I would categorise this video into all 3 elements of performance, narrative and art. The narrative element is used to highlight Rihanna and is used to create her new image and persona allowing the reader to see a different side to her personality. In previous videos we see Rihanna having a ‘teen pop’ image, for example in ‘SOS’ and ‘If It’s Lovin That You Want’.
Whereas in more recent music videos for example ‘Rude Boy’ and ‘Hard’, she has adopted a much more erotic and sexual image rather than the teen pop princess persona we were so used to, and Rude Boy would be where viewers would have noticed the shift. This is a conventional RnB stereotype for women to have a sexual image to sell music.
Rihanna uses the choice of lyrics to look at the camera and wink demonstrating the nature of the song. This therefore tells the viewer the story visually which is easy to follow. Artistic elements have been shown through the different camera angles and graphics used. For example, there are drawn stars and crowns in the background to symbolise importance and show pop art which gives the video a more fun feel. The story for the video is also interspersed with shots of Rihanna performing through lip synchronisation and cultural dancing.
The video seems extremely animalistic through the use of costume and props as there are a lot of leopard and zebra prints which are very bold. Also, the video has a strong sexual nature throughout the music video through the use of lyrics. For example, the lyrics “Give it to me baby like boom boom boom” is highlighted within the video through graphics.
Also, her performance is of a sexual nature when dancing and seems to be of Caribbean culture. Her costume is not only very elaborate, but takes her back to her roots suggesting Jamaican dance-hall queen as her shorts are colours of the Jamaican flag. It is interesting to notice that she is wearing the colours of the Jamaican flag when she is actually Barbadian. This could be because Jamaica is more internationally popular when discussing Caribbean culture, and may be more recognisable to her audience. Furthermore, she has used her lips which is a famous trait to her and used it to her advantage by doing a multiple mirror image of them lip syncing to the music. Lighting is also significant as throughout the video it is very vibrant and colourful which suggests much filtering in post-production. There were also aspects of ‘black and white’ in a scene too, from her outfit, to the background and the zebra present.
There are a lot of close ups to highlight her choice of costume and to promote her, where in contrast there are also a lot of long shots which show her body and her clothes fully. She wants the audience to see her up close so she is easily recognisable, however she also wants the message of the song to come through by placing long shot of her body. Furthermore, there are many extreme close ups in the video which are of her lips; whether this is simply just her lips on its own, or the bottom half of her face with her lips being emphasised. In make-up, it would have been very important for her lips to have character and never to be plain. They have done this by her always-wearing red lipstick, which also has sexual connotations, or in another part of the video she has a lip piercing in which symbolises self-expression or rebellion.
Also from the editing process we can see many mirror images of her in a blurred effect. This gives the audience a bigger range for them to view her and ensures that no aspects of her will be missed, being that there are 2 or 4 images of her on the screen at a time. The video is very quick paced and has been edited a lot. The sequences of shots are never longer than 5 seconds as we are constantly seeing a different aspects and angles of Rihanna throughout the video. I timed the chorus of the video and through the length of the chorus, which is 20 seconds long; I saw 22 different shots that were very fast paced. This gives the viewer a lot to look at in a small amount of time as it is roughly a different image every second.
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