Weekly Blog Post 7

I am one of those people who enjoys picking up a digital camera and taking a picture or two. When I read threads on forums about photography, I am usually completely lost after the word “Canon.” In this brief essay, I will explain my interest in, knowledge of, and experience with photography.

I am interested in photography to the point that I wish I owned a digital camera. I enjoy being the “official photographer” for debate tournaments, family vacations, and road trips. Before the age of digital cameras, I always cherished a disposable camera my parents would give me for a class trip or a special occasion. I remember always saving the last shot or two in the film for the “perfect shot.” Most often, the “perfect shot” wound up being a blurry image taken from a car on the way home, but it was the intention that really mattered.

As I hinted at before, my knowledge with photography is at the same time adequate and limited. I do, however, have a decent understanding of the artistry behind it. I can appreciate how the pose, cropping, color, lighting, etc, affect the viewer’s perspective and the intended message of the photograph.

Despite my general knowledge of the messages and art of photography, I have almost no knowledge of the technical aspects of this particular art form. If someone were to ask me what kind of camera my family owns, I would answer something like, “Ummm…a digital one. I think it’s a Canon…” I have never seen or used Photoshop or equivalent program. I have no idea how to saturate color tones, change shutter speed, or even how to turn the flash on and off on some cameras.

In terms of experience, I once again have very little exposure to the art of photography. My brother is somewhat interested in photography, so he has asked me to pose for a few photoshoots. Other than that and a few other candid moments, my experience is mostly “point and shoot” photography for the purpose of remembering a moment. I have never been involved in photography as a fine art.

I both like photography and have little knowledge of it. While I have a basic appreciation and interest in it, that interest is not strong enough for me to become involved in photography beyond its everyday use: documenting for posterity.

Weekly Blog Post 6

In this post we will once again delve into Lecrae’s “Don’t Waste Your Life,” this time stepping back and analyzing the overall structure of the video in an attempt to see his appeals to logos to set up pathos and ethos.

Lecrae’s video uses mainly compare and contrast to make his argument. Since the subplot of the robbery of the store has not been explored, we will look more closely at this part of the video.

The storyline of the businessman (Cam) is highly polished and chronological. The robbery is not. The storyline of this subplot also jumps around, beginning first with the one of the robbers running, then cutting to them meeting outside. Lecrae also chooses to film the robbery in a grainy black and white, contrasting that with the clear color of Cam’s story. This contrast adds to the sense of universalism Lecrae is trying to get across. Instead of simply speaking to businessmen or gangsters, the contrasting storylines and filming styles show us that Lecrae believes lives in every culture are wasted.

Lecrae also uses the contrast of words and images to make his argument. While Cam is singing in the hook “Don’t wanna waste my/Don’t wanna waste my life,” two criminals are doing exactly that by robbing a store. As Lecrae is rapping “You don’t see His ways in the days of my life/You can hit my breaks/You can stop my life,” the video is showing Cam and a group of his friends at a party. In other words, the video shows the exact opposite of the words Lecrae is both rapping and writing. As Lecrae and Cam say they don’t want to waste their lives, Cam is doing so through partying and Lecrae is doing so through crime. Thus, the argument essentially made by telling the viewer “what not to do.”

This structure of logos also sets up the pathos and ethos in this song. The contrasting of the words and video sets up an ethos of equal footing. By choosing to portray the main characters themselves, Lecrae and Cam show the audience they are not saints on a level of perfection above their audience. Instead, they are men who were once wasting their lives in pursuit of the things of this world. Not coincidently, the stories portrayed in the video are loosely biographical of Lecrae and Cam. Lecrae grew up in the ghetto and was arrested several times. Cam, on the other hand, had been pursuing money and fame all his life.

The contrasting structure also appeals to pathos, by making the audience sympathetic toward the men wasting their lives. While logos is the main focus of the video, pathos is most certainly present.

Lecrae uses well-structured and contrasting to appeal to logos. He logically and passionately gives his message to all cultures in the world. He begs us to not waste our lives living for futile things, but instead live for Christ.

Weekly Blog Post 5

“That’s why it’s Christ in my rhymes/That’s why it’s Christ all the time/My whole world is built around Him/He’s the life in my lines.”

At this climax of the song, Lecrae changes the nature of the rhetorical appeals used in his music video “Don’t Waste Your Life.” In this short essay, we will examine approximately twenty seconds of the video to see how rhetorical devices are used to communicate the message of the song.

