Case Study No2- Believe It

Professional Music Video:  Meek Mill Ft Rick Ross- Believe It
Genre- Rap/Hip-hop
Video Director- Benny Boom
Date Of Release: 2011
Video Type: Rap- Narrative Based
Theme- Rich Boys flaunting the things they have such as money, girls, cars. This relates to the title of the music video ‘believe it’. This relates because in the music video, they are naming asset for asset, cars, all the girls, mansions they own and they are telling their audience to believe it, because it’s the truth that they are being told.

Editing: Lots of snappy cuts to show the different areas the video is shot in such as casino, airport and a party. There is a lot of deep and rack focus going on in the music video and this is helps to draw attention to the audience and helps keep them engaged. Also a lot of tracking and shot reverse shot and panning takes place in the video. Each cut of the music video lasts for about 8-10 seconds as it’s a very fast paced music videos showing many things at different times. The position of the camera emphasizes the theme by making the audience focus deeply on the artists and what they are doing and how that relates to their action. The close up emphasizes his facial expression and the words he is saying. The colors in the video are also very effective. The contrast in the shot makes his face stand out a lot more and highlights where his face is most expressive, in his eyes and mouth.

Is the video conceptual, narrative or performance based? -  The music video is both conceptual and narrative based. This is because the concept behind the video is to show the world what they have become and what they have since they have 'blown' (made it big in the music industry). It is also performance based because they are 'celebrating' in the music video and they show the 2 artists at one of their shows performing the song.It’s not narrative because they are not really explaining how they got to where they are, so it’s not story like, but instead they are celebrating about the fame and wealth they have.

Themes & Motif: The main theme/motif of the song is money & wealth & assets. This all correlates with the title of the song 'imma boss'. This is because, as a boss your expected to have the the money, popularity, flashy cars, jewelry etc, and in this music video, he is basically just saying not only is he a boss because of all of this that he has, but also because he is currently dominating in the rap music industry and is also signed to the big boss himself 'Rick Ross' music label. The music label is called Maybach music group, which is associated with one of the major record companies Warner music group.

Camera angles, special effects, mise en scene : The only special effects used in the music video was flashing lights which was used to add affect to the music video and keep the audience engaged. Meek Mill- He is dressed in very plain simple clothing, yet has very big and bold jewels on. Big gold chains and very distinctive expensive rings on. Also in the music video he is riding on expensive bikes. This just goes to show that although you have the money, you do not have to dress in flashy clothing. The jewelry does all the talking. Rick Ross- He is also dressed very similar to Meek Mill. The area the video is shot in is Philadelphia in america. This is known to be one of the poorest areas in america, however, 2 of the most successful rappers are shooting the video in the neighborhood. The neighborhood looks dull and undeveloped, however this does not remove any seriousness of the video or the lyrics, just comes to show that you can be from a poor neighborhood and still make it into a 'boss'. Telling all the audience to believe it!
There was not much special effects used in this music video, the most common ones which were used in the music video, were the flashing of the music video, and the slow motion effects. These were used to keep the audience captivated and interested.

Audience: The audience to this music video is mostly young people, especially those who are already in the music industry and are looking to make it big one day and hopefully release a similar track stating the things they have accomplished. Audiences of this music video can also be fans of the entire music label MMG (Maybach music group), This is because both artists are from the same music group, especially with Rick Ross being the founder and creator of the music group, this can help attract more audiences. If you was to explore this even deeper, the audience could also be other artists who are signed to Warner bros as they have an association with this music label.

Idea's I can take for my own music video: The idea's that I can take from this music video and have in my own one is first of all the concept. My music video could also be about 1 or 2 artists who have made it in the music industry and are now celebrating or 'boasting' to the world about the things they have. One thing that i would also like to take for my music video is the type of editing techniques that were used in this video, thats because i believe that the editing techniques that were used, purposely kept the audiences engaged.