Second Text Analysis.

This music video is for the song "This DJ" by the rapper, Warren G in 1994.The music video is mainly a performance orientated video. However there is a small narrative to it and also some small thematic and symbolic elements. The majority and bulk of the video is made up of Warren G performing his song. The chorus almost always has Warren rapping it. The narrative occurs through out the verses. It shows the story of a child growing up in an urban area. The first verse shows a young child who is out with his friends with his bike. The second verse shows that child then as a teenager with his friends. The final chorus shows that teenager as an adult, who turns out to be Warren G, the songs writer and performer. Through out the narrative side of the song, Warren G is seen rapping and performing the song. This is usually done by green screen rather then having Warren G standing with the characters in the narrative. However he does too stand with them, as the final line of the first verse shows, where the child is biking home and Warren is standing by a lamp post. However for the majority of the narrative he is not standing with the characters to add realistic effect.
Shots including the star of the song are largely common. This makes it a conventional music video as it includes a performance and many close ups and mid shots of the performer.
There are a few locations in the video and one recurring one. The narrative mainly takes place in Long Beach, California. Where Warren G is from, it is usually in the day time. The performance sides to it and the chorus is always in an inner city area. Warren G usually performs on the streets. This is to match the theme to the video of growing up on the streets. One recurring place is underneath a street light. The establishing shot starts here and the song ends here with Warren G getting into his car during the final chorus. Other then that, there is a mix of alley ways, paths, corners, streets and roads used as locations, again sticking to the theme of the song being on the streets.
The lighting matches the narrative. For example during the day time as an adult or child, it is bright outside and sunny. There is no artificial light used, this is done to give a realistic effect as there is no strange lighting. At night, it is very under lit outside and the streets are only lit up by street lights. This is to show the inner city at night as dark and gloomy which sticks to the theme of the song of being on the streets.
The establishing shot shows two different dissolves used as a transition. The first dissolve changes the children with their bikes standing on the sidewalk to teenagers, the second changes those teenagers to adults with cars. This transition is used to show a change in time. This is different to other dissolve transitions because the location stays the same. The most common editing technique used in the video is the use of the wipe effect as a transition. Often the wipe effect is used by making Warren G rapping wipe across the screen and change the last background to a new location. An example of this is in 0:31 where Warren wipes across screen and then changes the location to a park bench where he then starts to perform again. The wipe effect is used as a transition from the narrative to the performance element and from the performance element to the narrative. In the first 19 seconds, Warren is seen walking his dog through the park, while children run past him which is used as a wipe effect. This is an example of how the narrative element of the video is used as a wipe to change to the performance element. Another editing technique which is used frequently in the video is the use of green screen effects. Throughout the video Warren is seen rapping over something in the background, be it narrative or performance. This is so there can be plenty of shots of Warren to promote his image and therefore meet the conventions of a music video. More commonly in the video, Warren is seen rapping over the narrative side to the video, using a green screen effect, rather then standing in shot.
The music video does have symbolic and thematic elements. It is conventional of its genre to feature run down inner city streets as a performance location including graffiti covered walls and under lit alleyways. The mis-en-scene through out does not show overly expensive jewellery and good looking women which is unconventional of the songs genre, however the theme of this song being about being a child growing up on the streets may provide enough reason to show more poorer situations then successful or wealthy scenarios. It also could be to the fact that this is a sub genre of rap and that this genre does not have similar conventions. There is however the use of a good car through out the song being symbolic of the rappers now wealthy lifestyle as opposed to the van shown in his teen ages.
Overall meets the conventions of both a music video and of the genre of music. Provides a running theme through out of growing up and has a moral of how the rapper hasn't changed and has grown up on the streets of Long Beach, California.