MUSIC VIDEO ANALYSIS KANYE WESTHEARTLESS WHY I CHOSE

MUSIC VIDEO ANALYSIS KANYE WEST-HEARTLESS

WHY I CHOSE THE VIDEO • I personally enjoy this video for a number of reasons, in particular the aesthetic and creative nature of the design • The animation is unique, especially for the genre of music that Kanye West creates (hip-hop) • It involves a story/tale that can be enticing and interesting for the listener/viewer • Incidentally it contains a lot of post-modern elements and American culture references

POSTMODERNISMSURREALISM/UNREALIST IC ELEMENTS/STORY STRUCTURE • The video for ‘Heartless’ cleverly mixes both aspects of realism within it’s story and also a fantasy like structure, where the character depicting Kanye is thinking about women in his life that have ended up causing a lot of pain • Ultimately the story suggests a ‘altered state’ or a fantasy rather than a clear representation of the character’s reality • These fantasy like elements add a certain surrealism to the video as well as exaggerating the confused mindset of the character depicted. If the person watching does not necessarily understand the structure or overtly understand the situation, the viewer might assume the same of the character depicted • The cartoonish/unrealistic design also provides the video with a nice artistic effect; the world depicted is more stylised than any location or city within the real world (maybe)

POSTMODERNISMHYBRIDITY • The video aesthetically owes itself to the cartoon/animation of artist/director Ralph Bakshi • His film ‘American Pop’ (1981) was the inspiration for the both Kanye West and the director of ‘Heartless’ Hype Williams • As well as this being a artistic choice, both the video ‘Heartless’ and ‘American Pop’ share a story in which the protagonist has issues with women and life obstacles • It as well influences the mood of the story. The noire-like depiction of a city exaggerates the darkness of the protagonists’ mood as well as highlighting the words connected to Kanye’s state of mind ‘American Pop’ ‘Heartless’

POSTMODERNISMINTERTEXTUAL REFERENCES In addition to the hybridity of cartoon animation with a story/hip hop format created by Kanye West, both him and the director Hype Williams added images of significant aspects of American culture and artistic culture (pastiche elements) • ‘The Jetsons’, a 1960 s American primetime cartoon series, is shown through artwork within the house belonging to Kanye West in ‘Heartless. ’ ‘The Jestons’ was created by Hanna-Barbera the same company that made ‘The Flintstones, ’ The idea of ‘The Jestons’ was to contrast the stone age setting of ‘The Flintstones’ with a futuristic utopia surrounding • As well as this, other images in the house include a picture of the famous ‘ 32 Campbell's Soup Cans’ piece of art created by Andy Warhol, one of the most famous artists and pieces of art in the 20 th century • These are symbolic references to revolutionary art, Hanna-Barbera, Andy Warhol and the cartoon’s created by Ralph Bakshi were all artists/art pieces that made significant impacts in terms of artistry in the 20 th century. This video is a homage to the iconic status that these artists have gained • Again, it adds a more stylistic element as well