The genre of Rihanna’s “We Found Love” is dance/pop, however
this music video breaks the conventions of a typical pop video. The music video
opens up with a monologue and a soft piano melody in a minor key, letting us
know that this video is going to be emotional and dramatic. "It's
like you're screaming but no one can hear. The voice over by fashion model
Agyness Deyn saying “You almost feel ashamed that someone could be that
important, that without them, you feel like nothing” sets the tone for the
emotional rollercoaster of a video. The video is set in Ireland in what looks
like a run down area, this is contrasted however by the glamorous and reckless
life style led by lead Rihanna and her lover in the video. To start the video,
we see the two lead roles clearly looking distressed in a dimly lit room,
showing an obvious confrontation between the pair. Before this we see an establishing
shot of a block of flats, showing us the location of the story. This is
different to Rihanna’s normally highly glamorized and high budget videos such
as Only Girl in The World or Where Have You Been. There are also cuts to shots
of the couple looking happy together, including a panning shot which keeps them
in focus while the background blurs; symbolizing that everything around them is
crazy but they are focused on each other. We see Rihanna in this video wearing
again non glamorous clothing, we see torn tights, a lot of denim and plain
vests. Her make up is also running in a lot of shots, making it seem more like
a social realist story, and letting us into her vulnerability. The male lead
also wears similar styles of clothing, which is clearly an alternative style to
go along with the different style of video the song chooses. The video uses a
male model for the lead role opposite Rihanna in a love story, to attract a
female audience from maybe 14 – 26. Rihanna also having her own individual
style of clothing and hair, also would attract a female audience, as well as a
male audience; as the clothing can show off her figure making her attractive to
a male audience from around the same age.
The locations although slightly run down and not pretty, are
made visually appealing. For example when the couple are sat in what looks like
a car park or empty space, they are surrounded by exploding fireworks. This
could be symbolic of their relationship, as well as making a visually
interesting shot. Furthermore we see a lot take place in the home of the main
characters. The flat they live in is dark with blue tones, the connotation of
blue is known to be sad or cool. Every location we see is very dark, and every
day places that you would find yourself in. This adds to the relatable side of
the video. It also shows us the theme of the song “we found love in a hopeless
place” telling us they have a mutual disliking for the place.
Lighting wise, there is a constant dim look in this video,
representing the “hopeless place” vibe. However in every dark scene there is
always a faint glow symbolizing the love found in the hopeless place. For
example in the dark flat the live in, there are fairy lights all over the wall,
these are often associated with Christmas which has connotations of happiness,
family and sharing; Christmas is also a time for reflection which is a theme in
this video. The use of a projector over Rihanna as she mimes the lyrics also
tell us about the relationship in the video, for example as she sings the words
we see a collapsing building overlay her as she looks distressed and hunched in
a corner. Throughout the video we also see a primary theme of red, which has
connotations of danger, anger and love.
The clothing and overall dark feeling of the video is similar
to that seen in tv dramas such as Shameless or Skins, as there is a gritty and
real feel to it. This video is also similar to others in popular culture/the
pop genre such as Taylor Swift’s “I Knew
You Were Trouble” or Lana Del Rey’s “Ride”; all of which showing complicated
relationships between couples and reckless lifestyles. This broken type of
relationship storyline can also be see in magazines, for example in “real life”
magazines where people write in about their love stories. You can also see
references to the movie “Requiem for a Dream” when we see a montage of drug
taking and close up shots of dilated pupils. We also see a homage to American
horror-punk act “Misfits”, as we see the male lead wearing a denim jacket with
the logo for the band sewn onto the back. This tells us that Rihanna is clearly
trying to appeal to an alternative type audience, calling upon other genres for
help. In one scene where they are having a party in a field, we see them
dancing around similar to “moshing” which is often seen in punk or rock music
videos, aiming for a reckless look. This also gives us the vibe of being at a
festival. We also see them in a muddy field, which you would find in England,
everyone is dressed in punky clothes such as jeans and clutching beers; however
Rihanna is dressed in American print clothing making her stand out. We also see
close up pov shots of police cars which are seen in the music video for Beastie
Boy’s “Sabotage”. We also see frequent alcohol misuse and drug use and even
theft, showing us a side to Rihanna not before seen in music videos.
The audience for this video is very large, as it has nearly
300 million views on YouTube. This song was also number one in both UK and USA
charts for a very long time. You can also see comments on the video in
different languages showing its popular all over the world. The top comment as
of recent is one by an obvious Rihanna fan saying “Go NAVY 300M <3” (Navy
being the name for Rihanna’s fans); telling us there is a large fan base
viewing this video. This video caused much controversy for its drug use scenes,
which were often censored on television prompting a mass to complain, but this
still added to the numbers viewing the video. The appeal to teen audiences is
seen in the alternative fashion sense and skins-like lifestyle teens could
aspire to. The hair and outfits has also inspired many tutorial looks on
YouTube getting many views from young demographics.
Technology is used in this video to create interesting shots.
They use CGI to write firework/sparkler style writing saying “yours” and then
later a fake tattoo on Rihanna saying “mine” highlighting the possessive
relationship between the pair. Arhcive footage of explosions and cigarettes/drugs also cut in occasionally The video also uses colour to animate a
cigarette which has rainbow coloured ash. Finally we also see Rihanna throwing
up confetti, which would have been edited in post.
We will use similar conventions to this music video, such as
the projector and the romantic storyline. We also want to use a similar style
of opening with a sound collage.