Analysing Eminem "Stan"

Outline:
In 'Stan' Eminem is playing himself, with an obsessive fan trying to get in touch with him for guidance and to speak to him.
Lighting is key in this video. The dingy setting helps set an emotional atmosphere that 'Stan' is very troubled and that his girlfriend is very uspet and unhappy. The bleak setting of a basement denotates a rough hard life that they're struggling for money, and the fact Dido is pregnant makes the audience feel even more sympathetic that she's in this situation.
The lyrics are very violent and aggressive. When 'Stan' talks he is swearing and clearlly angry, this is also reflected in the video as when he is shown he is in the dingy basement in the dark. His facial expresions also express how he's feeling, with him crying and looking very distressed.
Overall the video is very effective in the way it's been made. The story behind the video is powerful and believeable to the point where you feel sympathetic and sad when you see 'Stan' kill Dido and their baby. This would only effect the audience if it had been properly made and emotions had been appropriately shown, so the fact it makes people feel shocked and upset shows that it's a well made video which suits the song perfectly.
There are many generic conventions within this video. For example, a heavy use of tracking dolly/gliding camera angles. These are used throughout the video to follow 'Stan' round the basement. Another example is that the genre is reflected through the mise-en-scene. The genre is hip hop/rap and this is reflected through the dirty/unfinished look of the basement. A further example is that there is a clear narrative. This is shown through the way the song lyrics reflect the action and storyline on screen.

Theories

This videos genre is categorised as Illusration according to Craig Davis. This means that the video matchs the lyrics of the song and follows in a logical order. The video relies heavily on 'star image', Eminem is portrayed in a specific way in the majority of his videos, and this one is no different.

Andrew Goodwin:
Some genre characteristics include: the dingy basement, no dancing, lots of lip syncing.
There is a clear relationship between the lyrics and the visuals (illustrative as i already mentioned).
John Stewart:
This theory doesnt apply to Eminem at all. The idea of the music vieo has the aesthetics of a Tv commercial completely goes against my video as Eminem uses poor lighting and has no art photography influences.
Steve Archer:
This theory can be applied to this video in some ways. This is because there is a clear relationship between the narrative and the performance of the song. The song lyrics are being lip synced practically through the whole video and the story is being played on screen.