Lost Ones was a song created by J Cole in 2008 including a music video which was released on his debut album “Cold World: The Sideline Story”. The song is in tribute to abortions that have occurred and the song has been made to send out awareness for unprotected sex and to young relationships.
Mise en scene
The establishing shot is a close up shot of a woman crying. This shot sets the tone and the mood of the music video. Followed by a medium shot of J Cole on a roof of a building. The discussion between J Cole and the female character (girlfriend) is based in an apartment. Between the girlfriend’s and J Cole’s clothing there is a big contrast that reflects the character they are. For example, J Cole is wearing 3 different layers which could symbolise him not being in the apartment much and may symbolise the fact that he isn’t in the apartment much shows he works a lot. However, the girlfriend is only wearing a jumper and shorts which shows that she doesn’t work. Furthermore, the wet makeup shows that the girlfriend has been crying a lot and is distraught due to the situation, however the man isn’t showing much physical emotions. This is a stereotype which has been used to represent a relationship where the male doesn’t show emotions to hide the fact he’s upset to seem weak however the woman is extremely emotional and unstable at that time. A medium shot is used which establishes the apartment showing two radiators which symbolises the fact that they don’t have much money due to the lack of furniture. Another shot that is used reveals the outside of the apartment which is of another building, this tells us they may lie in a downtown area with many buildings and low-end apartments. Throughout the music video, a spotlight is used on both people on their narrated verses to show their emotions and the ability to get their point across.The next setting is in a playground with a father and a son, this is a representation of the memories that J Cole has when his girlfriend talks about his dad leaving his mum when he was born and relating it to their situation. The gate between the dad and the son shows the broken relationship which has been made by the dad as he walks away from the child. This is the graphically matched with J Cole as he walks away from his girlfriend. J Cole then walks past the same park and looks into the park and shows the facial expressions of thinking. He then looks back which tells the audience two stories, he went back to her or he continued walking.
Sound
In the music video there is only diegetic sound and non-diegetic sound used. The diegetic sound used is the lyrics which is seen through J Cole singing and rapping, however it is also portrayed through the characters. The non-diegetic sound is the instrumental.
Camera
In the video, there are various of camera shots used, however they have been used to help tell the story. For example, many tracking shots are used within the verse to show the emotions between the female and the male characters to show contrast. Furthermore, close ups and extreme close ups are used to represent those emotions and support the emotions shown. Furthermore, medium shots are used to establish the settings and to involve both characters in the frame to represent both their significance and importance.
Editing
Editing is these types of music videos aren’t heavily sued due to the fact of the style. The music video is like a short story and the rapper is the narrator telling the audience the story with his song but using visuals to support it as well.
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