Research into similar Media texts Music Videos

Aerosmith ft Run DMC - Walk This Way


When the song was released it was very different to every other song; it combined two very different genres of music into one song, Aerosmith were a very popular rock band and Run DMC were a very popular Rap group, when the two joined it was very unexpected because they were the opposite of each other, this is highlighted right at the start of the video by the split shot of both sides of a wall, on one side Aerosmith are playing their guitars and on the other Run DMC are shouting at them to turn it down, this shows the contrast between the two bands and almost indicates that they are rivals.



Just as Aerosmith are about to start singing their song in one room Run DMC start singing it instead in their room but they do it in a rap style, you can see Aerosmith are shocked by this as the camera gets a close up shot of the lead singers face and the band stop playing, they get angry and start throwing things at the wall which was typical of this rock band anyway however it tells the reader that there is a definite conflict at the start between the two groups. There is a smokiness in both of the rooms and posters on the walls which indicates that they are either in a small run down venue or in a flat, this contrasts to the second part of the video where they are playing on a big stage in front of lots of fans.
One great shot in the video is when the lead singer of Aerosmith breaks through the wall with his microphone stand and starts singing along to the chorus of the song, the whole in the wall that he came through could represent him breaking the barrior between the two genres of music, it also looks like he has come from a completely different world; the bright light behind him and his big shaggy hair along with the high pitch of his voice really contrast with the darker room that Run DMC are in and their deep tone of voice and all black suits and hats.
There is another very clever shot after that in which another member of Aerosmith pokes his head through the whole in the wall from his room and then when he reappears out of the hole the room has completely changed into a big stage with lots of big stage lights and all of Aerosmith are playing on it. This image contrasts with where the band were originally playing and shows that the band are more famous that the video made out at the beginning, the red lights in the background and the costumes of the band all indicate that Aerosmith are a successful rock band, the open top and tight pants of the lead singer were a trademark outfit for him throughout the bands career. The long microphone is also a stereotypical instrument for a band of this genre, likewise the big guitar with the pointy end on it and the shaggy hair of each member of the band. This all contrasts with Run DMC when they come on stage, which highlights the difference between the genres of rock and hip hop. Run DMC have a much more relaxed manner and the matching suits with the black hats are all demonstrations of how the costumes of the two bands separate them into different genres. The main trademark item of clothing for Run DMC is the Adidas trainers with no laces in them, the importance of them is highlighted by the close up of the shoes when the group are on stage, they are tapping along to the hip
hop beat, whereas Aerosmith are dancing more to the sound of the electric guitar.

The main Narrative of the video is the “coming together” of the two bands, at first they seem like rivals and are competing against each other however towards the end of the video it is made clear that they have joined together and are no longer trying to out do each other, the shot of the lead singer of Aerosmith singing with a member of Run DMC either side of him shows the bond that has been made between the two bands, and that the genre of rock can be mixed with hip hop and sound good. This means that the target audience of the two videos could either be rock fans or hip hop fans, I think the age of the target audience would have been for the younger generation because neither rock or hip hop would have appealed as much to older people. The audience could be either male or female; in the crowd there are a mixture of both genders which could be because of the difference between the two bands, because Aerosmith was attractive to females whereas Run DMC was predominantly listened to by males.