girlfriend, his mood

changes as he probably

does not want her in his

life anymore as they

always argue and wishes

he was together with

Eminem.

Throughout the

video Stan looks in

the mirror all the

time and sees

Eminem in himself

especially with the

posters everywhere

and him on

television.

Throughout the music video you can see Stan wear a white tank top

or a white half-sleeved shirt and so does Eminem. White signifies

As you see Stan has a lot

of mail envelopes with

addresses and stamps on

them which already show

how he writes to Eminem

every day for the past 6

months.

innocence and purity and

so this shows how Stan

felt towards Eminem and

how his character would

change towards him.

However, Stan's girlfriend

from the start of the

video till the end seems

to wear a blue robe

and blue pyjamas.

The colour blue

plays an important

role for Stan's

girlfriend's

character. Blue

signifies trust and

loyalty. In the music

video, Stan's

girlfriend is seen

supporting Stan for

his obsession over

Eminem and yet

stays with him

throughout in their

surviving

relationship. We

could tell as an

Also just before Stan takes his girlfriend to the trunk and kills her,

Stan’s girlfriend is seen wearing green. Green symbolises life and the

irony is she dies that very night as she is put in the trunk and drowns.

Also she was pregnant and green also symbolises renewal.

Stan is played by a Canadian actor, Devon Sawa, who lip synchs to

Eminem's music video Stan. Eminem raps as Stan and himself but

Devon Sawa lip Synchs as Stan to show the audience a clear

understanding of Eminem's message of an obsessed fan. The lip

synch is done greatly as the audience feels as Stan is actually rapping

and speaking out to them especially while Stan writes his letters.

Each time he writes he gets more aggressive.

There is no dance choreography in this music video as the whole

point is to change the way audience. This does not make this video

conventional for hip-hop as they are always dancing and having fun.

But in order to make the audience feel intense, the video is dark and

depressing to make the message clear and stand out in its own

unique way.

This song was written in order to get the audience to understand

what Eminem is trying to say in a visual way. He wants his fans to

know when he is not behind the microphone, he is just like them, an

ordinary person who wants to live normally. Eminem also wants to

tell his fans how they should never try to be like him by his looks or

stuff he does as he believes he is not a good role model especially for

younger audiences. Eminem believes his fans should also stay in

touch with their loved ones and spend more time with them rather

than obsess over him. This maybe because Eminem was not close to

his mother until he realised it was wrong of him. This is than why

when Eminem writes back to Stan, he tells him “I really think you and

your girlfriend need each other, or maybe you just need to treat her

better”. Eminem is represented as a generic celebrity who doesn't

bother to respond or interact with fans. However, near the end of

the video you see that he does in fact reply and read his fan mail

although it was too late as Stan dies by committing suicide leaving a

huge amount of guilt on Eminem. Although the video is not about

Eminem, he is still well promoted due to the narrative being about

someone who is obsessed with him; this makes the audience want to

know more about the Eminem and why it is that Stan is so obsessed

over him.

There are many allusions in this song such as when Stan writes how

when he has a daughter he is going to name her Bonnie. This name

comes from Eminem’s favourite cult heroes, Bonnie and Clyde, also

the song Eminem did ’97 Bonnie and Clyde’.

Also another crazy allusion is when Stan writes how he felt bad about

Eminem’s uncle’s death. Stan writes “I had a friend kill himself over

some b*tch who didn't want him”. Eminem’s Uncle Ronnie was

Eminem’s best childhood family member, Eminem said his uncle was

the family he had. Ronnie was charged with third-degree assault by

kicking a female on December 12 1991. This means he had an

The music video is linear

as Eminem wants the

message to be clear and

straightforward to his

audience and not

confuse them. There are

some flash backs but

they still go forward in

time like when Stan

takes his younger

brother to Eminem’s

concert or when they go

to his signings.

argument with his girlfriend which led him to shoot himself in the

head on December 14 1991.

Dido’s verse plays a good part for Stan’s character. This is because

throughout the video it is dark, rainy and thunder. So Dido sings:

“The morning rain clouds up my window

And I can't see at all

And even if I could it'll all be grey

Put your picture on my wall

It reminds me, that it's not so bad”

This verse shows how Stan is always calm and happy when he says

Eminem on his television or how he sees the entire wall covered with

posters of Eminem mostly close ups of his face.

The song however does also link to other artists. Firstly, the chorus

by Dido is sang from her original song “Thank you”. This song was

about how she is happy with her day even though there is troubles

and problems, her happiness depends on the guy which is why she

thanks him. So this shows in the music video how even though Stan

is a psyche, how he treats her poorly and yet she is still loyal.

Eminem also mentions Phil Collin’s song "In the Air Tonight".

