The music video above by the rap artist Eminem is about an obsessed fan who becomes insane due to the fact his hero Eminem does not reply to his fan mil and ends up killing himself and pregnant wife. it was directed by Philip G. Atwell.
It starts with a man in a bathroom bleaching his hair. This is cleaver as Eminem is well known for is blond hair and this means that when watching the video you can tell that the man is trying to look like Eminem this shows that the film makers are relating aspects to Eminem's appearance. We then see the man have a argument with his girlfriend about her calling him Stan again showing he want to be like Eminem. After this we see Stan go into a cellar which is covered is posters of Eminem which helps to make him the main focus of the video. He starts to write a letter and after an ellipses of time we see Eminem receive it and read it, this suggests that he cares about his fans. In his letter Stan was writing about his letters before and how Eminem had not replied but we then see it fall of a trolley in the post office explaining the problem to the audience and proving Eminem did not ignore him. Stan also talks about his girlfriend being pregnant and the video cuts to her alone on the bed which tells her that he has isolated himself and left his girlfriend alone in when she is in need of help. The video takes a turn and you see Stan becoming frustrated and angry to by Eminem not replying. and he writes about self harm and you see blood on a magazine. we see Stan and his girlfriend in bed and she then gets up and goes down to the cellar and finds a picture of them but she is covered by a cut out of Eminem this shows he has become obsessed with him. we then see Stan speeding down a highway it the rain screaming into a tape reorder. the stormy weather emphasises the idea that he is not in control and it also portrays his feelings. We see Stan gone mad, he is furious that his idol does not seem to care about him. The quote 'I hope you cant sleep and you dream about it.' suggests that he knows what he is going to do and it makes the viewer sympathise with him. we see cuts to him destroying the cellar, ripping pictures of the wall showing us he has lost his love for Eminem. and also we find out that his pregnant girlfriend is in the boot of the car and we then see him drive into the river. the last few shots of Stan are extremely important as you can see the madness and anger expressed in his face. The video then cuts to Eminem replying to Stan's letter and we find out that he never meant to ignore him and he offers advice and tells Stan to find help,this shows Eminem in a good light as he seems to care about his fan and is concerned for his and his girlfriends well being. but it is too late and, as he continues to write he realises that it is the same person who had driven of the bridge in the news.
There are many controversial parts to this video with suicide, self harm, murder and violence all included but the fact that wee see Eminem trying to stop it means that he is not seen as advertising it but instead as a advocate against it. the video and the lyrics are related and it is almost like a conversation between the two and throughout the lyrics are spoken by the person on screen. You can identify relationships with the lyrics and visuals throughout the video, for example wen he talks about meeting Eminem at a signing you can see it happening and also when he is driving the lyrics say 'I'm in a car right now, I'm doing 90 on the freeway'.There are examples where the video cuts to the beat of the music. However the video does not show any pacific instruments being played.
The company intend to sell the track as a message to his fans and shows Eminem against the things you see in the video such as self harm.
The video does not have many sexual connotations and does not try and sell the artist as a sex symbol instead it has a more serious tone and try's to put a message across. The camera work and costume again does not portray any sexuality. instead the lighting and mise en scene work to show Stan in a grotty house proving that his obsession has had a negative impact on his life, the dark lighting help to portray this.
Compared to other Eminem's videos this one differs as he is not the main character instead it is about someone else where as in most of his songs it is a narrative of his own life. however some think that his life experiences influenced this song as his Uncle Ronnie also committed suicide which is mentioned in the song.
There are lots of cuts and changes of time for example when he is writing about meeting Eminem the video cuts to the when it happened also when he asks why he never replied to him it cuts to the letter falling of the trolley at the post office. These are all examples of an ellipses of time.
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