Tyler, The Creator - Yonkers video analysis

Tyler, The Creator - Yonkers

This clip I have selected is the first nineteen seconds of the music video. I have selected this part of the video as it shows a performance with vague illustration of the lyrics. The clip incorporates lip syncing throughout the whole music video with only two shots, both of very long length. This style is not often used in music videos. On-beat editing is used as the artist tells a story through his actions (Illustration). The actions Tyler uses are paced correctly with the rhythm and tempo of the music and the use of fading in and out of focus as well as the creation of a silhouette to reveal himself creates a sinister atmosphere with his blank facial expressions. The mise en scene is completely black and white - this creates simplicity and also plays on the sinister atmosphere Tyler has created. The action in this clip comes in bursts of sudden movement and represents Tyler's anger (as rap is a form of expressing yourself).

This second clip I have selected shows illustration within this music video as it shows Tyler rapping about "pussy niggas" and him holding a cockroach to demonstrate his fearlessness. Also, it is significant to notice that Tyler has "KILL" written on his left hand and that the cockroach crawls over this. The sinister atmosphere is ever increasing as Tyler is the only point of focus with a cockroach and this is quite an outrageous thing to do. The use of one, long, continuous shot is making it so we cannot change our point of focus and it is emphasising the importance of Tyler. The shot of Tyler slowly zooms in and he holds the cockroach up on his hand near his face so that the audience is able to see him looking through his eyebrows with a look of menace on his face. This close up is a convention of music videos as record companies like the main vocalist to be emphasised. This look of menace intrigues the audience as the video is very simplistic and we are given no other option to focus on, so this engages the audience and makes us wonder what is about to happen.

This clip shows the change between the verse and the chorus (although there is no words within the chorus, there is an instrumental which is repeated in the song, so it can be considered as a chorus). This transition between chorus and verse is each time a shocking feature in the video, this time it is the eating of the cockroach. Although eating cockroaches is not necessarily a convention of music videos, the repetition of shocking behaviour to introduce the chorus is as it signifies to the audience that the verse is about to change to the chorus. Obviously, the conventions of miming/lip syncing are still being followed and the use of a close up when Tyler eats the cockroach is another convention as it is a commonly used shot in music videos and I will definitely use this when I create my own video. Black and white are still the main colours being used and the continuity of these colours is helping to keep the sinister atmosphere and notify the audience that this song is not a light-hearted sing along but a serious message that Tyler wants to share - this is another convention sometimes used by artists, however they all have individual styles, so it is not used in all videos. Tyler remains expressionless at all times even after he has eaten the cockroach and this is quite shocking, but also a convention used in many music videos, so this could be useful to use in our video. Also, by using a silhouette of Tyler vomiting instead of just himself is probably a censorship of his video for it to remain suitable for most age groups, however, it is also very effective as the focus becomes blurred as he changes between silhouette and focused black and white (you could say that intertextuality is used as this is similar to Elvis Presley's 'A Little Less Conversation [JXL Remix], although i consider that unlikely).

This clip shows another transition between verse and chorus, so Tyler performs something unusual by removing his shirt and throwing it at the camera - the shirt being thrown over the camera is also used as a transition between the first and second shot (as there are only two shots in the whole video). The contrast of  Tyler's behaviour of being calm to then being outraged by B.o.B is quite shocking and intrigues the audience as to what Tyler's behaviour might lead him to. The camera zooms out very slowly over this clip to a point where you can barely realise, this helps the shot to change from a close up to a mid shot so we are able to see Tyler throw his shirt. The camera throughout this whole vfirst shot never actually moves, it is on a tripod and simply uses slow zooming in and out for effect at times of high impact - this could be used at some point in our music video if we wished to create tension or to perhaps emphasise an emotion.

This part of the video uses a nosebleed as a signifier that something has changed, this then develops into Tyler hanging himself. Such shocking events in a music video are not conventions of music videos, however, they could be considered conventions as they intrigue and engage the audience. The black and white camera shot throughout the video shows continuity and is used for great effect during times of varying focus and blurring. This second and last shot shows a hand held shot which shakes at the time of panic of the nosebleed, but is then returned to its tripod when it zooms out of an extreme close up and into a mid shot but this time of one his legs so we are unable to see the actual hanging of Tyler. Tyler's wide pupils may be a special effect, however, it is likely that they are contact lenses to increase the intensity of the sinister atmosphere Tyler has created.

There are no other systems of looking in this video besides from the obvious camera. There is no voyeurism as Tyler is the only person in the whole video.

Some of the features in this video could be used within our music video such as the black and white editing effect as this gives the music video an individual edge.