E.L - Deconstructing a Music Video

Example – Me and Mandy

Genre Characteristics
Example is one of the few artists that use music in a light hearted almost comical manor. The genre that best describes his music would be rap but is very unconventional as the topics of which he rhymes about are not typical of rap music. Often the genre characteristics are of hardships that the artists have faced, or topics that are important within society. An example of this would be an English rapper using music to help educate the audience of knife crime.

Example however doesn’t follow suit as his songs are often about small minor situations which he personally has noticed. A model song would be ‘Popcorn & Fisticuffs’ which is all about people talking in the cinema. It is not just the lyrics he produces that are unconventional of the rap genre but also his videos. The video for his song ‘Me and Mandy’ uses a great deal of obvious special effects which are not often seen in rap videos. The majority of the video is black and white however objects within the shot are coloured. For example as one of the characters walks into the kitchen there is a soft drink can floating on the wall in colour as the rest of the shot is black and white. As he takes the drink it turns to black and white to fit with the rest of the shot.

The mise-en-scene used is relatively conventional of Example as an artist but perhaps does not tie in with English rap. The clothes that he and his friend are wearing are very typical of Example and also the fashion amongst a number of young people in England today. However this would not be considered conventional of rappers. American artists especially wear large, baggy clothes and fashionable, expensive jewellery to almost show off their success. Example however is dressed in very casual jean, t-shirt and a coat for the shots that he is outside. This would possibly be an indication of a narrative rather than a high focus upon the artist himself and the lyrics being sung.

Relationship Between Lyrics and Visuals

The video does not particularly represent what is being said in the lyrics. A prime example would be ‘cos it’s just me and Mandy’ as the artist is walking with a friend to a party and is clearly not alone with Mandy. Also ‘sat by the Thames’ is repeated and not once are there any images of the river. However some areas in London are named in the verse and the whole video is set in the capital, but these places aren’t shown specifically other that ‘old Soho.’ This is very conventional of videos for the songs that Example creates. There are a number of specific examples which show that the lyrics do not relate to the visuals throughout the video such as; the beginning the lyrics describe his ‘new love’ Mandy as the video is him and a friend in a room with a male, which would give the impression that the lyrics are not about the male they have gone to meet.

Relationship Between Music and Visuals

The track itself is a relatively upbeat, high tempo piece. The use of brass instruments and drums gives the song a quick beat and a distinctive sound. The video starts out in a somewhat gloomy fashion which does not seem to fit with the track. However as the video progresses and their night out progresses the mood seems to be lifted due to the events of the night. At one point one of the two main characters is slapped after he tries to ‘chat up’ a passing woman and the other laughs. This shot is frozen and the camera zooms in for a closer shot to emphasise the emotions shown. The happier mood relates quite well to the upbeat, high tempo track.

Close ups of Artist and Star Image Motifs

The video itself is mainly a mix between narrative-based and concept-based. The video contains some images that are quite abstract but also uses a narrative of two males on a night out, one of which is the artists, Example. Example himself does not perform at any stage of the video however there are a number of other individuals that have little focus in the video that do mouth to the words of the chorus. As they sit on the tube there are a number of different people sat next to the artist that mouth the words of the chorus. This continues throughout the video in different locations but Example is never performs in the video. However there are still a great deal of close-up shots and mid-shots of the artist and the focus of the video is mainly on the two characters. There are a few close-ups that show Example laughing as he drinks with his friend and then a cut to him in a car looking tired and in a very different mood. The majority of the camera shots within the video are mid-shots and two-shots as these are the best angles that show both friends on their journey through the night even with close-ups of the artist the video does not focus upon his character and it would be almost impossible to tell who the artist was if he wasn’t well known.

Notion of Looking

At one interval within the music video Example looks into a shop window and singing back to him is a reptile with a human face, it does not appear to be the face of Example himself but could still be classified as the notion of looking. There is also a transition using a poster on the wall as Example and his friend walk past the camera focuses in on the poster. This then begins to move and is another shot of a party that they arrive at as the camera keeps zooming in until the poster disappears and further transitions follow showing other people at what would seem the same party. Apart from these two features that do not contain Example himself there is very little focus upon the notion of looking which is perhaps conventional of the genre, but perhaps extraordinary for a concept-based video.

Intertextual References

There do not seem to be many intertextual references in ‘Me and Mandy’ other than perhaps a few shots at both the beginning and end of a girl painted gold for photo shoots. This is not particularly specific to one text however there are a number of music videos, films and pictures that contain painted women and it is conventional to feature a good looking woman in a rap video. However, just as his lyrics do he may be seen as mocking the genre due to a very unusual photo shoot and the focus not being on how good looking the woman is.

Performance-Based, Narrative-Based or Concept-Based?

As stated previously this video would be seen as a mixture between narrative-based and concept-based ideas and techniques. The narrative seems to be of two friends on a night out and as they drink through the night they manage to pick up a couple of girls. There are a number of transitions and special effects that make the video seem concept-based for example as the artist leaps from the sofa toward the end it seem somewhat obvious that during the editing phase they have inserted a clip of him sitting down and played it backwards. Also the transitions spinning upside down into new shots for example the artist on a sofa turned upside down into a shot of the tube. This doesn’t really tie in with the narrative but nevertheless there is still a clear story line.