Holy Grail - JAY Z Feat. Justin Timberlake

I chose to analyse this music video as it was in the same genre as mine which is an R&B, Hip Hop cross.

The video starts with some small lights shining in the darkness like fireflies, this reflects a convention of the genre where there is usually a dark setting with the artist or artists being the light in the center.
The're is then a series of jump cutting montage edits to the artist rapping in different locations in a dark abandoned mansion, this all happens when the beat kicks in which is another convention to have the edits faster in parellel style to the music, getting faster when the music is faster, the sound reflects the edits in a different way to which shows on most of the beats in the song an edit happens which is a convention of the genre and music videos as a whole. As i mentioned earlier was a convention, this music video uses strobe lighting in a dim lit room, flashing on the artist which could represent paparazzi taking pictures of him and him being in the spotlight. The edits then slow right down when a diegetic sound of Mike Tyson's fight is on TV with the artist watching it, the slow edits again reflect the pace of music which at this point comes to a halt.

The artist is shown in full in a number of edits, the mise-en-scene shows him in a black shirt and all black trousers and shoes with a large gold chain round his neck which can show his wealth and power in society which stands as a convention in the genre of the men being all about the money and power in contrast to women seen a sexualised objects. In the set there are large stacks of money which again backs up the genre. In the setting the are also some small statues of a pillar with a head on it which has connotations of ancient Greece and the power which was abundant there are also a set of lights around a mirror which also has connotations of stardom and celebraties. The other artist has a similar outfit on with also a blazer on as well, he also has jewellery in the for of a smaller more discrete chain.

The cinematography is mainly mid shots where you can see the artists faces and there upper body for example at 3:14 where you see the artist in a mirror with the lights around it this suggests his celebrity status by the connotations of light bulbs around a mirror. There is also allot of extreme close ups of the artists face like at 3:28, this could be to suggest his emotions in the video and show to the audience what he is feeling.

There is no clear narrative in this music video which is a convention of this genre of music video, they are usually just about style. However what it represents has links to the genre conventions, the genre seems to state that showing the style and money the artists have is the way to go, and what the audience should aspire too.