A full analysis of both music videos of Stan by Eminem and Last Friday Night by Katy Perry.

1. Task 3:
Analysis of “Stan” Music Video
The music video of “Stan” is quite narrative. The genre to this song is
quite Hip-Hop but further Horror core. This is one of the sub genres
of Hip-Hop which is darkly transgressive due to the lyrical content.
This is as the music video tries to send out a message to their
audience and persuade them. For instance, Stan is a non-fictional
character who is a crazed fan and obsessed over Eminem. He goes to
every concert, signings and even writes him letters daily.
As the video progresses so does the story showing a clear idea of
what ‘Stan’ is going through. The story also relates to the lyrics
throughout and to the audience’s experience. For example, break
ups, where ‘Stan’ is always having an argument with his pregnant
girlfriend or death. So the music video is quite dark as the whole
time the weather has been heavy rain and thunder including
lightning.
Also notice the way ‘Stan’ is always in
the basement writing to Eminem and
has his posters, etc. The basement
was a perfect setting as usually even
in horror movies, the basement is
always creepy, scary or
uncomfortable so the environment
suited Stan’s character as a whole.

2. lighting used creates a little spot on the lady, light coming through
the window but the rest of the room is pitch black. This also explains
the low-key lighting used throughout the video. When you get to
fifteen seconds in Stanley is looking at himself in the mirror, this
shows that he is looking at his identity, he might be questioning
himself of his appearance and his thoughts.
In the first eight seconds
of the video you already
feel like it’s a horror film
because of the darkness
and the camera zooming
in through the window.
All you can see is a lady
lying on a bed but the
You can see at the
beginning; Stan is also
bleaching his hair blonde
which shows his
commitment and how
much he also seems to
look like Eminem. He is
happy in his thoughts
however, when he sees
his girlfriend, his mood
changes as he probably
does not want her in his
life anymore as they
always argue and wishes
he was together with
Eminem.

3. Throughout the
video Stan looks in
the mirror all the
time and sees
Eminem in himself
especially with the
posters everywhere
and him on
television.

4. Throughout the music video you can see Stan wear a white tank top
or a white half-sleeved shirt and so does Eminem. White signifies
As you see Stan has a lot
of mail envelopes with
addresses and stamps on
them which already show
how he writes to Eminem
every day for the past 6
months.
innocence and purity and
so this shows how Stan
felt towards Eminem and
how his character would
change towards him.
However, Stan's girlfriend
from the start of the
video till the end seems
to wear a blue robe
and blue pyjamas.
The colour blue
plays an important
role for Stan's
girlfriend's
character. Blue
signifies trust and
loyalty. In the music
video, Stan's
girlfriend is seen
supporting Stan for
his obsession over
Eminem and yet
stays with him
throughout in their
surviving
relationship. We

5. Also just before Stan takes his girlfriend to the trunk and kills her,
Stan’s girlfriend is seen wearing green. Green symbolises life and the
irony is she dies that very night as she is put in the trunk and drowns.
Also she was pregnant and green also symbolises renewal.

6. Stan is played by a Canadian actor, Devon Sawa, who lip synchs to
Eminem's music video Stan. Eminem raps as Stan and himself but
Devon Sawa lip Synchs as Stan to show the audience a clear
understanding of Eminem's message of an obsessed fan. The lip
synch is done greatly as the audience feels as Stan is actually rapping
and speaking out to them especially while Stan writes his letters.
Each time he writes he gets more aggressive.

7. There is no dance choreography in this music video as the whole
point is to change the way audience. This does not make this video
conventional for hip-hop as they are always dancing and having fun.
But in order to make the audience feel intense, the video is dark and
depressing to make the message clear and stand out in its own
unique way.
This song was written in order to get the audience to understand
what Eminem is trying to say in a visual way. He wants his fans to
know when he is not behind the microphone, he is just like them, an
ordinary person who wants to live normally. Eminem also wants to
tell his fans how they should never try to be like him by his looks or
stuff he does as he believes he is not a good role model especially for
younger audiences. Eminem believes his fans should also stay in
touch with their loved ones and spend more time with them rather
than obsess over him. This maybe because Eminem was not close to
his mother until he realised it was wrong of him. This is than why
when Eminem writes back to Stan, he tells him “I really think you and
your girlfriend need each other, or maybe you just need to treat her
better”. Eminem is represented as a generic celebrity who doesn't
bother to respond or interact with fans. However, near the end of
the video you see that he does in fact reply and read his fan mail
although it was too late as Stan dies by committing suicide leaving a
huge amount of guilt on Eminem. Although the video is not about

