Eminem Mockingbird

Deconstruction.

Mockingbird was released by Aftermath Records in
2004. On the Eminem Vevo YouTube channel on the
25
th
June 2014 the official video had 100,588,371
views. The music video tells the story of Eminems life
and is based on his daughters and previous wife.


Sound:

The start of the music video begins with the diegetic
sound of roll of an old film
camera, with clips that
connate that the filming is
old as they are not the best
of quality. A small child is
the first thing you see within
the music video, this
suggests what the music
video could be about. Before the music starts, a small
bit of dialogue is used by the child in the film.









Mise-en-scene:

The music video uses low
key lighting, which implies
that it has a depressive or
sad atmosphere. The
lighting within the screen
shots highlights Eminem as
the main character. The
character is connoted as an
old or wise/intelligent
person as the glasses he is
wearing. The use of old furniture and the film camera
within the location links with the connotation of him
being old.

Editing:

The editing in the music
video uses a range of clips
from Eminems past of his
family in a montage, this
suggests further into what
his music is about. The use of
fading a photo of him and his
wife acts as a memory of
Eminem that possibly could
be slowly fading away. The
connotation of the music
video being a montage of his
past and that it could
possibly be a long time ago is
connoted by the date on
some of the video clips in the music video.

Camera work:

The camera work in the
video uses a range of
different camera angles
such as over the
shoulder shots that
capture the connotation
of Eminem looking
through his past. The
book is in focus while
Eminem is out of focus;
this is to imply the main
focus of the lyrics that
link with the music
video.

Conclusion:

The use of clips that can tell a story is a way I have
been inspired and that I could use within my own
production of my music video. Lighting and the
correct story line will have to become a big part to
link to the lyrics.