My Opt-Ed on Jay Z’s Opt-Ed
Jay-z partnered with the New York Times to create a visual Opt-Ed. Unlike other article written, Jay-Z narrated along side an Molly Crabapple to get his point across.
This short film, narrated by Jay Z (Shawn Carter) and featuring the artwork of Molly Crabapple, is part history lesson…www.nytimes.com
What is this Opt-Ed doing visually?
In order to communicate his feelings on the “Epic Fail on the war on drugs” Jay Z has Molly Crabapple time lapse his words. Molly uses muted colors, water colors, and what looks like a fountain pen to bring Jay Z’s words to life. Black males, repetition of jail orange, the animation of the police. All of her images bring in an interactive aspect to what normally would be black and white words. By having animation and color the three minute article is much more consumable and visually interesting for a consumer audience.
What is it doing aurally?
Having Jay Z narrate the short Opt-Ed video give the topic a roughness. The war on drugs is not light subject, having Jay Z speak his own words provides a roughness vocally that matches the subject matter. In addition to him speaking there are background noises. The slamming of jail cells as he talks about incarceration rates, distant police sirens when talking about urban decay, what sounds like light piano music when he mentions Columbia University students and their drug use. There is so much more going on than just Jay Z speaking.
How does this medium impact/change the message?
I think having this in a video form with a Celebrity narrating, and pictures being painted in front of your eyes, it appeals so much more to the millennial generation, or people in general. In today’s society we are much more likely to sit and watch a three minute video then a column newspaper article. The fact that it’s a video makes it more likely to be interacted with. I think having it done in this fashion all changes the target audiences. If Jay Z was trying to fire up our parents about a cause he would probably write a formal essay and have it published. He’s targeting a difference audience, at least I think, and it’s rather effective. By having the message presented as a video I think he received more engagement, more talk about the Opt-Ed, and appealed to a younger generation.