Until this point in the song, Lecrae has mainly used appeals to logos. He has laid out a logical case, using both Scriptural and practical examples, that life is wasted outside of Christ. In the video, Lecrae sets up the story of a wealthy businessman (played by Cam, the singer in the hook) who has received a letter and Bible in the mail. While he is reading the letter (the lyrics of “Don’t Waste Your Life”) some of his friends show up for a party. As his friends are enjoying themselves, the Cam is slowly realizing it is a pointless exercise. It is at this point the climax occurs, and Lecrae switches from logos to pathos to reach his audience.

As Lecrae begins the climax, the video shows Cam in his empty apartment, with only the walls as company. Just seconds before there had been people there. The sense of loneliness and despair this picture paints is overwhelming both for both Cam and the audience.

Meanwhile, Lecrae, “writing” out the lyrics of his song as we sings them, is overcome with the emotion of what he’s saying. His devotion to God and passion for his message causes him to give up writing and simply cry out to God. Until this point, Lecrae has been diligently and logically writing out his arguments. Now, he figuratively throws up his hands in praise. The appeal is obvious: Lecrae desires the audience to have the same devotion he does.

As the camera pans back to Cam, we see he is having the same reaction to the lyrics. He leaves his friends at the party, picks up the Bible, and walks from the room without a word. Again, the implication is that the Word of God should produce an emotional reaction in us driving us to devotion in Christ.

In his video “Don’t Waste Your Life,” Lecrae uses pathos to show his audience the majesty of living for Christ. In the few seconds showing Lecrae praising God and devoting his life to Him, his facial expression and posture plead with the audience to do the same. As Cam gives up the party to read the Bible, Lecrae asks his audience to give up the things of this world for the things of the Lord. Indeed, the implication is that Lecrae shares the vision of Shai Linne when he says, “[God] could give me the Lex, the coup, the Beemer, the Benz/the sex, the loot, the cream or the ends/But next the truth of Jesus, friends, it’s worth nothing.”

Weekly Blog Post 4

“Paul said if Christ ain’t resurrect then we wastin’ our lives/Well that implies that our life’s built around Jesus bein’ alive”

With this thesis Lecrae delivers his hit song “Don’t Waste Your Life.” In this music video Lecrae uses a variety of contexts to deliver his message.

In its original context, this video is part of a series of promotional videos for Forefront Record’s Don’t Waste Your Life Tour. The five commercials expand on the thesis presented in Lecrae’s song, speaking out against narcissism, laziness, secular hip hop, and even uncompassionate Christians.

In this video, Lecrae uses the life of a wealthy businessman to make his point. Upon reaching the hotel he is staying at, the businessman finds a manila envelope lying by his door. Inside the envelope is a copy of the Bible and a “letter”: the hand copied lyrics of “Don’t Waste Your Life.” The context of how the letter is written on the page is extremely important to Lecrae’s message. A close look at the letter will reveal that it is not written is poetry form, as lyrics usually are, but is instead written in paragraph form. This shows that, while Lecrae certainly wants to create high-quality music, he does not intend for his creation to be seen as just a song. He wrote it as an open letter to the world. It is a plea to live for Christ, because everything else is worthless.

While the businessman (played by Cam, the singer in the hook), several of his friends show up at his door. They have apparently planned a party. Through the context of the party, the businessman sees the words written in the letter have a point. He leaves the room to finish reading the letter and picks up the Bible.
As the businessman leaves the party, a subplot develops showing the robbery of a gas station. Through this context Lecrae once again shows us the futility of life. This point is brought home when one criminal is caught, and the other escapes. Through the facial expressions of the businessman and the robber who escaped, we see an emptiness to life.

The final scene of the video depicts the businessman sitting at an empty table. The robber who was caught sits down at the table, and his face is finally shown. It is Lecrae, the very one delivering the message about the futility of life outside Jesus Christ. This juxtaposition of contexts reinforces Lecrae’s message. The wealthy and poor, the guilty and the innocent, the scorned and the exalted, sit at the same table with the lyrics and the Bible. The implication is clear: the Gospel is for everyone. Every life outside of Christ is, indeed, wasted.

Lecrae uses the contexts of letters, hotels, parties, robberies, and tables to deliver his message. Through the juxtaposition of unexpected contexts (lyrics in paragraph form, the wealthy and the poor, etc) Lecrae delivers his passionate plea: Don’t Waste Your Life.

Weekly Blog Post 3

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