We decided to do a detailed analysis of "Snoop Dogg - Vato" to assist us with the preparation and production of our music video. The video begins with Snoop Dogg narrating the story with a panning shot and then moves to him using a voice over whilst also being the main protagonist. As he speaking, in the story he is approached by 4 men in full black clothing, black caps and we are unable to see there faces. This is a typical stereotype for gangsters as they are seen around the world to wear black clothing and are in groups. A handheld camera is used to add effect and is taken from various angles and combined to create the feeling of a real life situation. A new man slowly driving past in his car is introduced into video and he is sitting back in his seat relaxed, with 1 hand on the steering wheel and the other hand on the passenger seat. This possibly implies that he is a friend or knows who the protagonist is. The next shot is a point of view shot of the second actor and intends to show him driving right past.
As the protagonist opens the trunk the “gangsters” run away and the beat kicks in and Snoop Dogg starts to rap and continue the story. This indicates that he possibly displayed a gun which was in the trunk and this is what caused the 4 men to run. The protagonist refers to the men as “ lil’ G’s ” showing that he just thinks of them as “wannabe gangsters”. Whilst the men run for their lives as soon as they see danger, the protagonist coolly walks down the street without breaking a sweat. A close up of his face clearly showing his ear studs is followed by a upper body shot of him spinning his medallion whilst he is also wearing a watch and rings. This is another association given to gangsters as they are almost always shown to be wearing bling.
The next scene is showing Snoop Dogg catching up with one of the guys and attacking him, which causes him to fall. This is all a bit theatrical as he was only walking whilst the man was running yet he has already been chased down, this could be symbolizing the power of Snoop Dogg. There is then a crosscut between the violence of the protagonist and the 2nd actor, taking his eyes away from the road and turning around to look at the protagonist whilst frowning. This could be emphasizing the possible disapproval of the violence shown towards the man.
The second actor is then shown to be meeting with friends of his whilst they are playing a game. His presence disrupts their game, which could be showing a sense of respect for him and he starts to narrate the story so far. A number of shots from different angles portrays him as the focus of the camera as he begins to rap and the protagonist also utters a few words in agreement. Although he was just in the camera for a few seconds, the protagonist clearly shows his confidence by coming up to camera. As the 2nd actor brings the story up to date a parody is used to mock a real gunshot as it is exaggerated in a cartoon like manner. As the man is hit, there is a very quick stop motion image of him with his hands up and falling to imply that he has been hit. A close up of the protagonists is then shown as he is talking to the man saying, “ run, duck… ”. His face shows complete calmness and no distress although after having just shot a man. This could be showing the possibility that this is not the first time this has happened.
As he moves on to the next man, he is shown to be again walking with the added effect of slow motion using transitional effects whilst the other man is running. This displays the contrasting moods between the 2 with the man showing a sense of anxiety whilst calm and emotionless whilst also having a intimidating presence. Again chasing the man down and shooting him he moves onto the next one and catches him whilst the video is in slow motion again and shoots him. This scene implies the criminal activities of the protagonist that he could kill people with such ease and without any difficulty.
As he resumes rapping he displays a slight regret of the shootings although it is not significant, and is then picked up by a friend. The protagonist is then shown running which for the first time in the implies a sense of urgency to escape the scene of the crime although he is then shown smiling with his friend in the car. In his lyrics he then says he is going to visit his mother, however police are seen patrolling outside his house, possibly hinting that any sign of criminal activity and the protagonist is the initial suspect, which further shows his role as a gangster. Other youths “gangsters”, are then shown running with the added effect of a handheld camera, while the protagonist is just shown relaxed and chilled out with his back to a wall.
Following this the second actor is shown again narrating the story to another one of his friends from the start through his rapping. A clip of the two actors is now seen as they are rapping together, and when the theatrical gunshot is heard. The words are shown literally coming out of the protagonist’s mouth letter by letter and enlarging as they come out. The protagonist is now shown in a dark room and then a man behind a glass window appears. This could mean he has been arrested and is now in jail, and for one of the first times in the video the protagonist’s eyes show a sense of fear. However almost straight away after this, he is seen with a group of vast amount of black people both male and female, which could be attempting to show he is part of a gang or has a lot of friends with connections. The other actor is then shown standing opposite, similarly to the protagonist, but the people standing with him are of white or Mexican descent. There is then a low angle shot showing both actors with their gangs and a war or fight looks inevitable. But the two actors then shake hands as if they are friends. They then for the first time begin rapping and dancing together in the same scene with their respective groups.
The scene once again reverts to the original scene of the protagonist being surrounded by the men and opening the trunk. The use of images is used again in the chorus referring to the theatrical gunshot, and the protagonist is seen smoking a Cuban cigar, which again is a stereotype of a gangster, as it is believed they lead lush lifestyles and are rich. A new member is then seen with the protagonist hinting that in real life he may be a part of his “crew”, or is a friend of his. The prison scene is then resumed as the soundtrack of the song ends, and a shot reverse shot and a close up of the protagonist and the police officer is shown. The two characters exchange a couple of words and an over-the-shoulder shot is shown to great effect as the protagonist gets up. The video then fades out to black and leaves us at a cliffhanger.
Through the analysis we have written and through elaborating between us we understood that the video is both a narrative and performance video and there is no disjuncture is involved, as throughout the video the video is seen acting in the scene and immediately after this is seen rapping at a different location. The scenes occurring in the video are also relevant to the lyrics due to the fact that as the story unfolds, we become more involved with the video. The performance of the actors is also incredibly important, as when they are narrating, their lip-syncing must be perfect and a variety of different shots are used. As previously mentioned the editing of the video involves very quick cuts, which is not unusual for videos in the Hip-hop/Gangster Rap industry
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