Meechy Darko (Meech) - Zombie Juice (Juice/Jewice) - Erick The Architect (Erick)
MRAZ opens with Juice in a supermarket, he is walking directly toward the camera and the camera is tracking away from him.
The song playing in the background is 'More Than A Woman' by The Bee Gees, The Bee Gees smoked c*annabis and The Flatbush ZOMBiES are well known for this also, the song was in the film 'Saturday Night Fever', the inclusion of this song is intertextuality which was one of Goodwin's theories.
We cut to a shot of Juice (0:05) this zooms into an over the shoulder shot of Juice picking up a carton of 'Tropicana' Orange Juice (0:06). We see a shot of Juice walking and then a shot of him at the counter, this then cuts to a mid-shot of Juice turning and starting to walk out of the building (0:11).
Then quickly too a similar shot of him just outside walking and putting his hood up.
We then track Juice in a series of different close-ups and mid-shots as he walks, focusing on different parts of him and shooting from different angles each time it cuts (0:13-0:15).
This whole first portion of the video is edited quite quickly and throughout this scene Juice is wearing a coat by the brand 'Coogi', this is likely an intertextual reference to The Notorious B.I.G who was a famous rapper that the Flatbush ZOMBiES look up to and frequently reference, this fits into Goodwin's theories about music videos as he said that many contain intertextuality.
At 0:15 we see a very quickly edited series of extreme close-up shots of parts of the door moving as Juice unlocks it and then opens it, this is very unique and interesting and is also a recurring part of the music video. This is followed by a mid-shot of Juice walking through the kitchen and then a close up of him getting three glasses out of the cupboard, the sound of the glasses seems to be overdubbed to make them louder and more prominent. We then see Juice put the 'Tropicana' in the glasses, but all three glasses get filled at the same time, this fits in well with the 'trippy' iconography of the band and their sub-genre of rap (Acid Rap/Drug Rap). (0:19) We then see a close-up shot of Juice dropping a liquid (liquid L.S.D) into the drinks (Again with overly-prominent sound effects). In the background we see a box of 'Frooty Loops', which is a popular brand of cereal in America and is popular among 'stoners' and other drug users.
We then see Meech and Juice drink theirs, these are mid-shots. This is followed by Erick saying "Don't f**k with this s**t" (0:22) and putting his glass down. We then see more shots of Juice and Meech drinking. The series of shots of them drinking have very fast editing.
At 0:24 Meech then comes up from the bottom of the screen saying "ooooooohhhh", we see a close-up of his face and then he puts his thumbs up and goes to where Erick's drink was and drinks his.
The editing in the first section of the video is very interesting, there are cuts that only take a very short moment out of the video (for example someone moving) which many people would not bother cutting out but I think this is very interesting and I also think it fits well with the bands 'trippy'/'druggy' star image.
At 0:27 we see the camera track away from Erick, this has been heavily sped up. We then cut to an extreme close-up of Meech's eyes and hear a large bang (0:28), this is supposed to represent the substance 'hitting' him. We then see a series of shots of the camera moving rapidly around the three members of the group which is supposed to represent them becoming high, we also see a close-up shot of a 'joint' being lit in somebody's mouth. These shots are accompanied by music that sounds very heavenly and seems to suggest that getting high is like a religious experience for them.
We then cut to an extreme close-up of a clock on an oven (0:31). The clock reads '6:66', which is, of course, not a real time but fits in with the 'satanic' star image that the Flatbush ZOMBiES (especially Meech) have acquired. This then cuts to 3 close-up shots of the hob being lit, each moving slightly closer which is accompanied by loud clicking and helps draw people in and suggest that the music is about to start(0:31). This is followed by a quickly edited close-up of the flame lighting and then a shot where the camera pulls up from the flame and starts to track Meech as the music starts.
We cut to a close-up shot of Meech standing behind a microphone (0:35) which is followed by a blur and then the same shot but this time overlayed with effects to represent the effects of the drugs he has taken. We then see another short clip of the camera tracking him before cutting to a mid-shot of him rapping into a microphone, this shot also contains similar effects which occur very often throughout the rest of the music video.
We then cut to a tracking shot (0:40) in which the producers credits appear and the shot flickers between an unedited shot and the same shot but inverted and then at 0:42 we see an inverted and mirrored shot of Meech rapping into the microphone. This is followed by a series of shots cutting between Meech performing into the microphone and the tracking shot (the editing here is very fast) but then at 0:55 the songs titled gets overlayed which looks very interesting and helps to make people remember the song as well as giving it the feel of a 1970's cult film (many of which were about illegal substances).
