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A Visual Analysis of “Runaway” Video by Kanye West
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Introduction
The Music video by Kanye West, Runaway (West, 2010) is one of actual few illustrations of a
music video that incorporates hip-hop music with an art house movie style. This is offered in the
video via several diverse discursive features, which can be scrutinized in gravity by means of
both affect and visual analysis. Visual analysis provides the chance to analyze the technique
elements such as sound, imagery, practical and compositional elements converge to shape the
work and put forward several relationships within and beyond the text.. On the other hand, even
though these broad practices have their strong point, they also have their flaws, and possibly in
some places, gender and content analysis may also be valid. It is also vital to talk over the target
viewers of the work, in this case video, as its diverse and widespread nature has an influence on
the way the video could be acknowledged.
Visual Analysis
Visual analysis may be carried out by observing sensory and visual facets of a video, for instance
the noticeable features, sign systems, compositional features, as well as relationships for the
watcher advocated by these features. The initial item the watcher grasps of the video are a
considerably high angle shot where we cannot entirely work out anything in the shot, except a
table on the right hand side of the setting. Kanye West then walks away from the table and
strides over to the item in the front, which is a piano, and begins to play it. This opening action is
important, as it reveals who the leading character of the video, who we had better pay courtesy
to. The musical component of the video is as well conveyed here, as the piano notes played by
the man form part of the song.
Other striking features, such as the tone, vibrant colors of the video, mysterious setting and,
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lighting all assist to change the initial anonymous into intrigue, instead of confusion.
Compositional features such as camera movement, angles, pacing, framing, direction of gaze,
costume, color, and the soundscape is equally essential within the video, and advocate several
relationships to the watcher. The framing and shot used are tremendously artistic and very
composed. There is a certain balance to each shot, and the watcher acquires the imprint that there
has been a remarkable extent of caution taken so as to make each shot picture-perfect. The lively
colors of the background, and the use of disparity between white and black in the outfits,
complement the artistic texture of the video. This difference is also replicated in the background,
with the neglected warehouse and its derelict concrete floors and corrugated iron walls
entertaining a glitzy dinner gathering and a spontaneous ballet show.
The Camera movement is also significant, as it provides the watcher a role to play, and in this
instance it is the basically the viewer. The camera takes various positions and repeatedly displays
the action from an upper angle, providing the viewer an excellent viewpoint. The action
contained in the video is continuous, and the camera work reveals this, hardly ever stopping for a
static shot. In its place, it elects to weave in and out of the dinner guests, ballerinas and Kanye
West himself, cutting in the middle of several diverse positions and angles. When there is a static
shot, it is either of Kanye West’s vibrant face as he performs, or of the wildly dancing ballerinas
near the end, with small slow motion emphasizing the gentle movements of their own body form.
The sound scape is similarly subtle, with the refined echoes on the initial footsteps and piano
notes, inserting the watcher in the precise location of the camera.
Not one person in the video stares straight down the camera, signifying that the persons
within the video are in a realistic environment, and that we are simply voyeurs. The speed of the
video works concurrently with the speed and structure of the track. It is sluggishly paced in
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general, but in a scrupulous style instead of a dull one, and this meticulous style highlights the
feeling and meaning of the song. Although the video lacks a narrative, the sound and images are
an impeccable match artistically, and usage of a ballet as a physical illustration of the song’s
features generates a symbolic link between imagery and sound. These features all come together
to propose that while we as the watcher have a mystical point of outlook, Kanye West is still
entirely in control and still the commanding voice.. This is a directed tour of Kanye West, and to
those unfamiliar with him, it is evident that the guy playing the piano has thorough control of all
we hear or see.
A huge number of music videos are produced to describe the image established on the lyrics.
Music videos are intended to drill through messages that may not be conversed merely with
words. Comparable to some further videos, “Lose Yourself” by Eminem is a controversial video,
revealing everything the artiste really thought of when composing the track. Although for a few
individuals, music might not seem the technique to learn a number of specifics, Eminem’s video
is extremely explicit and it suggests an important identifying trait that other videos do not
emphasize.
The ‘Runaway’ video by Kanye West goes in contrast to the stereotypes of the Hip Hop music
video, the mis-en-scène of ballet performers are typically connected to classical compositions.
Nonetheless, they are used to replicate the music’s atmosphere; the intricacy of the choreography
shows the artistic veracity of corresponding hip hop and ballet which would not generally
be linked with one another. The modest background wards of the attention to choreography.
Runaway’s target viewers is a diverse audience to define, as it covers a lot of diverse
demographics. The most straightforward target viewers for Runaway would be previous admirers
of Kanye West’s music. Kanye West’s music and ventures into extra art forms such as fashion
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and film are acknowledged to push frontiers and distort genre differences, and the course of
West’s film might similarly draw enthusiasts of independent film and art house. The hip-hop art
movie Runaway is a textbook illustration of this, with its conflicting images of phoenixes,
Lamborghinis, ballerinas and neglected warehouses, started with a soundtrack that acquires
inspirations from hardcore hip hop music group Mobb Deep and the inventors of progressive
music Pink Floyd – in unison. These permutations and divergences, producing a music video that
is available to individuals from both limits, leaving Runaway with massive and diverse viewers.
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