Music video analysis media

Wiley – Cash In My PocketRap

Editing

Camera Work

Mise-en-scene

Construction/ContentThe video is predominantly a continuous shot conveying a performance from the staff at a large bank in London dancing and singing in the middle of an average day of the week. It links to the concept of the actual song which is about making money perhaps why the director chose to make his concept a one take continuous shot of staff performing to the camera.

Self shot used at the beginning to convey two people (probably bankers) in a nice car driving around the centre of London passing the iconic ‘Gherkin’. The camera then reverses without a cut to a point of view shot of the building

Main body of the video is a one take, continuous shot of the staff of a bank dancing (performing to the camera)

At the beginning and at the end of the video there is a cut to a ‘home video’ like recording of a wedding reception perhaps signifying that this is found footage tying into the events of the main body of the video displaying a crash in the stock market meaning they have lost a lot of money whilst performing to the camera

Majority of the people in the video are wearing suits showing their association with the bank (the location) as well as conveying this as an average work day (despite the dancing and singing). Also depicts bankers as people who make a lot of/mainly care about money – a possible comment on the state of the finances within Britain. As the stock markets crash at the end the video may be trying to demonstrate and over-exaggeration on bankers not doing their job well and losing the country’s money due to their lack of focus and care as they still end up getting paid anyway.

There is then a rough cut to the wedding which is a long shot of the dance floor+ bride and groom

Self shot at the beginning of the video, from this you can also see the seat of the car which has no roof leading the audience to come to a conclusion that the man is in a convertible which tend to be on the high end of pricing for vehicles

A rough cut to display the footage being taped over something else, also throws the audience off from the start of the video as they are parallel to one another which reinforces this footage previously being lost but now it’s found exposing the over-exaggeration of how the bankers lose the country’s money.

Stock market graph is visible in the back, a key feature in the video as it links the whole video together as to what the director is trying to say through the video due to the camera returning to this part of the building in front of the same screen but with a different result on the stock market graph.

Medium shot of three bankers, this clever screenshot/extract from the video is significant as it somewhat epitomises the whole purpose of the video’s potential meaning. Not only does it convey three white male bankers (playing on a stereotype of bankers in Britain) but also displays them as posh people who mess about and can afford items such as boats (which has been made fun of by the use of a toy boat as a prop).

Symbolic long shot due to the capture of the red telephone boxes being an iconic British trademark, linking to the theme of bankers affecting the British economy and normal civilians (also depicted by the woman less formal clothing pushing the cart)

Adhere, Subvert or Develop?

• I believe Wiley’s Cash in My Pocket video subverts typical conventions of the musical genre that it belongs in (rap) as the concept has rarely been used before especially in the field of rap music videos. The one take idea is very hard to execute and some may argue whether the results are worth the hassle however with Cash in my Pocket there can be no arguments that the message that lies deep within the music video that have been wrapped up into a ‘performance’- which is still undiscovered to many of the general audience, has meaning and could develop music videos in the genre although it has yet to be seen by me, which answers whether it has developed conventions of the music genre.

Verdict

In conclusion I believe this video can be considered a hybrid as it has elements of a performance as the people/actors/workers are dancing and singing for the camera but can be mainly referred to as a conceptual video as it is continuous one take throughout the main body of the video.