We then see a series of performance shots and close-up shots of Meech being high and doing things like rolling 'joints'(0;57-1:10). When the song changes to a part using a sample of the song 'Mass Appeal' by Gangstarr (1994) the music video turns to black & white (1:10-1:12) which clearly fits into Goodwin saying that the music video relates to the content of the music video as black & white effects have connotations of the past and 'Mass Appeal' is much older than 'MRAZ'.
We then quickly cut between close-up shots of someone (presumably Meech) rolling and then lighting a 'joint', the shot of it being lit is the same one used earlier in the video which could link to the memory loss people experience when under the influence of 'weed'. at 1:17 we see an extreme close-up of Meech's mouth which shows that he is wearing a gold 'grill', this links to the lyric "teeth made of gold" and therefore links to Goodwin who said that Music Videos often have links with the lyrics.
We see a series of interesting close-ups of Meech performing and smoking which are edited very quickly and contain interesting effects as well as an extreme close-up of his face in which an extra eye appears (1:26). Lots of the shots are of Meech smoking which fits in with Goodwin saying that artist develop their own star iconography as the Flatbush ZOMBiES are very often associated with smoking 'weed'.
At 1:46 we see a close-up of Meech's feet as he walks down the stairs, this is then followed by an interesting collection of extreme close-up shots of the components of the door moving as Meech opens it to go outside. These shots of the door are very similar to the ones shown when Juice enters the building earlier in the music video and are also shown multiple times in the rest of the video. One of the most interesting shots of the door is one where the camera is fixed on the door and is pointing at the handle, this causes it to move with the door which is very interesting.
When Meech is outside at 1:48 we see an interesting effect that looks like a glitch on an old TV, this also links to the title card shown at 0:55. We then see some close-up shots of Meech which get inverted and mirrored,he gets Erick from his house and brings him back to the building Meech was rapping in, at 1:53 we see the door effects again and then we see a shot of their feet going up the stairs which is very similar to the shot of Meech walking down the stairs.
We then see a tracking shot of Erick walking through the house, this is very reminiscent of the one of Meech that we see earlier in the video and even contains similar effects.
We see lots of close-up shots and mid-shots of Erick performing which are accompanied by the recurring effects and then at 2:20 we see a high angle shot of Erick sitting by some keyboards which is very fitting as he produced the beat to the song so could therefore fit into what Goodwin said that the music video often relates to the music.
When Erick says "I'm trippy as f**k" (2:50) there is a 'trippy' effect where he seems to leave shadows of himself as he moves, this also fits into Goodwin's theory as it shows a connection between the music video and the lyrics.
At 2:58 Erick and Meech start to leave the house but I think it is very interesting that when they go down the stairs it just plays the clip of them walking up but in reverse, this fits into their 'trippy' star iconography but is also good because small details like this also keep the video fresh and entertaining for longer as most people wouldn't notice this straight away.
We then see the shots of the door again and see them walk outside, this is accompanied by interesting effects again, including an inverted close-up shot of their shoes (3:02) which i think is very interesting.
At 3:04 there is an intertextual reference to the Spike Lee film 'Do the Right Thing' (1989) (this is very postmodern) as it shows the members of Flatbush ZOMBiES sitting outside which looks very similar to a shot from the film.
This links to Goodwin's theory that music videos often contain intertextual references.
At 3:09 we then cut to an inverted mid-shot of the three rappers walking, this is followed by the door shots and another shot of their shoes as they walk up the stairs.
We then see another tracking shot, this time of Juice, 3:23-3:35 Juice raps over the beat from 'Boyz 'N' the Hood' by Eazy-E (1987), this is in black & white just like when Meech raps over the beat from Gangstarr's 'Mass Appeal' (1994) and is an intertextual reference.
When Juice says the line "catch me smoking potent (slang for 'weed'), cuz" we see a close-up of him smoking which shows a connection between the lyrics and the video which links to Goodwin. At 3:53 there is a shot of Juice smoking , this is in slow motion which links to the fact that marijuana is a depressant drug and slows your reactions.
At 4:05 we see a very quick shot of a table, the table contains lots of money which is strong genre iconography as well as lots of 'weed' which is very strongly linked to the Flatbush ZOMBiES' star iconography. There is also a pack of Raw branded rolling papers on the table, Raw is Wiz Khalifa's company and this is therefore an intertextual reference and links to Goodwin's theory.
Throughout Juice's verse there are lots of shots of him smoking, this is part of the whole group's star image but he is the most heavily associated with marijuana out of the three.
At 4:36 we cut to a close-up shot of Erick playing the keyboard for the outro which links to the fact that he is a producer and to the fact that Goodwin says the music links to the music video.
