Music Video AnalysisUsher - Burn

By Holly Boyd

Genre of the songIt is a combination of R'n'B and Ballad.

A slow-jam song and this is indicated through the musical instruments (guitar & piano) and a beat that is used. It can also be shown through the lyrics.

Who is the artist?Usher is an American recording artist and actor. He was first

known in the 1990's. His success has continued through out the years and has become better every time he released an album.

To date, Usher has sold over 45 million albums worldwide.

He has won numerous awards including five Grammy Awards, four World Music Awards, four American Music Awards and

nineteen Billboard Music Awards.

Lyrics

The lyrics are about a break-up. How the artist (Usher) is in love but isn't happy in the relationship he's in. He then ends it with the lady but soon realises he wants her back.

When you read the lyrics its clear its not going to be a fast-beat, happy song.

In each stanza there is, including the chorus, there is the word 'Burn'. This show a clear comparison between the song name and the lyrics. This is a good way to make the listener remember the song name.

‘When your feeling ain't the same and your body

don't want to but you know gotta let it go cuz the party ain't jumpin'

like it used to even though this might ruin

you let it burn let it burn gotta let it burn.’

Name of the song• When the reader reads the name of the song...'Burn', it is not clear

whether its going to be a fast or a slow song.• It is only properly understood when you hear the tune itself.• The word 'Burn' is repeated throughout the song which makes it known

to the audience why it is called that.• They consider this song to be the inner thoughts of Usher.

What the song is about

This song is about a guy who breaks his girlfriend's heart by breaking up with her and

then later regrets it. He feels like he is burning without her but she isn't coming

back.

Music• There are two musical instruments involved in this song and these are the guitar

and piano.• There is also a constant beat that is repeated in the background.• The voice range brings the whole song together without it, it would not be as

addictive as it is now.• It is not edited on the beat, its edited on the lyrics.

Shots/ Camera Work & SoundsThe music video begins with a close up shot of the artist eyes (Usher) it then pans and

cuts to the ladies eyes who he is talking to and during this point, he is starting the song in a spoken intro, this shows Usher is talking to the girl from his point of view.

When he begins to talk there is flashes at the end of each sentence. I think this is done to show the lady blinking so its clear for the audience to know Usher is

talking to her, during the part Usher is talking, they use medium shots of him. It then cuts to an image of the lady so the audience know for a fact he's talking to that lady featured. After every sentence there’s a shot that relevant to what he’s

just said, this shows he’s beginning to do a narrative within his music video.

Burn, is the main focus of this video and it is seen in close-up shots of his eyes where there is a flame in them, we can also see this in other various shots such a long shot where

he's standing next to the car and the trees are on fire. I think this is done to show how Usher reminisces on what him and his ex girl-friend use to do, but then when the flame

comes it shows the love has burnt out.

When he is doing the narrative it always cuts to Usher singing after. This could be done because he's in present and not in the future and he keeps thinking that.

When he is singing, we see extreme close-up shots of his mouth. Fades are used throughout the music video and these work well because the audience then know when there

coming out of the narrative part of the video.

We hear non-diegetic sound towards the end of the video this is the cars engine. The video then ends on a panning shot of Usher looking towards the floor in a medium-long shot.

Goodwin's Music Analysis The music video demonstrates the genre characteristics: I would typically associate lots dancing with RnB music and this is shown frequently through the course of the video but as it is also a ballad the dancing is very slow, which I think is better as it helps you to focus more on the message the lyrics are giving out rather than the actions of the artist. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals: When the word burn is sung there is always reference to fire whether it is just shots of objects burning in the distance or just flames. When he sings about the relationship he is in, we are always shown what the girl he sings about is doing. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of

close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work :

Throughout the whole of the music video there are many close ups, but most of them being of Usher (the artist) to show his emotions, which helps us as the audience fully understand what he is feeling.

Carol Vernallis Analysis

‘Quick cutting on the beat’: As soon as the tempo changes in the song we are always cut across to a different scene in the video.

There are lots of very short, quick edits in music video. These build up a montage and help to tell the story of the video.

“the editing in music video works hard to ensure that no single element (the narrative, the setting, the performance, the star, the lyrics, the song) gains the upper hand.”- In this circumstance they tend to show the artist a lot and he therefore has the upper hand.

Cutting against movement

• Lots of match on action, this helps to generate the sense of on going action

• Occasionally there are jump cuts as they break the 30 degree rule by keeping the camera static and cutting

• Lots of different camera shots are used; long shots, close ups and wide shots. Close ups are used so we can see how emotional usher feels about the whole situation, where as long and wide shots are used to show body movement and surroundings.

• Fades are used to show how times have changed, this is shown when Usher is sitting on the bed and occasionally we see the girl he sings about sitting behind him.