The video we are analysing is Stan by Eminem. Directed by Phillip G Atwell and Dr Dre. This music video is of the rap genre. The video is dark almost like a thriller as it tells the story of Eminem's rise to fame and the problems it can bring to an artists life.

'She don't know you like I know you Slim' switches to picture of Dido looking on bored and dissatisfied with Stan. 'This will be the last package I ever send your ass' Stan is driving recklessly through the pouring rain as he raps into a recorder showing his annoyance and frustration with Eminem. Also there is a picture of Eminem hanging around the rear view mirror showing Stan's deep obsession with Eminem. 'You could have rescued me from drowning' you can sense that Stan is annoyed and going to do something reckless putting not only his life, but also his little brother's and his girlfriend's life. 'I hope you know I ripped all your posters off the wall' cuts into an image showing Stan ripping posters of Eminem off the wall. 'I think you need to treat her better' shows Stan beating Dido and making her cry, contradicting what Eminem says.


Also, the gestures that Stan shows in the video are very aggressive. There is a distinct link with the lyrics in the video and the gestures made by both Stan and Eminem. Stan in the very beginning of the video is dying his hair blonde to try an imitate his idol Eminem. He also copies Eminems classic image of a vest top and some jeans.
The record company are trying to sell this track as a dramatic story of the hardship of fame and of the obsession that fans have with their idols. The artist is being portrayed as busy, as he has various other things to do such as perform for other fans and rest whilst on tour. Although at the end of the video he does reply to Stan's letter although as Eminem says in the song he has been busy and can't reply straight away. Its a change of style of video that Eminem is usually featured in as he usually has a more comical side to his videos although in this video he takes a more serious role due to one of his fans killing themselves due to his passion and obsession with Eminem. This change of image makes the viewer empathize with Eminem and his difficult situation.


The shot on the right, is of Dido in focus and her boyfriend Stan out of focus in the background. This type of shot is known as a shallow focus. The point of this shot was to show Dido's reaction to the photo she had picked up and to equally show Stan's reaction to her being in his basement. There are many pans, and tracking shots of Stan when he is in his basement, writing his letters to Eminem. The camera circles him once as he writes part of his letter.
The screens within screens notion is demonstrated when Stan looks himself in the mirror and changes his hair colour to blonde to look like his idol Eminem. We also see close ups of the TV screen with Eminem on it also portraying Stan's obsession with the star. Finally we see Stan through his windscreen shouting into his tape recorder portraying his obsession and disappointment in Eminem.

This relates to the stars image of being incredibly popular and having massive amounts of fans write to him all wanting a reply a they are all equally obsessed with Eminem due to his massive success. We also see Eminem on the TV, on tour and at a book signing all demonstrating his star status and how he is always doing something for the fans and does not always have time to write to them. These different aspects are used to tell fans that he does appreciate them but due to his busy lifestyle he can't always write to fans straight away.s

The video is strongly narrative based, this is because Eminem and the directors feel the lyrics best suit a narrative based performance. Eminem voice is heard telling the story of both Stan and from Eminem's perspective this gives the viewer a broader story and understanding of the lyrics and Eminem's situation.
Toward the end of the music video, Eminem is sitting in what appears to be a tour bus reads some of the letters than Stan has sent to the long awaited reply. He also tells Stan that he

The video on the whole portrays how an artists rise to fame brings a lot of responsibility and fans along the way. This narrative based video reinforces this responsibility as one of Eminem's fans becomes irate and kills himself, leaving he's family behind. Eminem is shown to

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