Genre Research: Rap

Lose yourself by Eminem is a rap song which portrays our main character as someone from a ethnic minority trying to start a career by competing in rap battles, in order to give his family a better life. We see run down areas of where he lives and where he competes, which gives the audience sympathy for him as the run down areas would give the audience the idea that the location could contain a lot of crime and underground gangs. The video does not really illustrate the lyrics, however the lyrics match the narrative. An example of this is when he is singing that he has vomit on his sweater and we see him throwing up in a run down cubical. The location is supposed to be set in a urban but a specifically 'rough' area. This is because the character is based of Eminem who grew up in these urban like conditions and made it to what he is today.

There are a lot of establishing shots of the area that he is living in, to emphasise that the location and make the audience think further of what his living conditions are like, making the audience feel sympathy for him and his family in the music video. However, there are not many camera shots or compositions. This is because the handheld camerawork gives the music video 'unprofessional' vibe. This emphasises the poor society that the music video takes place in.

I think that the target audience would be at a young age between 16-25. The reason why I say 16 instead of 18 is because the music video targets American Youngsters who have just left school, to give them an insight of what living in a poor society is like. The music video is suppose to influence the audience, telling them that they only have 'One Shot, do not miss your chance to blow'. There are links between the lyrics and the video, matching some of the points within the Goodwin's Theory. There are also many close-ups of Eminem to show many of his emotions throughout the video, whether them being sad, depressed, angry or enthusiastic. An example of this is when he is looking through the mirror at himself.