NOT AFRAID - MUSIC VIDEO ANALYSIS

EMINEM - NOT AFRAID: MUSIC VIDEO ANALYSIS

‘Not Afraid’, by Eminem is a rap song, released as his seventh’s studio album’s (Recovery) lead single in 2010 [44]. Since 2010, the music video has had over 600 million views, and is still watched by people at a daily basis, as seen from the video analytics screenshot to the right. I will be analysing this music video because I feel that the video is very cinematic, in terms of its narrative, the shots used to tell the story, and how it was edited together, which is something that I wish to incorporate into my group’s music video, to strengthen how we represent our narrative to audiences. Additionally, the music video relates to the song lyrics really well, which all links to what Eminem was actually going through, giving the track a deep meaning to it. Also, there are little hidden elements that advertise branding throughout the video, which is something that I would like to also incorporate into my group’s music video.

‘Not Afraid’ begins with Eminem shown standing on a rooftop in Manhattan, who is then repeatedly shown rapping in a shanty-looking apartment. As the video progresses, Eminem is repeatedly shown as being indestructible, as he crosses a busy high street, without stopping for cars, and without trying, he manages to avoid the cars. Eminem is then located in a mirror maze, which makes him slightly confused at first, but then he breaks the glass, and returns to New York City, which is shown to be half destroyed, and Eminem then takes a suicide leap, but instead of dying, he gains the ability to fly, and then flies around the city, returning to the rooftop where the music video had begun.

Throughout the music video, a key theme of standing up to face your demons is represented, as well as a theme of coming out of the darkness and recovering your life once again. This rap was written by Eminem to inform his fans about the wrong turns he took in life, which was when he had an addiction to drugs, and so in this track Eminem is stating that he is “Not Afraid” [45] of sharing that with the world, and by doing this, he is overcoming the obstacles that he faced, to allow his life to return back to normal. This is supported by Eminem rapping, ‘I'm manning up, I'ma hold my ground, I've had enough, now I'm so fed up. Time to put my life back together right now” [45], suggesting that he is angry at the fact he was an addict, and is putting his life back in order, or could also mean, that he wants to gain control from the music industry, who may actually be the culprits of his bad decisions in life.

Furthermore, there is a part of the music video, where Eminem raps, “So starting today, I'm breaking out of this cage” [45] and is shown to break out of the shanty-looking apartment that I previously mentioned, which can be seen in the screenshot to the left. The dark shanty-looking apartment could be representing the four dark years of his life, and so when he breaks out of the wall in the video, it suggests that he was strong enough to fight his way through all the hard times in his life, on the road to ‘Recovery’, (the name of the album this song featured in).

One effective use of Cinematography was the wide shot, tracking towards Eminem, used at the beginning of the music video, to show Eminem standing on the edge of a skyscraper roof, as shown in the screenshot to the right. This shot literally portrays the fact that Eminem is ‘Not Afraid’, as he is standing on the edge of the roof, not afraid of the drop or dying, suggesting that he has either already faced his fears, or is ready to do so. Additionally, the music video ends with the same wide shot, except the camera is tracking away from Eminem. This could suggest that throughout the narrative of the music video, Eminem was in fact always up the roof, and just visualising the events that unfold in the

the video, which may be portraying his bravery, and that no matter how long he is on that rooftop, or close to dying, he is a survivor, and lives on.

Another use of effective Cinematography was the handheld medium/wide shot used to show Eminem in the maze of mirrors, as shown in the screenshot to the left. This is effective as it could be suggesting that Eminem is surrounded or lost at that point in time, which could be reflecting his darkest moments, possibly times where he may have never seen recovering from being an addict plausible. Additionally, the reflections in the mirror could be portrayed as Eminem’s alter ego ‘Slim Shady’, who Eminem may blame for becoming addicted to drugs in the first place. And, by him now looking at ‘Slim Shady’, he may realise that the alter ego was created by him, and in the same

same way can be destroyed by him, which is foreshadowed by Eminem breaking through the glass, shortly later in the music video.

An effective use of Mise-en-scéne was the paper Eminem was holding, containing his song lyrics, as seen in the screenshot to the right. Eminem scrunches up this paper, which reinforces that the words are noting, unless he is rapping them. This is reinforced with his lyrics at this point, “You can try and read my lyrics off of this paper before I lay 'em, but you won't take the sting out these words before I say 'em,” which suggests that Eminem believes that no one can replicate or try to surpass what he has achieved, and so he is pulling all his strength to tell the fans that he is coming back from his previous album, which were not considered as good as his work before that.

Another effective use of Mise-en-scéne was the brick wall in the dark, shanty-looking apartment, when Eminem punches the wall to break it open, as seen in the screenshot to the left. As previously mentioned, I believe that Eminem punching through the wall is portraying that he has come out of the darkness, and ready to live a normal life again. The lighting in the shot, also shows a bright light outside, which creates a literal sense of breaking out of the darkness, and going into the light, which is generally perceived as a positive thing to do, but also something very difficult for people do be able to do.

An effective use of Editing was the Computer Generated Images (CGI) used to show New York City destroyed, as shown in the screenshot to the right. This is effective as it complements the cinematic elements used throughout the video, in terms of the shots used, and the high quality of the camera and movements. Additionally, the CGI of New York City destroyed could either suggest that Eminem is in his own world, feeling his own emotions, feeling as if he is broken, or could suggest that without him, the City is broken, creating a sense of him being a hero, and that he has to make a sacrifice to save the city, which in reality is to stop taking drugs, and to live life with his family. Furthermore, the editing

editing for this shot is effective, as the billboard in the screenshot shows a ‘beats’ headphones advert, which has appeared quite subtly throughout the video, making it a good way to advertise branding, in comparison to the artist just rapping about the brand itself.

Another effective use of Editing is the CGI used to make Eminem fly around the city, as shown in the screenshot to the left, and land back onto the roof that he was initially on, at the beginning of the music video, as shown in the screenshot below. Eminem flying around the city is effective as it symbolises him gaining the power to overcome his obstacles, as in this case he actually gains powers, to allow him to return to the roof where it all started. The CGI is used effectively with motion triggers, as when Eminem is flying past cars, the alarms go off, and the windows become broken, which suggests that Eminem is carrying a lot of power with him, and is unleashing it on the path to recovery.

Overall, I feel that this music video will help my group’s music video, as although it does not fall into the house genre, but rap, it still has certain elements and techniques that I feel could be transferred into our project. Firstly, this music video has shown me that I and my group can advertise our branding, or key messages throughout the video, in the form of Easter Eggs, which are subtle, and creates a sense of playing a game with the audience, which I feel is much more effective than branding that is forced onto the audience. Secondly, this music video has made it clear that we can implement a clear link between a narrative and the artist’s or bands performance, throughout the music video, whilst constantly cutting in-between both, which I feel is more effective than having an entirely performance or narrative based video. Lastly, this music video has shown me that lighting can be used very effectively, to create certain emotions, or portray the way that a person is feeling, which is a very useful trait to be able to use in I and my group’s music video project.

recovery. In addition, the fact that he returns to the roof where the music video begun could suggest that he is strong enough to go back to where he was in the past, in terms of not using drugs, and making music that he and his fans thought was much better, than the album ‘Relapse’ released prior to ‘Recovery’.