A2 ADVANCED PORTFOLIO: Kanye West - Summer Homework

Part One: Genre

What elements does your artist use to identify themselves in their videos?

Kanye is constantly standing out or the centre of attention in his videos, via him rapping/singing or just being focused on by the camera.

How has your artist changed over time?

He has changed his appearance over time by how he dresses and portrays himself, at the start he wears more ‘gangster’ clothing associated with hip hop whilst now he wears much more stylised, smarter clothing. In his music he has changed from being solely a rap artist to singing more along with using a wide variety of instruments.

What generic conventions are evident from their videos?

Showing off of wealth, popularity, power and black roots as found in most of the hip hop genre.

Has the film style changed over time? If so why?

Previous videos at the start of his career were much more simplistic and could pretty much be done by anyone following him with a camera and with minor special effects. More recent videos have much more style and flair to them to accompany his much changed sound and appearance. Success has probably also brought him bigger budgets for his videos.

Part Two: Visual Style and Image

Kanye’s visual style at the start was very simple and was very in line with other hip hop artists at the time, the mise-en-scene emphasising popularity and wearing the generic clothing associated with the genre as seen in the Through the Wire video from his first album. The locations seen throughout are mostly all black neighbourhoods spread throughout urban areas in the USA, making him seem more down to earth. The video is seen through pictures to Kanye’s life on a board, making him appear as a normal person.

His first single from his latest album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, POWER, maintains the focus on him throughout its running time, also making him appear mythical and god like through having minions, being in the clouds, surrounded by columns and having the video be portrayed in the style of a moving renaissance era painting. The video quite clearly has a large budget to do the effects which are apparent whether they are make up or special effects because both are of high quality.

The stark difference in the two videos is clear and without previous reference or knowledge of Kanye West it would be easy to assume they were from two different artists, main differences are that he portrays himself in different ways but with the same point in mind, previously his popularity was shown through having friends around him, but now he shows his popularity through his ‘god like’ presence.

What typical visual elements in the mise-en-scene signify your artist – why?

A bear is seen on his first 3 albums and in a few of his videos, whether it is a cartoon or as a costume. He also regularly wears iconic items such as his ‘Shutter Shades’ in the Stronger video and the over sized Horus necklace in POWER. He frequently has wealth and extravagance around him such as the Lamborghini in Can’t Tell Me Nothing and the females in Gold Digger.

What is your artist’s visual image and how is this represented on screen?

He is always dressed well and is known for it since he designed shoes for Louis Vutton and released his on clothing line, in his videos this is shown by him wearing sharp, expensive clothing.

How does your artist use camera and editing style and effects to create meaning?

Effects are used in Stronger and POWER to make power more prominent.

Does your artist’s video’s relate to other media texts (films, TV programmes etc) why does your artist do this?

The video for Stronger has lots of connotations to Akira such as the lights on the back of the bikes and storyline. This was done in relation to the sampling of Daft Punk’s Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger in the song which reflects what happens to Akira. Touch the Sky was clearly a parody based on Evel Knievel’s attempted jump over the Snake River Canyon, since Kanye’s character is called Evel Kanyevel and follows copies the jump. This was probably done because of the repeating lyric, ‘for the day I die, imma touch the sky’. He probably refers these videos to capture a certain style and to make them iconic.

Digipak Design Research

Chosen artists – Kanye West, Kid Cudi, Jay Z, Tyler, the Creator

Artist –Tyler, the Creator hasn’t had his name on the cover of his album, whilst Jay Z has had his name on every one of his albums except Watch the Throne which is a collaboration with Kanye West. Kanye West and Kid Cudi don’t always have their names on the album but sometimes do.

Title – Tyler, the Creator and Jay Z have the title on every one of their albums whilst Kanye West and Kid Cudi have the title on a few of their albums.

B sides – Tyler, the Creator doesn’t have b sides but the others do on their singles.

Institutional logos – Record company and distributor. (Kanye West – Roc-A-Fella, GOOD Music, Def Jam. Kid Cudi – GOOD Music, Universal Motown. Jay Z – Roc Nation. Tyler, the Creator – XL, Odd Future Records.)

Appropriate Iconography – Kanye West - High School/College. Kid Cudi – Parties and Space. Jay Z – Money. Tyler, the Creator – not sure how to classify it.