Conventions of 'Without Me' by Eminem

Context

‘Without Me’ is a single from Eminem’s album ‘The Eminem Show’ from 2002. The album is seen as a mix of both his serious and humorous styles of hip hop – mainly concentration on the humour after his previous album, ‘The Marshall Mathers LP’ which took a more gritty approach with harsher lyrical content. Eminem and Dr Dre, his long time collaborator and boss produce the single. The genre they are covering with the song is a mix of hip hop and rap, therefore we come to expect certain things: glamorous depiction of the rappers lifestyle, sexualisation of women, flash cars and often some reference to gang violence and guns.

Camera Work

The video is given a distinctly cartoon feel to it, this creates the overall impression we get from the video in that we see it as a mock up of a batman and robin story (Dre & Eminem). The fish eye lens is used at certain points to give the video a dreamlike feel which ultimately creates a tongue-in-cheek experience which makes it difficult for us as the audience to see the video as trying to portray a serious message as Eminem does is some of his videos, instead it comes across as mocking his own genre.

Editing

The video is shot to be exactly in sync with the beat to the music. Hip-Hop is almost universally very ‘beat heavy’ music with particularly striking bass so the video plays off these strengths to give the promo a up beat feel and fit in the tempo of the music. Comic Book style-editing effects are also used to reinforce the feel of the video – This consists of comic book panels with Eminem and Dr. Dre dressed up in various costumes. No instruments are used, the whole promo is purely taken up by the two protagonists story. It is suggested at points that the music is diagetic as the characters dance to the music while in the car, miming over exaggerated head banging.

Mise-En-Scene and Intertextuality

The mise-en-scene is primarily used as a front for the numerous Intertextual references to many stories in the media at that time. Some are still relevant today and we can pick up on them. The music video of the song features a number of scenarios built around its context, including Eminem and Dr. Dre as parodies of comics in general, specifically Batman, Robin and Blade trying to save a child who bought a copy of The Eminem Show that has a Parental Advisory sticker (referencing his own work). Eminem also appears barefoot throughout some of the video where he is on a hospital bed being pushed through a ward (a reference to ER, which here is called EM drawing from the rapper's stage name) Eminem also dressed up in various costumes as Osama bin Laden as he is chased by D-12 and a TV ad salesman shocking a Dick Cheney-look alike (One of his critics)

Representation

Primarily Eminem is using this video to further his own fame as a rapper by showing his unique ability to mock himself and his own genre of music. This is something of a usp to Eminem because the hip-hop and rap section of music is seen as a particularly serious side to music so a rapper who can mock his own music can effectively gain a level of publicity other rappers might not have. This can be seen to be true as Eminem is the best selling rapper and hip-hop artist of all time, having sold 80 million albums. Generally Eminem produces 2 distinct types of rap – his serious work and his comedy work. His serious work often uses real world issues that he has direct experience of, such as his failed marriage or his poor relationship with his mother. His comedy work mocks genres and often celebrity culture as a whole, such as in his music promo for ‘We Made You’ where he pokes fun at over 10 celebrities. This particular piece is very typical of his comedy work as it uses bright colours and over exaggerated actions.