8. Eminem, he is still well promoted due to the narrative being about
someone who is obsessed with him; this makes the audience want to
know more about the Eminem and why it is that Stan is so obsessed
over him.
There are many allusions in this song such as when Stan writes how
when he has a daughter he is going to name her Bonnie. This name
comes from Eminem’s favourite cult heroes, Bonnie and Clyde, also
the song Eminem did ’97 Bonnie and Clyde’.
Also another crazy allusion is when Stan writes how he felt bad about
Eminem’s uncle’s death. Stan writes “I had a friend kill himself over
some b*tch who didn't want him”. Eminem’s Uncle Ronnie was
Eminem’s best childhood family member, Eminem said his uncle was
the family he had. Ronnie was charged with third-degree assault by
kicking a female on December 12 1991. This means he had an
The music video is linear
as Eminem wants the
message to be clear and
straightforward to his
audience and not
confuse them. There are
some flash backs but
they still go forward in
time like when Stan
takes his younger
brother to Eminem’s
concert or when they go
to his signings.

9. argument with his girlfriend which led him to shoot himself in the
head on December 14 1991.
Dido’s verse plays a good part for Stan’s character. This is because
throughout the video it is dark, rainy and thunder. So Dido sings:
“The morning rain clouds up my window
And I can't see at all
And even if I could it'll all be grey
Put your picture on my wall
It reminds me, that it's not so bad”
This verse shows how Stan is always calm and happy when he says
Eminem on his television or how he sees the entire wall covered with
posters of Eminem mostly close ups of his face.

10. The song however does also link to other artists. Firstly, the chorus
by Dido is sang from her original song “Thank you”. This song was
about how she is happy with her day even though there is troubles
and problems, her happiness depends on the guy which is why she
thanks him. So this shows in the music video how even though Stan
is a psyche, how he treats her poorly and yet she is still loyal.
Eminem also mentions Phil Collin’s song "In the Air Tonight".
Specifically, Stan refers that the song is about Collins seeing a man
drowning, while getting closer Collins does nothing to save him. So
this relates to how Eminem is guilty about Stan as his blood on his
hands maybe showing that he is also guilty in his uncle’s death in
some way. Stan continues depths of his anger: "I hope you can't
sleep and you dream about it and when you dream I hope you can't
sleep and you scream about it. I hope your conscience eats at you
and you can't breathe without me". After that, screaming is heard
and Stan reveals that his pregnant girlfriend is in the trunk, "Shut up,
b*tch, I'm trying to talk. Hey Slim, that's my girlfriend screaming in
the trunk. But I didn't slit her throat, I just tied her up" this refers to
Eminem's song "Kim", where Eminem murders his wife after realizing
she is cheating and doesn't love him; at the end of "Kim" he slits her

11. throat and throws her in his trunk. At the end, Stan realizes too late
that he will be unable to send the tape to Eminem.
Eminem tries to target lower class audiences to try and tell them not
to mess their life up more by copying him but to realise what really
matters and do something useful with their life. We can tell it’s a
lower class audience as Stan says “My girlfriend's jealous cause I talk
about you 24/7, but she doesn’t know you like I know you Slim, no
one does, she doesn’t know what it was like for people like us
growing up, you got to call me man”. When Stan says “people like us
growing up” he probably means have had a poor relationship with
parents growing up and taking drugs due to depression. This stereo
types a lower class audience.

12. The video starts from a black fade transition shot to a low key
lighting set, beginning with a window in centre frame, showing the
establishing shot.
Close ups are used in this scene to show the reaction of both Stan
and Dido, a look of joy and passion on his and a look of disgust and
worry on hers. This helps show Stan’s obsession with Eminem and
Stan’s wife’s concern with it.
The video does not entirely focus on the artist but it has a lot to do
about the artist. Despite Stan being main actor of the music video,
his obsession with the Eminem makes the audience think a lot about

13. Eminem and therefore kind of makes the entire video specifically
about him.This is difficult to portray in this music video as through
most of it, Stan, not Eminem, is narrating the events however due to
this, Stan takes place of the artist and close-ups are seen, a specific
example being at the beginning of the music video where he is
looking in the mirror, he is clearly shown to the audience.
Throughout the rest of the video, whenever Stan is at his desk, he is
always placed in centre frame and if not, the shot is from behind or
the side.
Analysis of “Last Friday Night” Music
Video
The genre of Katy Perry’s song ‘Last Friday Night’ is Dance-pop from
the album ‘Teenage Dream’. The music video meets conventions for
a typical pop music video as there is typical young love and parties
presented in the video.

