Scott Mescudi, better known as Kid Cudi is a record producer under the G.O.O.D record label. The song Pursuit of Happiness has two music videos. The one I am going to analyse is the Megaforce version, which is the one I most, prefers and seems to fit the style of music much more. The entire music video is based around being trapped, either physically or mentally. At the beginning Cudi Is trying to get up but the illusion of hitting the sofa is repeated throughout, this connotes that he may be dreaming and the music video is about what’s going on through his mind. The lyrics “I’m on the pursuit of happiness” tells me that he is trying to escape what he is going through and the fact that he is trapped and restricted to the room emphasises that.
There is also two parts where he tries to climb out of the window but another illusion is apparent where there is a projection out of a window showing a road as it looks like Cudi is hanging off the ledge. The second one is where he is trying to climb out another window and as he is going through he falls back onto the sofa. After he falls onto he starts floating, this connotes that he is in some sort of mental state allowing these illusions to take place and work well with the song.
There are scenes, which are quite odd and match the theme of being in a dream state.
The illusions that take place emphasise the notion of looking on several occasions, these force you to look at certain things on the screen when they take place. One example would be where he goes to take a drink of milk and we are focusing on it as the illusion of drinking it sideways occurs. This is also the case for the sofa, on numerous occasions we are attracted to looking at the sofa because it has a big meaning in this music video.
The video is around 60% Conceptual, 30% Narrative and 10% Performance. I feel there is little performance because the only parts of it being apparent is when he is singing along but the rest of the music video has a conceptual narrative behind it and is telling a sort of story of escaping.
Most of Kid Cudi's music videos are narrative based but the lyrics of these songs allow them to have a conceptual meaning.
Towards the end he is surrounded by weird figures which clearly are part of his imagination, this connotes that these figures mean something in his life and are part of his usual routine of life and is trying to escape them. You can see him push past some of these figures showing his disregard for them.
This music video is an alternate to the original, it has a much different meaning and has helped me understand the different ways a set of lyrics can create and enhance music videos.
The music video has a lot of techniques which I can apply to my music video.
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