Specifically, Stan refers that the song is about Collins seeing a man

drowning, while getting closer Collins does nothing to save him. So

this relates to how Eminem is guilty about Stan as his blood on his

hands maybe showing that he is also guilty in his uncle’s death in

some way. Stan continues depths of his anger: "I hope you can't

sleep and you dream about it and when you dream I hope you can't

sleep and you scream about it. I hope your conscience eats at you

and you can't breathe without me". After that, screaming is heard

and Stan reveals that his pregnant girlfriend is in the trunk, "Shut up,

b*tch, I'm trying to talk. Hey Slim, that's my girlfriend screaming in

the trunk. But I didn't slit her throat, I just tied her up" this refers to

Eminem's song "Kim", where Eminem murders his wife after realizing

she is cheating and doesn't love him; at the end of "Kim" he slits her

throat and throws her in his trunk. At the end, Stan realizes too late

that he will be unable to send the tape to Eminem.

Eminem tries to target lower class audiences to try and tell them not

to mess their life up more by copying him but to realise what really

matters and do something useful with their life. We can tell it’s a

lower class audience as Stan says “My girlfriend's jealous cause I talk

about you 24/7, but she doesn’t know you like I know you Slim, no

one does, she doesn’t know what it was like for people like us

growing up, you got to call me man”. When Stan says “people like us

growing up” he probably means have had a poor relationship with

parents growing up and taking drugs due to depression. This stereo

types a lower class audience.

The video starts from a black fade transition shot to a low key

lighting set, beginning with a window in centre frame, showing the

establishing shot.

Close ups are used in this scene to show the reaction of both Stan

and Dido, a look of joy and passion on his and a look of disgust and

worry on hers. This helps show Stan’s obsession with Eminem and

Stan’s wife’s concern with it.

The video does not entirely focus on the artist but it has a lot to do

about the artist. Despite Stan being main actor of the music video,

his obsession with the Eminem makes the audience think a lot about

Eminem and therefore kind of makes the entire video specifically

about him.This is difficult to portray in this music video as through

most of it, Stan, not Eminem, is narrating the events however due to

this, Stan takes place of the artist and close-ups are seen, a specific

example being at the beginning of the music video where he is

looking in the mirror, he is clearly shown to the audience.

Throughout the rest of the video, whenever Stan is at his desk, he is

always placed in centre frame and if not, the shot is from behind or

the side.

Analysis of “Last Friday Night” Music

Video The genre of Katy Perry’s song ‘Last Friday Night’ is Dance-pop from

the album ‘Teenage Dream’. The music video meets conventions for

a typical pop music video as there is typical young love and parties

presented in the video.

In the music video there are a lot of bright and bold colours used

which is very conventional in pop videos and songs. This is mostly

because pop songs give a happy and loving mood to the audience

and makes them want to dance.

The style of the song is very cheerful like many pop songs and videos.

Therefore, this song meets the stereotype of pop music. The music

video tells a story to the song which is attractive to watch and is very

interesting. The video relates to many teenagers and their lifestyle

which would make them want to watch the music video and listen to

the song.

As you can tell, the music video is an 80/90's theme. So the clothes

worn are based on then with the tight high trousers to the hair. The

clothes are bright as they used to be in the 80's for attraction. You

could also tell the theme due to the font of the text and the

newspaper boy and the style of the car behind him.

Katy Perry plays Kathy who is a nerd who wears stereotypical braces

from the 80's style, glasses and has no sense in dressing meaning she

was not showing any skin. This made it obvious how she was to get a

makeover during the music video.

Katy Perry is seen transformed from a geek to an attractive young

lady to grab attention of the popular boy she is into. This also

involves the male gaze theory as the wears neon coloured clothes

which are short and tight including high heels. Some younger

audiences may relate to this seen as they try to make a lot of effort

to get a boy to notice them as Rebecca Black shows us in the music

video how she transforms Katy Perry. This also shows voyeurism as

Kathy becomes more of a sexual object showing off her body

portraying her curves.

Katy Perry mostly is wearing pink. The colour symbolises feminism

and delicacy. This shows Katy Perry as a character as she is still the

same innocent girl even though she transformed her appearance.

She also wears a green skirt and green symbolises renewal meaning

her appearance again.

The popular boy Kathy is interested is seen to wear a jock. This

shows how he is the popular guy every girl has a crush on and is very

macho. In the 80's wearing a jock meant you were popular, a sign of

how important you were and the guy who will get all the girls just as

the way in the music video how he went straight to the 'blonde and

popular' girl in the corner.

The jacket is red which symbolises power and strength showing how

he is in charge and all macho.

The geeky boy called Everette is also wearing braces and big glasses.

Notice the way his glasses also have tape in the middle which shows

his true geekyness.

Everette has his hair neatly done and is wearing suspenders which

show off more of his stereotypical geek look. He is in love with Kathy

as it makes it conventional for a pop video showing 'young love'. He

day dreams of him as a knight and Kathy as a princess. This shows

how he tries to be Kathy's knight in shining armour, not the jock.

Throughout the music video, Katy Perry is lip synching as Kathy as

the lyrics match the actions. So Katy Perry wants to show the

audience how Kathy is singing about what a good time she had and

what she did throughout her Friday night.

A dance choreography was essential as its very conventional for a

pop music video. It also shows how in the 80/90's people would

usually dance at parties and have a good time. It's also fun to watch

different people dance differently as the dance matches the beats

and is needed at some point in the video as the genre of the song is

dance-pop.