14. In the music video there are a lot of bright and bold colours used
which is very conventional in pop videos and songs. This is mostly
because pop songs give a happy and loving mood to the audience
and makes them want to dance.
The style of the song is very cheerful like many pop songs and videos.
Therefore, this song meets the stereotype of pop music. The music
video tells a story to the song which is attractive to watch and is very
interesting. The video relates to many teenagers and their lifestyle
which would make them want to watch the music video and listen to
the song.

15. As you can tell, the music video is an 80/90's theme. So the clothes
worn are based on then with the tight high trousers to the hair. The
clothes are bright as they used to be in the 80's for attraction. You
could also tell the theme due to the font of the text and the
newspaper boy and the style of the car behind him.
Katy Perry plays Kathy who is a nerd who wears stereotypical braces
from the 80's style, glasses and has no sense in dressing meaning she
was not showing any skin. This made it obvious how she was to get a
makeover during the music video.

16. Katy Perry is seen transformed from a geek to an attractive young
lady to grab attention of the popular boy she is into. This also
involves the male gaze theory as the wears neon coloured clothes
which are short and tight including high heels. Some younger
audiences may relate to this seen as they try to make a lot of effort
to get a boy to notice them as Rebecca Black shows us in the music
video how she transforms Katy Perry. This also shows voyeurism as
Kathy becomes more of a sexual object showing off her body
portraying her curves.
Katy Perry mostly is wearing pink. The colour symbolises feminism
and delicacy. This shows Katy Perry as a character as she is still the
same innocent girl even though she transformed her appearance.
She also wears a green skirt and green symbolises renewal meaning
her appearance again.
The popular boy Kathy is interested is seen to wear a jock. This
shows how he is the popular guy every girl has a crush on and is very
macho. In the 80's wearing a jock meant you were popular, a sign of
how important you were and the guy who will get all the girls just as
the way in the music video how he went straight to the 'blonde and
popular' girl in the corner.

17. The jacket is red which symbolises power and strength showing how
he is in charge and all macho.
The geeky boy called Everette is also wearing braces and big glasses.
Notice the way his glasses also have tape in the middle which shows
his true geekyness.
Everette has his hair neatly done and is wearing suspenders which
show off more of his stereotypical geek look. He is in love with Kathy
as it makes it conventional for a pop video showing 'young love'. He
day dreams of him as a knight and Kathy as a princess. This shows
how he tries to be Kathy's knight in shining armour, not the jock.
Throughout the music video, Katy Perry is lip synching as Kathy as
the lyrics match the actions. So Katy Perry wants to show the
audience how Kathy is singing about what a good time she had and
what she did throughout her Friday night.

18. A dance choreography was essential as its very conventional for a
pop music video. It also shows how in the 80/90's people would
usually dance at parties and have a good time. It's also fun to watch
different people dance differently as the dance matches the beats
and is needed at some point in the video as the genre of the song is
dance-pop.
This song has many different meanings. One basic meaning is that
these days many teenagers like to party and have fun once in a
while. It helps them loosen up rather than stressing just as Kathy
went from a boring nerd to a party animal and ended up having fun.

19. Especially when Kathy's parents came and said how her to party was
acceptable even though she trashed her house as they used done
crazier things when they were young.
Another meaning is not to judge a book by its cover. This is because
Kathy was a boring nerd who would just study and not be invited to
any parties. However, she ended up making the party even better
and everybody ended up thinking she was actually super cool
especially when the guy at the beginning said "I don't care what
anybody thinks about you, your actually really cool.... Best party
ever!!".
Last but not least, one meaning could be how Katy Perry is trying to
show how girls these days have to go through a lot of effort just to
get a boy to like them or even notice them. A message trying to say
how it's not about beauty but about personality cause even the

20. macho or good looking guys can be childish and a pain in the back
side, just wanting you for a sexual object. Also that there is a guy out
there who likes you for yourself as Everette liked Kathy the way she
was as in the end when she passes out he puts her glasses back on.
He may not be macho or popular but is innocent and will treat you
right.
There were quite a few of hidden messages in this music video. As it
was a 80/90's theme, the guy who plays the saxophone and is
Kathy's uncle actually is a famous saxophone player, Lenny G.
Also there is a famous 90's band called Hanson who are seen playing
in Kathy's back garden.

