Music Video Observation/Reflection

Observation 

The music video that I chose to post is by Kanye West and the song is titled, "Champion".  The whole premise of the video is that Kanye West is a champion and the video uses some interesting methods to prove this point and create the hybrid text.  The first and undoubtedly most obvious construction of the video was its use of audio-visual interactions.  These interactions seem ordinary in the first 30 seconds of the video because the audience sees a man and hears the same man but when the Kanye West character is introduced the audience sees a puppet and hears Kanye West.  The puppet is an interesting prop used the video and I believed that is was employed to its full potential in the video.  It is personified to look like Mr. West and it is the main contributor of comedy to the video.  The puppet greatly adds to the satire of the Olympics and the idea of being a champion.  The lighting is great in the video.  When the puppet makes the tunnel walk it is dark and then he walks out into the blinding light and cheering crowds.  When there is a moment of strife or perseverance the light is low and ominous. The moments of success are illuminated brightly giving the moment a sense of accomplishment.  The dialogue in the beginning helps set up the story but when the actual song starts the lyrics no longer specifically pertain to the story of the video.  I like this pattern because  there are moment in the song where the lyrics and the video seem to match up and then there are moment that seem to give a prequel of the story.  For example there is a point in the song where Kanye West is talking about growing up in a poor family but his family isn't visually represented in the video but this fact only adds to the glorious victory at the end.

Reflection

The video "Champion" really is a great story.  It's about a man who grew up with a simple life but then made it big and now that he has the time and money he wants to go after his true dream of becoming an international champion sprinter.  That exact dream probably won't pertain to anyone but I think the concept of shooting for the stars and chasing down your dreams can apply to anyone and everyone.  I know that I have some pretty ambitious goals for myself but I'm going to try my best to achieve those goals.  I would love to live in a big house surrounded by 50+ acres of land outside of Lincoln but unfortunately I just don't have that kind of money so I'm going to have to set new goals to get to the big goal.  One of those goals is getting into medical school.  So I guess my point is that this video is really about achieving your goals and you don't need to be a world-class sprinter to do that

Jeremy B