This song has many different meanings. One basic meaning is that

these days many teenagers like to party and have fun once in a

while. It helps them loosen up rather than stressing just as Kathy

went from a boring nerd to a party animal and ended up having fun.

Especially when Kathy's parents came and said how her to party was

acceptable even though she trashed her house as they used done

crazier things when they were young.

Another meaning is not to judge a book by its cover. This is because

Kathy was a boring nerd who would just study and not be invited to

any parties. However, she ended up making the party even better

and everybody ended up thinking she was actually super cool

especially when the guy at the beginning said "I don't care what

anybody thinks about you, your actually really cool.... Best party

ever!!".

Last but not least, one meaning could be how Katy Perry is trying to

show how girls these days have to go through a lot of effort just to

get a boy to like them or even notice them. A message trying to say

how it's not about beauty but about personality cause even the

macho or good looking guys can be childish and a pain in the back

side, just wanting you for a sexual object. Also that there is a guy out

there who likes you for yourself as Everette liked Kathy the way she

was as in the end when she passes out he puts her glasses back on.

He may not be macho or popular but is innocent and will treat you

right.

There were quite a few of hidden messages in this music video. As it

was a 80/90's theme, the guy who plays the saxophone and is

Kathy's uncle actually is a famous saxophone player, Lenny G.

Also there is a famous 90's band called Hanson who are seen playing

in Kathy's back garden.

Kathy's parents are also 80's icons. Kathy's dad is played by Corey

Feldman who became well known during the 1980s, with roles as a

youth in films such as The Fox and the Hound. Kathy's mom is played

by Debbie Gibson a singer who went triple platinum for leasing her

album, Out of The Blue in, in 1987. Also notice the way Kathy's

parents are calm with her having a huge party and trashing the

house. This shows how rich people would not really care as they spoil

their children and let them get away with stuff.

There are no links to other artists other than Rebecca Black. This is

because she wrote a hit song called 'Friday' where she sang about

how it's Friday so we should party. That's why Katy Perry also

includes T.G.I.F which stands for 'Thank God It's Friday'. Also in the

music video, Rebecca Black is having the party on a Friday night,

Kathy goes just to try and shut it down.

The music video was done in a non-linear way. This is because the

video starts off with the aftermath of the party where Kathy is hung

over and then they show the night before and then cut towards the

morning after.

The music video attracts the audience as they have used real life

situations for instance the way a girl tries to get attention of a guy.

Also every guy tries to be the hero in their minds just the way

Everette sees himself with his crush (Kathy) and defeats the guy after

her or tries to. This makes the audience interested and want to

watch the rest of the music video to see what happens next.

There was really good use in camera shots and angles. The first

camera shot features an establishing shot of the character’s houses

and front garden. This is conventional for a pop music video as it

gives a film-like style as it's telling a story.

Another great shot was when Kathy was on her bed showing 3

people passed out in her room. This was important as it showed

Goodwin's theory of relations between visuals and lyrics. For

example, when Katy Perry sang "There's a stranger in my bed" which

there was in the video.

Close-ups were very important and was used a lot in order to show

the characters’ expressions. For instance, to show how Kathy felt

towards certain things like the pain of the wax or the way Everette

pulled his 'I'm in love' face when he saw Kathy and started day

dreaming.

There were a lot of wide shots and low-angled shots in Kathy's

backyard scene. This was to show how many people were present at

the party and what everyone was doing such as drinking and live

music. This was also showing a stereotypical American party as to

how young teenagers can lose control at parties and act wild.

Panning was used greatly at the scene where Kathy is transformed

into a sexual object starting from her feet to her head and is walking

downstairs to the party.

Both music videos are very different as you may have noticed. The

music video for Stan was very unconventional for a hip-hop video as

most of the time there is the male gaze present which there wasn’t.

There may have been Dido playing Stan’s girlfriend however she was

not seen as a sexual object. Also most hip-hop videos show how rich

people are with their dress code such as jewellery: diamonds and

chains. Yet the music video was targeting a lower class audience who

are below average and not rich at all. We could tell as Stan would

wear simple and plain shirts and even Eminem was not dressed as a

rich rapper with many gold chains. The music video to Stan had very

low-key lighting throughout which changes the way a hip-hop

audience thinks. This is due to Eminem wanted the message straight

forward and seriously taken, not fun distracting the audience.

However, Kay Perry’s Last Friday Night music video is very

conventional for a pop song. This is as the video and lyrics relate to a

typical teenager as they show ‘young love’ and how the nerd is the

hero for the first time and not the popular guy. This video had a lot

of dancing which is very essential for a pop song as the song is more

enjoyed. There were people wearing bright colours which shows the

audience a typical pop song. Also at the beginning the video is shown

as a short film showing the location and settings. The story was

shown as a movie style which becomes more interesting to watch.

There was the use of bright lights throughout to lighten the mood for

the audience and make the video look cheerful. There also many

famous icons shown in the music video which makes it more

interesting as most pop music videos use other celebrities such as

Katy Perry including Rebecca Black in hers.