Analysis

Song Title: Love in this club
Artist: Usher
Genre: R&b/Hip-hop

Catogrising The Video: Through watching this music video several times, it has become evident that it would fall in to both performance and narrative as both these catogaries are emphasised within the video. The video tells a distinct narrative of the development of chemistry and the sexual tension between two people in a club, hence the lyrics of the chorus being "I wanna make love in this club". The performance of both Usher and Keri Hilson enable the narrative to be clearly understood by the audience as it makes it believable. The video also consists of choreography which is performed by both make and female dancers making it evidently a performance video also.
Using Goodwins analysis, the music video demonstrates clear genre characteristics as it is typical of an rnb song to be performed in a club. The video also demonstrates a clear relationship between lyrics and visuals and there is a frequent reference to the notion of looking particularly the voyeuristic treatment of women's bodies as Usher frequently seduces Keri Hilson. However, in addition to this it is also seen in the video that Keri Hilson is used as a tease for Usher and she formally seduces Usher which is a contradiction to the typical use of women in a rnb viseo.
Using Craig Davis's analysis, this music video is an "amplification" as it employs a creative and surrealistic approach of emphasising the performance and narative of the song. For example the use of keri Hilson as being a kind of hollogram in which she frequently dissapears throughout the video is surreal and enhances on the idea that Usher is developing sexual tension and s unable to "make love in the club".

Use Of Camera:
Within this music video there are a range of different camera shots and angles. For example, at the beginning of the video before the song starts there are several close ups of the artist (Usher) to introduce to the audience who the central character of the video is and to make it clear who the audiences attention will be on throughout the rest of the video. There are also many medium shots within this music video which gives the audience a clear view of what Usher and the female dancer (Keri Hilson) is wearing as it is vital in music videos of this genre to draw the audiences attention to how well dressed the performers are. This shot also draws attention to the intimacy between the two people as the song is called "Love in this club"so therefore uses the narrative of two people dveloping chemistry in a club scene as a way of emphasising the lyrics.

The slow motion shots are used thus emphasising the gap between Keri Hilson and Usher when she dissapears which is done through stop motion editing.

Costumes & Props: Throughout the whole video both main performers (Usher and Keri Hilson) are in black clothing. Usher is dressed in black jeans with a belt with a black and silver pendant on it, a black t-shirt and a black leather jacket. This outfit is completed with a pair of sunglasses that he puts on as the song begins. The audience is automatically drawn to Usher putting his sunglasses on as it has became his signiture garment over the years simalarly to most r&b artists.

[image of usher]

Keri Hilson is dressed in a seductive black corset which reveals alot of cleavage, suspenders and heals as she is used as a sex symbol in the video as a wayof appealing to usher hence why he is fascinated by her.

[image of Keri Hilson]

Props are also used within this video to help with the narrative of the video. A main prop that is used within the video is a mobile phone which keeps ringing showing a picture of another girl which is clearly his partner and Usher keeps ignoring the phone call showing that he is not supposed to be where he is with another girl which is the explanation of his confusion at the beginning of the video. Another example of a prop used is a glass which is focused on when the lyrics recite "tell me what you're sippin' on" as Keri Hilson slides it accross the table to usher. This implies that she wants him to buy her a drink as a way of seducing him.

[images of props in video]

Lighting: The lighting in the music video mirrors the lighting which is typical of a club. As the video is set in a club flashing lights of different colours are used which are intense and bright. At the beginning of the video before the song begins as usher finds himself in a empty club in which keri hilson appears, strobe lights are used particularly on Ushers face, distorting him for short seconds to emphasise his confusion and that he does not know what is happening and also creating an intensity between the two people which starts the beginning of the narrative. Also strobe lights are typical of a club.

[example image of strobe lighting in video]

Mise-en-scene: The concept of this music video follows a stereotypical r&b video as the use of an exotic nightclub draws attention to the glamorous life in which they live which exxagerates the stars image. This is also emphasised through the expense of the clothing as the performers are well groomed and fit in with the scene of the music video.

Editing: The editing in the video adds to the telling of the story using surreal shots such as dissolve editing to emphasise the idea that Usher is imagining his fantasy.

SFX & Graphics: