My favourite previous student video
Password : student
The student cover of "Nas - The World Is Yours" was my personal favourite of the many student videos I had watched. First and foremost is the fact that the music video was able to reflect an authentic "old school" hip hop music video with turntables, graffiti and the projects which equally built up to a New York feel with trains and New York fitted caps which I felt was executed very well. Not to mention the actor's body language corresponding perfectly to the tone and feel of the song.
The fish eye camera effect also accentuates the "old school" hip hop feel as many previous music videos were exhibited with this effect, in regards to the lyrics - "The World Is Yours" we can note a clear similarity as the fish eye creates a sphere replicating the world. In addition to this, their group also used the movie Scarface (the film itself holstering the quote "the world is yours") and a picture of the quote in a Serif font, connoting power and pairing with the music's lyrics.
The editing in this music video was very fluent with no noticeable flaws. The entire music video was in black and white which in my opinion is very risky as it either works or it does not and in this case I felt it suited it nicely due to the old school feel. A particular moment of the song at 01:00-01:01 illustrates what the music says, inverting the colours at "I keep falling..." signifies the negative implications in the lyrics but returns back to its original colours whilst rapping "...but never falling six feet deep" acting as an ellipsis (English definition) to finalize the sentence.
This music video was most certainly an amplification style music video as there is no narrative however some lyrics pair with the actions on screen accompanied with the mise en scene displaying clear relevance. The discontinuity editing, slow motion, base tracks and the camera movement with the music reinforce Carol Vernallis's main points in regards to the editing and camera work in a music video. Laura Mulvey's notion does not reflect the student cover of "The World Is Yours" predominantly as Nas being an old school hip hop artist influenced by the conventions of original hip hop including graffiti, dj-ing, mc-ing, dancing and a general struggle. Gender and sex plays no part in the old school hip hop theme.
The only flaw I noted that bugged me was the fact that some of the camera shots included the suns light directly into the camera, unless it was an intended effect which I do not think it was I felt that these shots could have been repeated. It is understandable that for example at the tower block scene (00:25) they wished to get a high view of the city however they should have shot it later when the sun had moved. None the less, it remains my favourite student video due to its authenticity, realism and the song itself.
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