This piece of mise en scene happens to be the wall Usher is banging on, the fact that he is banging on the wall is significant in representing his frustration with the situation he describes himself to be in within the narrative.ģ:01 – The girl in this shot can be seen to be acting really affectionate towards Usher, this is done to present Usher as some kind of “ladies man” and again goes back to the idea that he has wealth/status/success, and in the genre of R&B all of those perks usually go with the additional perk of being seen as an epitome of sexual prowess, which is why a couple of seconds later we see that there is not only one, but two attractive women staring at Usher adoringly.Ĥ:28 – For the finale of the video we have Usher staring at his reflection in the mirror, followed by the same mirror shattering.
#USHER CONFESSIONS PART 2 INSTRUMENTAL PROFESSIONAL#
This is effective because it adds to the slickness of the video in the sense that the cut occurs to the rhythm of the song this way it looks professional and keeps the audience intrigued.Ģ:31 – A key piece of mise en scene can be seen here that drives the narrative forward. As soon as the cut occurs we see the same shot/sequence continue however it zooms outward. Knowing that in the song the narrative is that he is confessing to cheating on his wife, the fact that he is wearing his ring and that it has several close up shots of it throughout the video is used to create a feeling of empathy among the audience to show the guilt Usher feels and how he’s sorry, otherwise there would be no point in wearing the ring.Ģ:14 – We see a strong use of editing where there’s a jump cut. Now we can see that the ring is on his marriage finger, which connotes several things marriage itself, commitment, loyalty, and love. There is an extreme close up of Usher’s hand that is used to show the ring he is wearing. the purpose of using a medium shot here is to capture not only his body language, but also his facial expression simultaneously, this is effective because it conveys to the audience that he is vulnerable because he is in the chair, or more illustratively to the lyrics the hot seat.ġ:48 – We can again see an effective use of cinematography/mise en scene being used in conjunction. It is an effective technique for making the video seem more slick and professional with regard to the relationship between picture and soundġ:41 – We can see an effective use of cinematography in this video, more precisely there is a medium shot used to show Usher sitting in a chair whilst holding his face in his hands. This effect is achieved through editing the sound of the instrumental to the shutting of the door. It is quite subtle, however if we pay attention we can see that as soon a the door of his car shuts the main instrumental begins. By doing this the audience subconsciously begins to believe that buying into/listening to this music will allow them to feel like they have this wealth/status/fame etc.ġ:19 – At this point of the video a notable use of sound can be picked up on. So having the bodyguard in the shot is being used to convey a message to the audience that usher is someone of fame, wealth, status, and power. It can be argued that the purpose of the bodyguard being in that shot is to actually act as a real life item of mise en scene in the sense that a bodyguard usually connotes that the person they are guarding is someone of fame, wealth, status, or power, or even all three.
in this specific frame we see him walk past a bodyguard, and the bodyguard begins to follow. The microphone accompanied by the notebook Usher is writing in is used to convey a message to the audience that he is dedicated to his music, and as a result his fans.Ġ:54 – By this point in the video Usher has left the studio after receiving a phone call that’s left him alarmed. Another item of mise en scene that can be seen in this medium shot is the microphone itself.
Kelly videos we see the same use of flashy jewelry, watches, etc. 0:02 – From the start of the video we see 3 items of mise en scene that go with the conventions of the RnB genre, these items are the watch, the chain, and the belt he his wearing.