Music Video Analysis

Ryan. A. Henson

Introduction

In order to give me a better understanding of how music videos are structured, my first piece of research will be an analysis of a music video relevant to the genre of music I am planning my music video to be. Analysing other music videos of the same genre, which is HipHop, will allow me to study the conventions that take place in these videos and place them in the production of my own music video. The music video I will be analysing is:That Part – Schoolboy Q ft. Kanye Westhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ_DHRI-Xp0

What is the genre of the music video?

I am able to tell the genre, HipHop, of this song/music video by it’s conventions. A couple of key visual features that suggest this are the use of women dancers as sex appeal and the main artist smoking or simulating smoking drugs. These two visual conventions are both heavily tied to the HipHop industry.

Analyse the setting of the music video

The setting of the music video starts off in a very minimalistic and at times run down setting and then progresses to a rich suburban neighbourhood with large houses. Perhaps suggesting to the audience that the artists have come from basic/rundown backgrounds but have progressed in their careers allowing them to live more luxurious lifestyles. I believe the director has chosen this video for the same reason as it shows the contrasting journey the two artists have gone through to get where they are in life.

Analyse the décor of the music video

The décor used in the video for the most part appears basic however some of the décor fits the genre closely, for example the stripper pole. Ideologies of women being sexual objects have been present since the start of the genre, the video follows conventions of the genre. Further more for the pole to be inside the home of a rapper shows that the conventions of the genre are a lifestyle. The School bus with “SCHOOL BOY” on the front of it is in reference to SchoolBoy Q excelling through the 12th grade at school. School boy was the name he had been given when he joined the Hoover Crips in his neighbourhood in LA, the reason for his name is his ability to be selling drugs and being in the Hoover Crips whilst still doing well at school.

Analyse the costumes of the music videos

The costume of SchoolBoy Q actually suggests who the artist is if the audience didn’t already know, the hats (often bucket hats) and sunglasses with circular lenses are tied to his star image. All the women that are featured in the video are dressed in revealing costumes in order to sexualise them, linking to the genres conventions. The men in the beginning od the video smoking with SchoolBoy Q have their faces covered, this may be referencing his past with the Hoover Crips and how he can’t name names or talk about situations. He has to keep them covered up like the masks are covering up the faces of the men next to him. Which may represent the Hoover Crips.