Music Video Analysis-Without Me

One part of Andrew Godwin’s theory on music videos is that the lyrics and visuals in a have a relationship. The video to the Eminem song `Without Me` conforms to this theory on a number of occasions as the artist amplifies the lyrics rather than contradicting them. For example the lyrics to the song say `And Moby you can get stung by Obie` this shows a direct and literal relationship to the visuals as it as it shows Eminem in a costume to make him look similar to the singer Moby and it shows him getting picked up and thrown down by the rapper Obie Trice. By conforming to this part of Andrew Godwin’s convention the artist has also confirmed to the stereotypes of the Hip/Hop genre of violence but also humour and confrontation as Eminem is clearly mocking other artists.

Another way this video confirms to Godwin’s theory is through the number of Intertextual references that the artist uses. For example the whole theme of the video is based around the comic book genre. This is done by the video showing text boxes at the top or bottom of the screen in the same text as what would usually be seen in a typical comic book. The video continues to conform to this convention as the main artist is dressed as `Robin` from the comic book `Batman and Robin` which continues the intertextual references to the comic book genre. Another way in which the video conforms to these conventions is through the artist’s references’ to Elvis Presley. The video shows the artist dressed as Elvis Presley eating a sandwich on the toilet which has been done to refer to the largely controversial scenario in which the star died. This further conforms to the controversial stereotype of the Hip/Hop genre.

The artist further continues to conform to Andrew Godwin’s codes and conventions through the act of voyeurism. At the beginning of the music video it shows a TV studio before a programme has stared which then continues to show the camera zooming in on the TV screen. The subject that the camera zooms into is the text `The Eminem Show` which quickly changes to an image of the main artist. This has been done to create a larger focus on the artist himself. This has been done to make the artist more familiar with the audience which will also develop his star image towards the greater masses.