At 4:41 there is an overlay which has a logo similar to the FBI logo and says that the music video was an experiment with L.S.D (L.S.D was the drug they put in the 'Tropicana' at the start), this is interesting and is a fun little 'Easter egg'/joke to put in the video. At 4:47 we see some reversed footage which also has the sound reversed and is a small 'nod' to their 'trippy' aesthetic.
Finally at the end of the video the screen turns black (4:52) and we hear Meech say "What the hell? Ghetto black kids doing psychedelics?" which is a reference to the fact that nobody else was like them at the time and that they were unique, it also references the fact that L.S.D (a psychedelic) is a heavy part of their star iconography.
The use of heavy effects helps make the music video very interesting as well as fitting into the narrative of the use of illegal substances and the Flatbush ZOMBiES' 'trippy' star image. The video contains lots of very fast editing which helps keep it interesting and also works well because the lyrics are delivered in a fast way.
The video fits well into Goodwin's theory because their are lots of times where there is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, for example the shot of Juice smoking when he says "catch me smoking potent, cuz". There is also a relationship between the music and the visuals for example the use of black & white when old samples are used. There are also lots of moments when genre iconography are present for example the shots of money and of 'weed'. There are many shots of the members of the group, including a lot of close up shots. The group's star iconography is also present, for example through the L.S.D and the 'weed'. The use of the effects at 1:48 which look like an old TV could suggest voyeurism and there are many intertextual references for example Juice's Coogi sweater (a reference to The Notorious B.I.G.) and the shot of the group sitting outside (3:04) which references Spike Lee's 'Do the Right Thing' from 1989.
The music video fits into two of Joan Lynch's video structures, performance and narrative. There is a lot of performance throughout the music video and there is a narrative throughout the video of Juice going to buy 'Tropicana' to mix their L.S.D with, the members of the group becoming high and then keep going to get each other from their houses. Some people could argue that the heavy use of effects fit slightly into the concept category but the music video is predominantly performance and narrative.
The music video fits into Jon Gow's 'Pseudo-reflexive performance' category as it shows them recording and producing the actual music as well as going out and buying the items that are seen in the music video (the 'Tropicana'). It could also fit into the 'Special effects extravaganza' group as there is heavy use of effects throughout the video and a lot of the time it does overshadow the performance even though this is a key element as well. It could also be classed as 'enhanced performance' due to its use of narrative and effects.
(I could not include the official names for the substances in the video as they were flagged by the college's computer system)
The song playing in the background is 'More Than A Woman' by The Bee Gees, The Bee Gees smoked c*annabis and The Flatbush ZOMBiES are well known for this also, the song was in the film 'Saturday Night Fever', the inclusion of this song is intertextuality which was one of Goodwin's theories.
We cut to a shot of Juice (0:05) this zooms into an over the shoulder shot of Juice picking up a carton of 'Tropicana' Orange Juice (0:06). We see a shot of Juice walking and then a shot of him at the counter, this then cuts to a mid-shot of Juice turning and starting to walk out of the building (0:11).
Then quickly too a similar shot of him just outside walking and putting his hood up.
We then track Juice in a series of different close-ups and mid-shots as he walks, focusing on different parts of him and shooting from different angles each time it cuts (0:13-0:15).
This whole first portion of the video is edited quite quickly and throughout this scene Juice is wearing a coat by the brand 'Coogi', this is likely an intertextual reference to The Notorious B.I.G who was a famous rapper that the Flatbush ZOMBiES look up to and frequently reference, this fits into Goodwin's theories about music videos as he said that many contain intertextuality.
At 0:15 we see a very quickly edited series of extreme close-up shots of parts of the door moving as Juice unlocks it and then opens it, this is very unique and interesting and is also a recurring part of the music video. This is followed by a mid-shot of Juice walking through the kitchen and then a close up of him getting three glasses out of the cupboard, the sound of the glasses seems to be overdubbed to make them louder and more prominent. We then see Juice put the 'Tropicana' in the glasses, but all three glasses get filled at the same time, this fits in well with the 'trippy' iconography of the band and their sub-genre of rap (Acid Rap/Drug Rap). (0:19) We then see a close-up shot of Juice dropping a liquid (liquid L.S.D) into the drinks (Again with overly-prominent sound effects). In the background we see a box of 'Frooty Loops', which is a popular brand of cereal in America and is popular among 'stoners' and other drug users.
We then see Meech and Juice drink theirs, these are mid-shots. This is followed by Erick saying "Don't f**k with this s**t" (0:22) and putting his glass down. We then see more shots of Juice and Meech drinking. The series of shots of them drinking have very fast editing.
