'Stan' (Eminem) Analysis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahZgsNvVA4I

Editing

• Straight cuts during introductory sequence
• Fades to and from black as scene goes between Eminem and Stan’s girlfriend – reflects changes in location
• Cross cutting between Stan writing letters and Eminem reading them – shows Eminem’s reactions
• Lots of quick fades to and from black

Lighting

• Ambient - realism
• Low lit – dark lyrics and themes of song

Colour

• Green-ish bathroom - unclean, grimy
• Green-ish tint on shots in apartment – lower class/poorer surroundings

Mise-en-scene

• Bathroom (mould and peeling paint) – grimy
• Thunder, lightning and rain – horror movie-esque, linked to dark nature of the song
• Basement (pictures of Eminem everywhere) – depicts Stan’s obsession, linked to lyrics when he says “I got a room full of your posters and your pictures, man”
• Night – linking to dark themes in the song
• Cheap looking wallpaper in kitchen of apartment – lower class

Camera Framing and Movement

• Lots of MCUs of Stan as he’s writing
• Horizontal tracks (almost in a circular type movement)
• Vertical tracks from bedroom down to basement
• BCU of Stan’s girlfriend’s face – shows concern/worry
• Frame within a frame when Stan’s in the car – voyeuristic appearance
• Shots of Stan in car mirror – emphasises emotion in eyes

Costume

• Stan (trying to look more like Eminem):
  o Bleached blonde hair
  o White vest
  o White T-Shirt
• Stan’s girlfriend:
  o Blue robe
  o Blue vest
  o Shorts/Stan’s boxers?
• Eminem:
  o White T-Shirt – same as the one Stan was wearing earlier

SFX

• Car falling into river
• Rain
• Lightning flash at the end and image of Stan appears in Eminem’s window

REPRESENTATION

• Stan:
  o Obsessive - pictures of Eminem in basement, dyes hair to look like Eminem
  o Aggressive - shouting at girlfriend
  o Mentally unstable - obsessive traits, self harming
  o Bisexual/homosexual – pregnant girlfriend but says that him and Eminem should “Be together”
• Stan’s girlfriend
  o Helpless – can’t stop Stan, gets put in the trunk of a car
  o Worried/scared – looks around Stan’s basement filled with Eminem pictures
• Eminem
  o Concerned – replies to Stan’s letters (even though they’re a bit weird and scary)

NARRATIVE

• Lyrics telling a story
• Deranged Eminem fan writing letters to Eminem – “Dear Slim”, writing sound effects
• Narrative told through 4 verses:
  1st verse – Stan’s 3rd letter to Eminem, explains how big a fan he is
  2nd verse – Stan’s letter to Eminem, he’s becoming annoyed that Eminem hasn’t replied to his letters (shown through tone of voice when rapping and also the actor in the video’s facial expressions)
  3rd verse – Stan’s voice recorded ‘letter’ to Eminem. Stan appears to have lost his mind by this point, and he’s about to drive off a bridge with his pregnant girlfriend in the trunk of the car.
  4th verse – Eminem’s late reply to Stan. Apologises for taking so long to write, then suggests that Stan gets some counselling etc, realises that Stan is the person he’s just seen a news report about
• Video is narrative and performance based. The narrative is often put across through the performance.
• Pause in lyrics to show Stan’s car falling into the river – emphasises how drastic Stan’s actions are
• Illustrative relationship between lyrics and visuals

Intertextual references: (found with the help of Wikipedia)
Many references within the lyrics to other Eminem tracks. Examples include:

• “underground shit that you did with Skam” – ‘Old World Disorder’
• Stan saying he’s going to name his daughter Bonnie – reference to ‘'97 Bonnie and Clyde’
• “I drank a fifth of vodka, you dare me to drive?" - quoting ‘My Name Is’

References to Eminem’s life:

• “I never knew my father neither/He used to always cheat on my mom and beat her” [in longer version of the song] – Stan explaining similarities between himself and Eminem
• “I read about your Uncle Ronnie too, I'm sorry”
  

GENRE

• Hip hop
• Rap

AUDIENCE

• Hip hop fans
• Eminem/Dido fans
• Male (most likely)
• Teenagers/early 20s