Video Deconstruction- Same Girl

R Kelly Ft Usher- Same Girl (Sony Music 2007)

Conventions of a Hip Hop/Rap/R&B Video

1. Male artists often perform to cameras performing to the camera as if performing and signing to audiences

2. Female artists usually combine performing to cameras with performing to an ethereal 'other'

3. Hip Hop videos usually features the expensive lifestyle portraying wealth through fast cars, expensive clothing, jewellery, houses, yots etc

4. Women are often used as objects through sexualised dancing to give audiences pleasure

5. As oppose to rock genre being very dim colours in Hip Hop videos are often bright, in costume lighting and sets

6. Most videos are shot in daylight and when shot at night the lighting is often contrasted with bright interior shots

7. Females are objectified through use of fragmentations, slow motion etc.

8. Costumes from women are usually revealing and sexualised to again give audiences pleasure through what the woman is wearing and also make women aspire to be like the woman in the video to gain the same attention them women gain from men.

9.Men are usually presented in expensive clothing usually baggy.

10.Editing is usually paced to the beat of the music

11.When male artists are in shots low angle shots are usually used to signify their masculinity and dominance

12.Sets can sometimes be luxurious to portray a luxurious lifestyle

13. Cars are usually a prop used on set as part of the performance

14. Dance moves by women are exaggerated to show off the female form and sexuality and by men to show virility and masculinity.

Deconstruction

Audiences- The audience of this video is clearly male as a result of the lyrics and video all being about men being cheated on. The audience may also predominantly be male as a result of men aspiring to live the luxurious lifestyle that R Kelly and Usher supposedly live. Fans are able to build relationship with the artists in the video through seeing individual persona's and seeing the two hang out and call eachother nicknames such as "Ush", "Dog", and "Kells". Potential women fans are able to relate to the artists in a sense of being able to identify with the women in the video and become a 'potential wife' like what R Kelly and Usher are portraying they want in throughout.

Narrative - The narrative of the story begins through establishing how busy the two artists are representing their success. R Kelly and Usher begin to discuss meeting the woman of their dreams as the narrative continues. It is then revealed that the two are seeing the 'same girl' and the conversation continues to meets up at houses, in cars and basketball courts, with the assumption that both R Kelly and Usher are owners of these things. As the narrative concludes the two plan to meet the 'same girl' and catch her out however the revelation comes right at the end when the two realise the same girl is actually identical twins. 

Institutions- When two established artists collaborate record labels often deem this successful. Record sales are often boosted as a result of sales to fans from both artists (e.g R Kelly and Usher). Both artists featured in the song are signed to Jive Records owned by Sony. During the video promotion of both artists is featured in a conversation where R Kelly talks about his Double Up Tour and Usher mentions his fragrance launch and his forthcoming album release in November.

Genre- As soon as the video begins we are represented with luxury lifestyle a key convention of the Hip Hop/R&B genre. Things such as jewellery, nice houses, fast cars, money being use as props and costume such as baggy clothing and sunglasses represent wealth. Gestures such as pointing to the cameras in shots of the males are represented signifying the two's masculinity and dominance. Words such as 'word', 'crib' and 'homie' are all typical features of R&B/Hip Hop culture representing the genre of the music.

Representation- The video to 'Same girl' is very unconventional. The video presents the idea of betrayal by the woman and not the man this is an interesting role reversal, instead of fighting over the girl the two men unusually use their friendship bond to try and get back at the girl. However although these features may be unconventional there is a lot of stereotypical representations in the video too men are represented in luxurious lifestyle e.g. fast cars, fancy restaurants, luxurious houses etc, women are objectified through shots of sexual situations and shots showing the main assets of a woman. The colour black represented on the woman's very little clothing also suggests her danger to the men's life.

Analysis- Shots such as split screen shots represent the idea of the men having a 'conversation' made up of the singing of song lyrics. We are also represented with over the shoulder shots representing the dialogue between the two men again suggesting the idea of the music being a conversation between the two artists. Both men are dressed in the colour white suggesting their bond and similarity the colour white as oppose to the women being dresses in black represents the two's innocence in the situation. Another use of split screen is also used later on in the video but this time the screen in split into 3 with features of the woman in the middle shot between the two suggesting the idea of women breaking friendships between men.