RIHANNA – DISTURBIA
Conduct an analysis
of a music video in any genre... You should make full use of the technical
terms studies last year for the analysis of TV drama.
In the music video
Disturbia, from Rhianna, the visuals add many semiotics to the audio and this
is done in a variety of different ways... I am going to look specifically at
Andrew Goodwin’s theoretical framework in order to analyse the music video.
Many transactions are used between the clips; mostly the
dissolving technique, and fading into another clip. The dissolving happens
quite frequently throughout the music video, one example is shown to the right
and this connotes a sense of confusion for the star image, which in this case
is Rihanna, the artist. As seen on the right, both images are close up’s of the
women, one a front close up and one a close up of the side of her face, (the
fact that the star image is frequently shown with a close-up shot could be
because major labels sometimes expect close-ups of their star so that they are
the main person seen in the video – possibly because of advertising) in both
close-up’s on the screen shot above, both show that she is very disturbed, as
she is looking away from the camera and in both she looks very distressed and
deep in thought. Both these denotations connote that she is in an environment
in which she feels quite isolated in, enhanced more so because she is the only
person in the shots making her look more alone and scared, the narrative in
these parts of the video show that the women is very confused, and the overlap
of the two clips suggest that she is quite tormented as her thoughts are all
over the place, the numerous amounts of dissolving could also be to represent
the amount of time that she is trapped in the torture, as it could connote
different timescales. – relating to Andrew Goodwin’s theories, these clips of
her looking distressed could suggest that synaesthesia is being used, as the
visuals are emerging from the sound, as throughout the audio there are many
overlaps and fast beats which correspond with the fast, quick and sharp images;
this is used throughout, as the quicker the music beats, the quicker, and
shorter clips are used. Also relating to this – Roland Barthes theory of the
grain of voice, he thinks that the singing voice is an instrument of its own
and therefore can make associations of its own – this could relate to the music
video ‘Disturbia’ because the audio in the song is already very brutal and
harsh, with quick, fast, jagged beats and so even without the visuals of the
video the audience could still imagine the artist (Rhianna) feeling very
distressed, and in a very miserable and confused place.
The audio corresponds
with the visual in many ways throughout the video, for example near the
beginning, the lyrics ‘I’m going crazy now’ are used, and the visual shows
Rihanna, the star image, behind bars, ellipsis is used here, as very short
quick clips are omitted to make her look like she is moving very quickly, which
makes her look very disturbed, almost as though she is being tortured. The mise-en-scene
is of her being shown behind bars in some clips and tied up in others, with a
very dark and clustered theme throughout, all clips are set inside, and it
looks as though she is in cold, dark cellars which automatically connote danger
and uncertainty for the women. The video shows Rihanna tied up in various
positions and this could connote her vulnerability in the situation she is in,
and with the jagged music this creates a sense of urgency and shows how
constrained she must be feeling.
In particular shots, her
eyes have been edited so that her pupils aren’t there, thus creating a very
scary effect on the video itself, these shots are generally close-up, eye-line
matches which show her looking straight into the camera making the audience
feel her pain and horror, this also relating to the jagged and quick paced
music, as the ellipsis in the video also adds to the very distressed confused
theme of the music video, all these effects combined suggest that she is very
troubled, and is probably being tortured – this again is relating to the
narrative of the music video. As Goodwin explained, it is important that music
videos ignore common narrative, and the narrative and performance must work
hand in hand because this makes it easier for the audience to watch again and
again – this video does exactly that as the clips are very short and snappy,
which creates a very interesting theme throughout the visuals, and it makes the
audience want to involve themselves in the music video... the star image, (the
artist) acts as both the performer and the participant in the narrative, which
makes it even more interesting to watch as it helps to increase the
authenticity of the music video; the lip-sync used by Rihanna is used mostly
when she isn’t as dressed up with outrageous costumes and make-up, and it is
usually with a more mid-shot or close-up of the artist, so the audience can see
the star singing whilst stripped down and this helps relate the audio and
visuals to herself, as well as making the video seem more believable. All these
visuals respond to the music in an amplifying way as they add more meaning to
the audio of the song, as it tells the audience more about where she is and why
she is as distressed and confused as she is, which you might not have been able
to tell from just listening to the lyrics/audio.
As shown in the picture (the shot
of Rihanna with her eyes blurred out) this clip, of her is shown at a very fast
pace when the chorus of the song comes on, (which is the quickest part of the
audio, and is also the most jagged and peculiar part of the song... visual is
also very peculiar – especially with the quick pace of the elision and the
blurring throughout the clips, thus connoting that she is quite ‘messed up.’ Many
of the clips from the video, shown in most of the pictures above are of high
entropy because they all contain unpredictable elements, for example the
visual’s of the artist tied up and in dark and weird poses, however on the
other hand, there are also some clips of Rhianna sat on a chair, with a
over-the-shoulder shot and she lip-syncs directly into the camera – this has an
element of redundancy as this is something that is quite predictable and sends
a conventional message – that she is just sat singing her heart out to the
camera, showing her emotion and her pain.
The image that he star is
creating is that she is in a very distressed place, and that is shown with the
distinctive ‘weirdness’ shown throughout the video. Another technical aspect which is used
frequently throughout the video is the unusual lighting, an example is shown to
the right, as there is a long-shot of the artist, with streaks of light down
the camera, this creates a dramatic effect, especially when linked with the
fast upbeat music, the sharp and fast lighting often appear on certain beats of
the song, and the lighting then cuts to another clip when the beat finishes and
this adds emphasis onto the audio track.
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