21. Kathy's parents are also 80's icons. Kathy's dad is played by Corey
Feldman who became well known during the 1980s, with roles as a
youth in films such as The Fox and the Hound. Kathy's mom is played
by Debbie Gibson a singer who went triple platinum for leasing her
album, Out of The Blue in, in 1987. Also notice the way Kathy's
parents are calm with her having a huge party and trashing the
house. This shows how rich people would not really care as they spoil
their children and let them get away with stuff.
There are no links to other artists other than Rebecca Black. This is
because she wrote a hit song called 'Friday' where she sang about
how it's Friday so we should party. That's why Katy Perry also

22. includes T.G.I.F which stands for 'Thank God It's Friday'. Also in the
music video, Rebecca Black is having the party on a Friday night,
Kathy goes just to try and shut it down.
The music video was done in a non-linear way. This is because the
video starts off with the aftermath of the party where Kathy is hung
over and then they show the night before and then cut towards the
morning after.
The music video attracts the audience as they have used real life
situations for instance the way a girl tries to get attention of a guy.
Also every guy tries to be the hero in their minds just the way
Everette sees himself with his crush (Kathy) and defeats the guy after
her or tries to. This makes the audience interested and want to
watch the rest of the music video to see what happens next.

23. There was really good use in camera shots and angles. The first
camera shot features an establishing shot of the character’s houses
and front garden. This is conventional for a pop music video as it
gives a film-like style as it's telling a story.
Another great shot was when Kathy was on her bed showing 3
people passed out in her room. This was important as it showed
Goodwin's theory of relations between visuals and lyrics. For
example, when Katy Perry sang "There's a stranger in my bed" which
there was in the video.

24. Close-ups were very important and was used a lot in order to show
the characters’ expressions. For instance, to show how Kathy felt
towards certain things like the pain of the wax or the way Everette
pulled his 'I'm in love' face when he saw Kathy and started day
dreaming.
There were a lot of wide shots and low-angled shots in Kathy's
backyard scene. This was to show how many people were present at
the party and what everyone was doing such as drinking and live
music. This was also showing a stereotypical American party as to
how young teenagers can lose control at parties and act wild.

25. Panning was used greatly at the scene where Kathy is transformed
into a sexual object starting from her feet to her head and is walking
downstairs to the party.

26. Both music videos are very different as you may have noticed. The
music video for Stan was very unconventional for a hip-hop video as
most of the time there is the male gaze present which there wasn’t.
There may have been Dido playing Stan’s girlfriend however she was
not seen as a sexual object. Also most hip-hop videos show how rich
people are with their dress code such as jewellery: diamonds and
chains. Yet the music video was targeting a lower class audience who
are below average and not rich at all. We could tell as Stan would
wear simple and plain shirts and even Eminem was not dressed as a
rich rapper with many gold chains. The music video to Stan had very
low-key lighting throughout which changes the way a hip-hop
audience thinks. This is due to Eminem wanted the message straight
forward and seriously taken, not fun distracting the audience.
However, Kay Perry’s Last Friday Night music video is very
conventional for a pop song. This is as the video and lyrics relate to a
typical teenager as they show ‘young love’ and how the nerd is the
hero for the first time and not the popular guy. This video had a lot
of dancing which is very essential for a pop song as the song is more
enjoyed. There were people wearing bright colours which shows the
audience a typical pop song. Also at the beginning the video is shown
as a short film showing the location and settings. The story was
shown as a movie style which becomes more interesting to watch.

27. There was the use of bright lights throughout to lighten the mood for
the audience and make the video look cheerful. There also many
famous icons shown in the music video which makes it more
interesting as most pop music videos use other celebrities such as
Katy Perry including Rebecca Black in hers.