1. The video I decided to analyse was “We
Found Love” By Rihanna Ft. Calvin
Harris.
This video is 4 minutes and 36 seconds
long however the actual music in the
video doesn’t start until 52 seconds into
the video.
This music video, like the previous one I
looked at (Lady Gaga-Telephone) has
speech at the beginning of the music
video. This briefly tells a short story, as if
introducing the video and what it is all
about. During this ‘speech’ there is a line
along the lines of “When its over” which
instantly makes the audience viewers
predict that the ‘love’ in this video is going
to end probably by the end of the music
video or song.
The music in this video doesn’t
actually start until, as previously
mentioned, 52 seconds into the
video. After the ‘speech’ part of the
video, there is a loud crash of
thunder and onto the screen flashes
lightening. It is only once this has
happened that the song and
Rihanna’s singing actually starts.
Throughout this video, there are many visual links. Andrew Goodwin identified visual
links as a characteristic of a music video. Andrew Goodwin said “There is a
relationship between the lyrics and the visuals” and also said “There is a relationship
between the music and the visuals”. This video is a prime example of how the music,
lyrics and visuals can link together to create a music video. This has been used
throughout this video to ensure audience viewers know and understand the music
video and also to make it more appealing.
The title of the video “We found love in a hopeless place” has been portrayed
throughout this video, using the visuals and lyrics link. The couple can be caught
showing affection to each other in a number of random or hopeless places such as

2. the takeaway shop which I have included a screenshot of. There are also visual links
of shadows and lights when they are mentioned in the music/lyrics.
Although in this video personally
I do not feel there is a clear show
of voyeurism, there are a few
scenes/shots that provoke the
thought of women being sleazy
such as when she gets o the
table in the takeaway and starts
dancing, flapping her clothes
around.
Another example of this is
how throughout this video
women are portrayed to be
vulnerable, mostly through
the use of drugs. We see
drugs flying around the
screen shortly after we see
Rihanna flapping her
clothes around the screen.
Later on in the video we
also see the man inject a
women with what we can only think of as drugs being injected. This again shows
how women are vulnerable and men are easily seen as the powerful object over a
woman.
The screen shot to the right again shows
how in this video, women have been
portrayed as vulnerable and also how
they are seen as an object. We see in
the video a group of men together, of
whom we assume are Rihanna’s
partners friends. The next thing we see
is Rihanna being held up by all the men
as if they can control her easily. The way
the lift her up and she looks powerless

3. again reinforces that whilst she does not have two feet on the ground, the men are
once again in control of her.
In most of the shots of the
video, it is both of the couple
who are shown. Whilst this
shows their love that is
mentioned in the title of the
music video/song, it also
portrays that the woman is
the mans possession and
cannot leave his side.
The upbeat an quick music
makes this video a fun and
lively video, as do the visuals.
There are many shots for this video taken in the bath and in a dirty and untidy
bedroom; both of these places are quite hopeless, once again linking to the lyrics,
visuals and music attached to this video.
The R’n’B genre in this music video is not just obvious through the actual music, but
is also portrayed through lots of choreographed dances and the whole video seems
to be styled around dance and movement.
Joe Gow identified six central genres of music video, and these are all defined in
terms of their relationship to the display of performance. One of these was ‘the song
and dance number’. I feel that Rihanna’s ‘We Found Love Ft. Calvin Harris’ video fits
into this category of genres. Joe Gow described ‘the song and dance number’ genre
as “videos which focus on the physical abilities of the dancing performer(s) and the
vocal presentation of the song, usually through lip-syncing techniques. Another of his
genres is ‘the anti-performance piece’ which he explains as being the genre of
“videos which do not contain performance of the song”. Personally, although there is
many visual/lyrical and musical links in this video, I don’t feel the video actually
performs the lyrics or music.