Mac Miller is a young rap artist who derives his fame from witty one-line lyrics, good rhythm, and an eccentric view of his life. His song Knock Knock is both a biography, and a feel-good tune that you can immediately tell Mac resonates very closely with. To relay how surreal his experience has been with his early high school fame in rap music, Miller and his crew employ two crucial elements in their film choices to enhance this feeling of euphoria and thrill of the song and its lyrics.
The creators of the video selected very short sequences of film and numerous jump cuts to convey a sense of speed and tempo to the video. Furthermore, they heavily emphasized a shift in tone in the music video to clearly show the contrast between the society around Mac Miller, and his own view on life.
Throughout the video, the editors make ample use of the jump cut, cutting within the same second sometimes to entirely unrelated spaces. This effect creates a flurry of sequences that are almost jarring to the eye, hitting the viewer relentlessly one after the other. The cuts jump back and forth between Miller and his crew dressed in hoodies and jeans to a group of young women dressed very conservatively.
The disparity of the characters in the jump cuts help to further Mac Miller’s claim of being unique. It switches from him and his friends, dressed far differently from everyone else, to a group of people who fit the societal norm. By employing the cuts this way, the creators are able to create not only physical separation between Miller and those around him, but also a metaphorical separation between himself and a representative of the society around him.
This makes sense though. Miller didn’t have the normal lifestyle that his peers would have had. He openly admits to having smoked marijuana and consumed alcohol as early as eleven years-old, and he has been recording since he was in high school. While it has caused some ups and downs, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk3U20a7Tik), this all comes with the support of his parents, so it is unsurprising that he thinks his life plays out differently than that of the society around him.
Beyond their use of these jump cuts, the creators used the medium and closeup shot almost exclusively, focusing for the most part on the people and not the atmosphere around them. This choice not only makes the video more intimate between viewer and actor, but it also enhances the ability for viewers to relate to the lyrics of the song. Rather than place the video in time or place, the creators opted to leave it ambiguous, using these closer shots to connect their viewers to the emotions of the video.
But, the most blatant film choice they used was choosing to link the sequences of the video overall by rhythm and tone. The video opens in a monochromatic color scheme. The music begins slow and generic, showing a few longer sequences of people wandering around a little aimlessly. After a bit of time, however, these two groups find themselves in the same place, and the rhythm changes dramatically. The tempo picks up rapidly and we see Miller and his crew dance towards the group of women to which they enthusiastically respond.
This rhythm change energizes the environment, and sparks the next major visual change, a burst of color. As the groups collide, the world lights up with vibrant colors, obliterating the dreary, boring emotions that just a moment before dominated the video. This choice of a dramatic switch allowed the creators to energize the song violently, as though drawing a few average people into the wild world in with Mac Miller lives, if only for a few musical minutes.
The jump cuts and short sequences create a sense of speed and energy and enthusiasm that excites the lyrics and rhymes that Miller puts together in quick succession. The color creates an apparent contrast with the monochrome to tell the audience that life is no fun, unless you live it the way you want to, like Mac does. Bringing it all together, we get a fast-paced, energetic song that inspires us to live life our way and never conform to the dull, monochrome shape that society tries to mold us into.
The creators of the video selected very short sequences of film and numerous jump cuts to convey a sense of speed and tempo to the video. Furthermore, they heavily emphasized a shift in tone in the music video to clearly show the contrast between the society around Mac Miller, and his own view on life.
Throughout the video, the editors make ample use of the jump cut, cutting within the same second sometimes to entirely unrelated spaces. This effect creates a flurry of sequences that are almost jarring to the eye, hitting the viewer relentlessly one after the other. The cuts jump back and forth between Miller and his crew dressed in hoodies and jeans to a group of young women dressed very conservatively.
The disparity of the characters in the jump cuts help to further Mac Miller’s claim of being unique. It switches from him and his friends, dressed far differently from everyone else, to a group of people who fit the societal norm. By employing the cuts this way, the creators are able to create not only physical separation between Miller and those around him, but also a metaphorical separation between himself and a representative of the society around him.
Beyond their use of these jump cuts, the creators used the medium and closeup shot almost exclusively, focusing for the most part on the people and not the atmosphere around them. This choice not only makes the video more intimate between viewer and actor, but it also enhances the ability for viewers to relate to the lyrics of the song. Rather than place the video in time or place, the creators opted to leave it ambiguous, using these closer shots to connect their viewers to the emotions of the video.
But, the most blatant film choice they used was choosing to link the sequences of the video overall by rhythm and tone. The video opens in a monochromatic color scheme. The music begins slow and generic, showing a few longer sequences of people wandering around a little aimlessly. After a bit of time, however, these two groups find themselves in the same place, and the rhythm changes dramatically. The tempo picks up rapidly and we see Miller and his crew dance towards the group of women to which they enthusiastically respond.
This rhythm change energizes the environment, and sparks the next major visual change, a burst of color. As the groups collide, the world lights up with vibrant colors, obliterating the dreary, boring emotions that just a moment before dominated the video. This choice of a dramatic switch allowed the creators to energize the song violently, as though drawing a few average people into the wild world in with Mac Miller lives, if only for a few musical minutes.
The jump cuts and short sequences create a sense of speed and energy and enthusiasm that excites the lyrics and rhymes that Miller puts together in quick succession. The color creates an apparent contrast with the monochrome to tell the audience that life is no fun, unless you live it the way you want to, like Mac does. Bringing it all together, we get a fast-paced, energetic song that inspires us to live life our way and never conform to the dull, monochrome shape that society tries to mold us into.
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