At 0:24 Meech then comes up from the bottom of the screen saying "ooooooohhhh", we see a close-up of his face and then he puts his thumbs up and goes to where Erick's drink was and drinks his.
The editing in the first section of the video is very interesting, there are cuts that only take a very short moment out of the video (for example someone moving) which many people would not bother cutting out but I think this is very interesting and I also think it fits well with the bands 'trippy'/'druggy' star image.
At 0:27 we see the camera track away from Erick, this has been heavily sped up. We then cut to an extreme close-up of Meech's eyes and hear a large bang (0:28), this is supposed to represent the substance 'hitting' him. We then see a series of shots of the camera moving rapidly around the three members of the group which is supposed to represent them becoming high, we also see a close-up shot of a 'joint' being lit in somebody's mouth. These shots are accompanied by music that sounds very heavenly and seems to suggest that getting high is like a religious experience for them.
We then cut to an extreme close-up of a clock on an oven (0:31). The clock reads '6:66', which is, of course, not a real time but fits in with the 'satanic' star image that the Flatbush ZOMBiES (especially Meech) have acquired. This then cuts to 3 close-up shots of the hob being lit, each moving slightly closer which is accompanied by loud clicking and helps draw people in and suggest that the music is about to start(0:31). This is followed by a quickly edited close-up of the flame lighting and then a shot where the camera pulls up from the flame and starts to track Meech as the music starts.
We cut to a close-up shot of Meech standing behind a microphone (0:35) which is followed by a blur and then the same shot but this time overlayed with effects to represent the effects of the drugs he has taken. We then see another short clip of the camera tracking him before cutting to a mid-shot of him rapping into a microphone, this shot also contains similar effects which occur very often throughout the rest of the music video.
We then cut to a tracking shot (0:40) in which the producers credits appear and the shot flickers between an unedited shot and the same shot but inverted and then at 0:42 we see an inverted and mirrored shot of Meech rapping into the microphone. This is followed by a series of shots cutting between Meech performing into the microphone and the tracking shot (the editing here is very fast) but then at 0:55 the songs titled gets overlayed which looks very interesting and helps to make people remember the song as well as giving it the feel of a 1970's cult film (many of which were about illegal substances).
We then see a series of performance shots and close-up shots of Meech being high and doing things like rolling 'joints'(0;57-1:10). When the song changes to a part using a sample of the song 'Mass Appeal' by Gangstarr (1994) the music video turns to black & white (1:10-1:12) which clearly fits into Goodwin saying that the music video relates to the content of the music video as black & white effects have connotations of the past and 'Mass Appeal' is much older than 'MRAZ'.
We then quickly cut between close-up shots of someone (presumably Meech) rolling and then lighting a 'joint', the shot of it being lit is the same one used earlier in the video which could link to the memory loss people experience when under the influence of 'weed'. at 1:17 we see an extreme close-up of Meech's mouth which shows that he is wearing a gold 'grill', this links to the lyric "teeth made of gold" and therefore links to Goodwin who said that Music Videos often have links with the lyrics.
We see a series of interesting close-ups of Meech performing and smoking which are edited very quickly and contain interesting effects as well as an extreme close-up of his face in which an extra eye appears (1:26). Lots of the shots are of Meech smoking which fits in with Goodwin saying that artist develop their own star iconography as the Flatbush ZOMBiES are very often associated with smoking 'weed'.
At 1:46 we see a close-up of Meech's feet as he walks down the stairs, this is then followed by an interesting collection of extreme close-up shots of the components of the door moving as Meech opens it to go outside. These shots of the door are very similar to the ones shown when Juice enters the building earlier in the music video and are also shown multiple times in the rest of the video. One of the most interesting shots of the door is one where the camera is fixed on the door and is pointing at the handle, this causes it to move with the door which is very interesting.
When Meech is outside at 1:48 we see an interesting effect that looks like a glitch on an old TV, this also links to the title card shown at 0:55. We then see some close-up shots of Meech which get inverted and mirrored,he gets Erick from his house and brings him back to the building Meech was rapping in, at 1:53 we see the door effects again and then we see a shot of their feet going up the stairs which is very similar to the shot of Meech walking down the stairs.
We then see a tracking shot of Erick walking through the house, this is very reminiscent of the one of Meech that we see earlier in the video and even contains similar effects.
We see lots of close-up shots and mid-shots of Erick performing which are accompanied by the recurring effects and then at 2:20 we see a high angle shot of Erick sitting by some keyboards which is very fitting as he produced the beat to the song so could therefore fit into what Goodwin said that the music video often relates to the music.
