HamletMachine 2.0: Analysis of Runaway by Kanye West

Directed by Kanye West

The storyline is very simple, a man falls for a Phoenix/woman who falls from the skies. in their relationship the songs seem to show stages of their relationship, till it finally ends.

Another interesting very cinematic video, the structure of every scene is like every other video I have reviewed, beautiful, I love the filter work with the scenes in the video and also the placing of the music, really shows the story line and help the flow, this makes me think on what I music I want to do and how I want to do it.

Video analysis

The story begins with a foreshadow of the end, where we see Kanye West seen running down the road in the woods in a desperate sprint, towards something, then a shot to the sky where there is a comet hurling across the sky the voice over that seems to begin. The title of the video shows the start of the music and the story. We are still in the woods, the cinematic feel of the whole seen very dawn like, in an unknown time, since it seems misty yet bright,

We then see a man driving a car through the woods we see that’s its Kanye West due to him singing along in the rear view mirror but we don’t see his full face, then as the comet crashes we then see a silhouette of him carrying a woman in the foreground of an explosion. Then we are introduced to the woman, as she wakes up to the TV she is a bird/ human thing and at seems to be interested in the TV until Kanye West switches it off and we first fully see him.

Narritive

The story in the video is told mainly by song, but unlike Hurricane there aren’t voice overs throughout the video but only at the beginning and then the characters have a few words but there isn't that much conversation except when he has a conversation with the woman.

telling the story this way makes it feel real time, even though it was voiced over, as it has conversations we get to see the character interact with another without it being very detached, because voice over’s either show thought or memory. The songs seem to narrate enough for the story to not have a lot of speech.

Genre

The Film is very long and the story line down not abruptly change, it is a fantasy in the sense of the storyline, and the character of the Pheonix.It is also a short film that has a very awkward and modern feel. That I would watch on a daily basis because I like indie feel films, the awkward silences broken with sudden noises or the other way around is very beautifully used and keeps the story interesting. the music has its own part, so i can section of a bit of the video with a song and used it like a music video. each music video tied in by a scene that flows into the next section. The colour scheme is also something i enjoyed in the film, it was very appealing to the eye and set the mood for the scene. some of the scenes remind me of a comic book shot, earlier on with the Phoenix in the sky and also when theres an explosion behind him and he is walking away.

Representation

The representation of the video isn't the commonly stereo typed hip hop video, where the rapper wears gold thick gold chains and baggy pants, and shows the violence of the streets or where multiple scantily clad girls dance in front of the camera, this is more on a love story, the only girl who we focus on is the Phoenix and everything done isn't trashy or outrageous. she is represented as being a goddess, another being who is loved by the rapper but then leaves. And Kanye West is represented as rich man who is alone.

Audience

The audience of the video is into the genre of music that the artist does, i don't think a person who is into rock or other things would watch or enjoy the film with its heavy soundtrack as much as a person who is into the genre. the music taken away would leave it with almost like a silent movie feel, and the audience would completely change without the music. The audience watching the video aren't very aggressively gangster or into that type of fashion or view. The audience seems a lot more modern and a mix between succeeder, for example people who have status and control and people who aspire to be and who by the labels

opening sequence

Foreshadowing.
In the beginning of the video we first see the character running.

Then the title of the video

Although short the short the opening of the video begins with a story that has already happened it grabs the audience in to actually follow it, from the beginning

We are first shown a comet hurtling down

then the establishing shot of the woods with the car

the tracking shot following the car maintaining intres in it.as we get closer to it.

the person in the drivers seat cannot be seen fully but we can see his mouth in the rear view this shot establishes that he is the artist as he is rapping to the music

shot of deer in the words brings back the indexical signs to the video approaching the mood and atmosphere.

Then we are shown the impending danger hurtling towards us, the low angle shot makes you feel antsy as it is coming towards the screen.

we are then shown the car moving past the trees

the impending danger comming close, with a panning shot from the ground to thew sky as a POV of the car moving towrads it.

the relaxed deers un aware of the danger

another shot through the woods at the car and the comet as they collide but before it does its a black out with the audio on

when we return we see the damage camera moving in

then tracking the character getting out of the car and moving to towards the person on the ground.

even though we still don't really have an established character we are introduced to this Phoenix, in birds eye panning away from her revealing her slowly to the audience

Then a the shadow of the characters walking away

Todorov's theory and repetition

In this video the begin and end of the story are mostly repeated for fimilarity and also to show the difference

The Phoenix in the garden

Our character watching her.

In the beginning of the film we see this shot where our character observes the Phoenix interact with the animals in the garden, seeming eager and childlike in her fascination, then it cuts to our character who watches her.

the phoenix now sad is in the garden

our character watches

This repetition of distance reminds the audience of the once happy Phoenix and also of the distance being caused by something else, communication limited they show the works of their relationship with distances in scenes and places, her being outside while he is inside but watching over her, the same way he did before.

panning and shots

The Video pans in the point of view of our character as he walks along the glass.

then its matched by the Phoenix outside by her gaze and also the video pans over her shoulder.

symmetrically this series of shots also catch my attention as we go from a close up shot to a wide shot to a point of view,

the series of shots begins with the Phoenix playing with the teacups.

then we are shown the whole picture of the character observing

then its a point of view shot when she looks at him.

Beginning VS Ending

to place the story and weave all together the story comes back full circle, but with almost the same shots to bring home the sense of it all coming back to the start and the start coming back to the finish.