Textual Analysis- Song title, artist/group- Chris Brown, Wall to Wall

Chris Brown’s music video ‘Wall to Wall’ is a combined performance and narrative based music video. This is typical of the RnB genre. The music video follows a linear narrative where Chris Brown begins to hear a mysterious woman calling his name and he is then bitten by the woman who is a vampire. Chris brown then wakes up in his car dressed in black where it appears he has turned into vampire. He then arrives at a house where he searches for the woman whilst being constantly approached by multiple women. It is also performance based because there are some points in the video where he is just singing and some points when he is singing whilst performing a dance routine.

At the start of music video ‘Wall to Wall’ we see Chris Brown talking with his friends when he begins to hear a mysterious woman calling his name. After he gets into his car he is bitten by the mysterious woman, who appears to be a vampire. As the woman appears we see she is dressed in an all black costume. She is wearing a black belly top with tight trousers and a long leather coat. The way the girl is dressed fits the generic convention of women in RnB music videos wearing little clothing. This is known as gratifying the male gaze as the women in the video are styled in that way please male audience needs. Throughout the music video lots of women are chasing after Chris Brown. This another generic convention of the RnB genre, as women artists get to super star status they receive a lot of female attention. In one of the final scenes of the video there is a street dance sequence, which can be typical of RnB music videos. In this dance routine some of the male dancers are topless. This gratifies female gaze because the topless dancers are styled in that way to please female audiences. This music video gratifies both the male and female gaze which allows Chris Brown widen his target audience.

In the ‘Wall to Wall’ music video there are some clear intertextual references to previous films based on vampires such as Dracula, Blade, The Underworld and Van Helsing. These references are made apparent throughout the music video by the use of the different of mise-en-scene. It is stereotype of vampires to dress in black, and Chris Brown, dancers and extras are dressed in black throughout the music video when portraying vampires. To add to the authenticity of them being vampires they also wear the sharp teeth vampires have. The video is set is a large mansion like property and you often seen large properties like the one in ‘Wall to Wall’ featured in vampire based films.

Continuity editing is used throughout the music video to make some scene changes smooth so it does not distract the viewer. There are also jump cuts used to move from one scene to another. The editing technique slow motion is used in one of the early scenes of the music video as Chris Brown gets out of his car. This emphasises his movement as he pushes his jacket behind. It is effective because it shows his movement in more detail and viewers may describe it ‘cool’ or ‘smooth’. Using his jacket as a prop could also be suggested as an intertextual reference to performance such as Michael Jackson who is well known for use his costume as a prop and incorporating it into his dance routines.

The opening shot is mid shot of Chris Brown which allows the viewer to clearly identify the artist. In the following scene there is also an establishing shot of a large mansion like property. This allows the audience to clearly see where the video will be taking place. During the slow motion sequence Chris Brown is shot from a low angle making him look powerful and dominant. Following there is a Close up of Chris Brown saying ‘I’m Back’. This close up allows viewers to see Chris Brown’s facial expression (he is giving a quirky smile) and creates a more personal bond between the artist and the viewer. Also as Chris Brown is well known for his good looks a close-up of his face gratifies the female gaze. A three shot is used at one point to emphasises three women climbing up a wall chasing Chris Brown at this point there is a relationship between the lyrics and the visual as Chris Brown sings ‘They keep coming from wall to wall’ and the women are literally climbing up a wall. A bird’s eye view shot is used at the start of the dance routine in one of the final scenes. The shot allows the viewers to see the majority of the dancers in action. Another shot used in one of the final scenes is an extreme close-up on Chris Brown’s Nike trainers and the trainers of other artists. This shot is significant to the audience as they can clearly see what Chris Brown is wearing and as he is an icon people admire him and want to be like Chris Brown therefore wanting to wear what he wears, so he is in a way promoting the Nike brand.

In conclusion I think that this music video is conventional of the RnB genre because it confirms the generic codes and conventions of the genre. For example it is both a performance and narrative style music video. A dance routine is incorporated into the video which is also typical of this genre and throughout the video women and sone men are dressed in a manner to gratify both the male and female gaze, therefore widening and pleasing the target audience.