Monday 2 September 2013

RAP: The Underachiever - The Proclamation (Rolling stones soundtrack)


This video is a conventional rap video in many ways; one of the most noticeable assets to a rap video is the artist’s performance within the video. I believe they used pieces of the cinematography well to present these artists. They conventionally used mid/long shots to reveal performance as well as lip-synching. I wouldn’t say its conventional to have a close up to reveal lip-synching within a rap video due to the fact a lot of the performance is done with the artists body language and hand gestures. We should take this into account when choosing our genre: Rap is more about mise-en-scene; good performance, hand gestures and expensive props/clothes. – Another reason why they use a lot of mid/ longs, to show off the “garmz”.

The artists are seen in a multitude of locations, this is conventional to a rap video as the lyricsm and theme is usually about struggle. The often try to present this theme through the mise-en-scene and switch between deprived locations. This could also be related to them demographic of the audience, people who watch rap videos are usually from an area which they can relate to the ones that appear in the video. This is an interesting point to consider when we’re choosing location: - Consider audiences demographic when choosing location.


The post production and pre-production are particularly interesting in this video. The genre is rap however; it’s a reformed version of rap, contemporary rap if you like. It’s where the artists are not only trying to achieve the cleanest mise-en-scene with cars, clothes, etc.  They are trying to achieve the cleanest look to their video.  A mechanical rig looks like it has been used to film a range of shots which allow them to achieve perfect Hitchcock zooms. This zoom is achieved by the camera being placed onto a track and the rig being pulled back while the camera zooms in, and vice versa for a slightly different effect. The post production involved warping various elements of the mise-en-scene, location, costume, etc. I believe this was to add impact to the lyricism within the song, about questioning reality, the future and a neglected past.

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