Case Study 1: Usher - Confessions Part 2

Artist: Usher
Producer: Unknwon
Date Released (On youtube): 25/10/09



This is a follow on song from 'Confessions Part 1' in which he told the listeners he was cheating on his girlfriend. In this video (part 2), he's been told that he's impregnated the woman he's ben cheating with and is trying to find a way to confess all of his lies to his girlfriend which whom he claims he loves dearly.



This video is both performance and narrative based. This is because the lyrics tell a story which he acts out through the whole video. Also, theres points in the video in which he begins to dance as well as put himself in real life situations, for example, at the beginning, he's in the studio working on new music which is something he would do in real life.



The themes and motifs in this video seem to be very simplistic and based in dimly lit photography studios. However, in the beginning of the music video when he was seen in the music studio before he was told about the news, it was well lit, suggesting he entered a place of darkness when he found out about the news.



When receiving the phone call, there is a close up to emphasise the shock and worry on his face as the audience try to second guess what is being said on the other side of the phone. As he walks out of the studio, his luxurious lifestyle is shown by his clothes and his surroundings. He has security with him which suggests that he is playing the role of his own character in real life which makes the audience feel as though it is real. There is a medium close up as he gets into the car and hesitates to close the door causing anticipation for the audience. On the lyric 'listen', he turns to face the audience and lip syncs, drawing in the audience, making sure they're engaged so that he can tell his story to them. There is an extreme close up of his ring and shoes which further emphasises his grand lifestyle.

There is a shot of Usher lip syncing to the song, sitting on a chair in a dark room. The lyrics concern how he is going to confess his wrong doings, at which point you can't see Usher clearly as it is dark, suggesting that he is embarrassed about them and wants to be kept anonymous. The cutting pace starts of fairly slow, however picks up slightly as you see his body language begin to express his stress, for example, when he is rubbing his head.



The cutting pace is faster and the room becomes brighter as the video goes on, suggesting he is becoming more confident to tell his girlfriend about the lies. This is when he begins to perform, dancing whilst singing.



At one point further in to the music video, you see usher on his hands and knees whilst his girlfriend is standing over him with her arms crossed. This suggests that she has more power over him and he has become weak at her knees. There are cuts of Usher taking off his shirt and then vest until his torso is naked, suggesting that she is slowly stripping away his dignity as it cuts back and forth showing her hitting him as he continuously begs for her. This can also be seen as a symbol of the truth being told and weight being taken off of his shoulders.



There is then a cut of Usher standing in front of a large mirror that shatters into pieces. The old myth that you get 7 years bad luck if you break a mirror intertwines with this, implying to the audience that he is going to have 7 years of bad luck now that he's cheated and caused another woman to get pregnant. This broken mirror can also suggest that Usher is broken inside or seems to break everything around him without physically doing anything.



As the song slowly ends, the cuts between different sets are at a medium pace and it slowly zooms out on him and fades.



I would say that the target audience for this song would be from 18 - 30. However, as this song is very old, I assume that the older generation would listen to it a lot more than the younger generation.

The thing I could take from this video is the narrative based performance. The video linked to the lyrics and the use of props and lighting was used effectively to create a mood as well as to help tell the story.