textual analysis essay 3

Chris Brown “With You”

Chris Brown was born in 1989 and is an American R&B singer and song writer.  He made his debut album in 2005.  Since he has become a world famous actor and singer and is debatably one of the world’s best at what he does.  Chris Brown’s song “With You” was a worldwide commercial and critical success, becoming Brown's second best-selling single and Exclusive's most successful release. The single performed well on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, remaining at number two for six non-consecutive weeks.  The music video was shot in Los Angeles, California on November 20, 2007. It premiered on music video channels MTV, BET, and Fuse TV during the week of December 3, 2007.  "With You" has become Brown's second biggest worldwide hit behind "Run It!". The single debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at number seventy-two on December 15, 2007. It ascended to number-forty the following week, after an increase in digital sales and radio airplay. "With You" eventually peaked at number-two on the chart on February 16, 2008.  In 2008 the UK public voted it as 8^th in the charts, before it moved up to first which is where it stayed for a month. The characters of the song involve Chris Brown being the main actor and lead singer; there are fill ins used to make the video look like it is an everyday life storyline, there are also a couple which are there to emphasis love in the video and finally the girl he loves id also included at the end of the video.
Chris had an idea of making a love R&B song which involved him recovering from a long lasting relationship with a girl.  The lyric’s in the song and the way he performs them has shown oblivious hurt and pain to him.  “Hey lil mamma, Ohh, you’re a stunner hot lil nigga, yes you’re a winner and I’m so glad that your mine you are one of a kind” These lyrics show immediate passion towards this girl.  His ideas of how he performed the music video also gave a bigger indicator of to how much he loved this girl.  He is filmed at many different angles walking down an American road; many tilts are used as well as bird eye view shots.  The fact that the tilt shot was used suggests that he is distressed and the effect of using a Bird’s eye view shot also shows that he is down because a zoom is then used and a sympathetic feeling is used as the camera moves from a high to a low.  It is also emphasized when a couple walks past him on the pavement and is holding hands.  
Furthermore, in this video Chris also has some conceptual concepts involved.  His ideas came from past experiences in up and down relationships with girlfriends, most recently the outbreak of Chris’s relationship with Pop singer Beyonce.  However, Chris also has had some very successful relationships and possibly is a reason to why he could think of such meaningful and loving lyrics to put in this track called ‘With You’.  Furthermore, throughout the music video he uses some very clever ideas to get the message across to that this girl means a lot to him.  For instance in the video his jumper changes from three different colours which may also represent love.  It changes from green meaning bad and gloomy to purple which is a warmer colour to suggest he may be feeling better and then eventually it changes to red; this is a significant colour as the colour represents love and romance.  Some lyrics from the track also represent the idea of the music video.  “With every kiss and every hug you make me fall in love”, the lyrics have a certain rhyme to them and is almost the sort of words you may use to put in a love poem.  This lyric just justifies the meaningful lyrics he uses to emphasis his love for this one character.
Performance is also another key factor as to the point Chris uses to show love.  The video includes a lot of dancing and the choreography explains love and the way Chris dances also emphasises this.  Chris shows his point by using a lot of eye contact with the camera and also the use of arm movements helps the viewer realise that he means the words that he is saying.  Furthermore, the camera use is also very clever to emphasis the performance even more.  A lot of Birds eye view shots are used at the start and at the end of the music video to show a couple together from a distance and this also helps represent the lyrics with the meaning of love.  The video is filmed as a normal everyday life situation as Chris gets on the bus when a girl realises him sitting by himself; this also uses a sense of heroism as Chris is showing that no matter where you are you could meet someone and this also may give an instant ego boost to the song; as the image is positive to the viewers. 
Finally the most important part of the music video is the storyline.  The reason being is because, its shows the viewer what Chris is trying to get across to his fans and viewers in general.  As I have said Chris’s music video has a concept of losing a girl and then eventually getting her back.  His ideas to show the concept of love where combined through Narrative, Concept and Performance.  However, without a storyline the song could never have been produced.  The storyline starts when Chris is walking along the road and he is obliviously in some distress as this is shown through a jumper change in colour and the lyrics being used shows that he is truly in love.  As he walks further he notices a couple walking together which makes matters worst but the lyrics show further and deeper emotion towards his song and his lover.  As the song continues he gets on a bus as to where the tone of music changes.   He finally gets off and then sits on a bench to where his girlfriend comes and sits with him. By the end of the song it becomes obiouvous to the viewers that he is with her by the end of the song as the bird eye view shot is used and shows a romantic ending of Chris with his girlfriend.    
 
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=chris+brown+with+you&aq=f                

Harry Butler  Year 13