When Erick says "I'm trippy as f**k" (2:50) there is a 'trippy' effect where he seems to leave shadows of himself as he moves, this also fits into Goodwin's theory as it shows a connection between the music video and the lyrics.
At 2:58 Erick and Meech start to leave the house but I think it is very interesting that when they go down the stairs it just plays the clip of them walking up but in reverse, this fits into their 'trippy' star iconography but is also good because small details like this also keep the video fresh and entertaining for longer as most people wouldn't notice this straight away.
We then see the shots of the door again and see them walk outside, this is accompanied by interesting effects again, including an inverted close-up shot of their shoes (3:02) which i think is very interesting.
At 3:04 there is an intertextual reference to the Spike Lee film 'Do the Right Thing' (1989) (this is very postmodern) as it shows the members of Flatbush ZOMBiES sitting outside which looks very similar to a shot from the film.
At 3:09 we then cut to an inverted mid-shot of the three rappers walking, this is followed by the door shots and another shot of their shoes as they walk up the stairs.
We then see another tracking shot, this time of Juice, 3:23-3:35 Juice raps over the beat from 'Boyz 'N' the Hood' by Eazy-E (1987), this is in black & white just like when Meech raps over the beat from Gangstarr's 'Mass Appeal' (1994) and is an intertextual reference.
When Juice says the line "catch me smoking potent (slang for 'weed'), cuz" we see a close-up of him smoking which shows a connection between the lyrics and the video which links to Goodwin. At 3:53 there is a shot of Juice smoking , this is in slow motion which links to the fact that marijuana is a depressant drug and slows your reactions.
At 4:05 we see a very quick shot of a table, the table contains lots of money which is strong genre iconography as well as lots of 'weed' which is very strongly linked to the Flatbush ZOMBiES' star iconography. There is also a pack of Raw branded rolling papers on the table, Raw is Wiz Khalifa's company and this is therefore an intertextual reference and links to Goodwin's theory.
Throughout Juice's verse there are lots of shots of him smoking, this is part of the whole group's star image but he is the most heavily associated with marijuana out of the three.
At 4:36 we cut to a close-up shot of Erick playing the keyboard for the outro which links to the fact that he is a producer and to the fact that Goodwin says the music links to the music video.
At 4:41 there is an overlay which has a logo similar to the FBI logo and says that the music video was an experiment with L.S.D (L.S.D was the drug they put in the 'Tropicana' at the start), this is interesting and is a fun little 'Easter egg'/joke to put in the video. At 4:47 we see some reversed footage which also has the sound reversed and is a small 'nod' to their 'trippy' aesthetic.
Finally at the end of the video the screen turns black (4:52) and we hear Meech say "What the hell? Ghetto black kids doing psychedelics?" which is a reference to the fact that nobody else was like them at the time and that they were unique, it also references the fact that L.S.D (a psychedelic) is a heavy part of their star iconography.
The use of heavy effects helps make the music video very interesting as well as fitting into the narrative of the use of illegal substances and the Flatbush ZOMBiES' 'trippy' star image. The video contains lots of very fast editing which helps keep it interesting and also works well because the lyrics are delivered in a fast way.
The video fits well into Goodwin's theory because their are lots of times where there is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, for example the shot of Juice smoking when he says "catch me smoking potent, cuz". There is also a relationship between the music and the visuals for example the use of black & white when old samples are used. There are also lots of moments when genre iconography are present for example the shots of money and of 'weed'. There are many shots of the members of the group, including a lot of close up shots. The group's star iconography is also present, for example through the L.S.D and the 'weed'. The use of the effects at 1:48 which look like an old TV could suggest voyeurism and there are many intertextual references for example Juice's Coogi sweater (a reference to The Notorious B.I.G.) and the shot of the group sitting outside (3:04) which references Spike Lee's 'Do the Right Thing' from 1989.
The music video fits into two of Joan Lynch's video structures, performance and narrative. There is a lot of performance throughout the music video and there is a narrative throughout the video of Juice going to buy 'Tropicana' to mix their L.S.D with, the members of the group becoming high and then keep going to get each other from their houses. Some people could argue that the heavy use of effects fit slightly into the concept category but the music video is predominantly performance and narrative.
The music video fits into Jon Gow's 'Pseudo-reflexive performance' category as it shows them recording and producing the actual music as well as going out and buying the items that are seen in the music video (the 'Tropicana'). It could also fit into the 'Special effects extravaganza' group as there is heavy use of effects throughout the video and a lot of the time it does overshadow the performance even though this is a key element as well. It could also be classed as 'enhanced performance' due to its use of narrative and effects.
(I could not include the official names for the substances in the video as they were flagged by the college's computer system)
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