LOSE YOURSELF - EMINEM

Treatment - Seb Coker

Information of song/Artist

Marshall Mathers (Eminem) is an American rapper, songwriter and record producer, who's is revolutionary in the hip-hop genre when he first became more well know in the eyes of the public in the early 2000’s. He became increasingly popular for his very individual, quirky, outlandish, vulgar personality, and the fact that he was the first white rapper at the time to get some media coverage; which was exemplified lyrilisticly and stylistically in his music videos. Eminems videos were very controversial but also thought provoking, as the concepts in each video conveyed his split personalities/characters he has created and need to role play and fit different stereotypes.

Although, Eminem became very popular as he managed to show his versatility in his songs ranging from a more humorous approach to song writing, to moredramatic/serious concepts . This is shown in his song ‘Lose Yourself’. The song was released on October 28, 2002 as part of the rappers soundtrack in the film ‘8 mile’.

Narrative ideas My idea is based on a young school student, who is about to make a

speech in front of his school in a speaking competition. It shows him backstage preparing in angst, whilst cutting between him and in the hall. He is last up to talk and instead of following his notes as planned, he causes an uproar amongst the crowd and his fellow pupils which results in all out chaos and anarchy. I would then have the child that is speaking, as his older self on the judging panel rapping from his own point of view.

Location/mise en scene I picture the setting to be something like a school auditorium. This would be ideal in terms of mise

on scene as it would capture the essence of a talent show; through the access to stage lighting, the stage and also the amount of space for the audience to sit.

Lighting – I will use the stage lighting and personal LED lights and reflectors in order to achieve intended lighting. This preferably will be quite harsh lighting on the child when about to speak in order to extenuate his nerves and anxiety. And then in the audience have it a lot more dimmed. This contrast will re-enforce the level judgment and strain on the child. I might also choose to put a spot light on the judge (artist im promoting) as he raps in order to be more subjective in terms of showing them to be the same person. This will also be an opportunity to have an element of voyeurism and serialism to the video as the rapper would be rapping to the camera and the other judges would be watching the performance as normal.

One problem that I have thought about is the fact that in some audience shots, it may be slightly under light; meaning I will need to bring extra lights as mentioned previously to the shoot.

I also feel that the setting is perfect for making the narrative credible, as you put the story in a much more believable environment/space.

Camera movement/shots

Initially, I want to have two contrasting forms of camera movement; one being the more steady, slow paced, smooth and flowing shots which would be achieved through as the audience and setting are established, and the other being hand held, frantic jerky camera movement. This transition from smooth shots to more raw unsteady shots exaggerate the child's uneasy and nervous frame of mind before he goes on stage. Which would then later turn into more and more handheld shots as the chaos progresses.

I also think in terms of narrative and performance, my video will be an even split more or less, as the artist wants to promote himself, but also convey what has happened to him in the past through the narrative.

Lines

‘palms are sweaty’ close up/ex close up

‘hes nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready’ mirror shot

‘but he keeps on forgetting what he wrote down’ smudged writing

‘he opens his mouth but the words wont come out’ close up/jump cuts him pacing, going over lines

Costume

In terms of the child, I don’t want to conform to the hip-hop genre stereotype. Instead I want to preferably have him in very preppy/ school uniform like attire. This will hopefully add to the shock value of when he decides to go against the speech as the mise en scene (smart clothes, neat hair, shirt tuccked in) is suggesting that he is quite the opposite of what he is now showing on stage through his personality.

This idea of manipulating conventions and having a narrative slightly more abstract and post modernist is something that Eminem does quite often in his music.

• For the actual artist himself, I think I will probably conform to the stereotypes and follow the hip-hop conventions. Probably typical hip-hop dress i.e baggy jeans, tshirt/hoodie, trainers and possibly a beanie or cap of some sort. This would be beneficial as I need to create my artist and represent him in the right genre.