Thursday, 29 September 2011
Links
The aritist we have chosen as you already no by now is Jack Penate. To find out more about him visit www.JackPenate.com.
Textual Analysis : Rihanna - Unfaithful
The video that I will be analysing is ‘Unfaithful’ by a famous known RnB singer Rihanna. The director of this video is Anthony Mandler, he is well known among the music scene and is known for a lot of popular urban music videos which he has directed, his most popular client is Rihanna whom he has directed many videos for since the beginning of her career in 2005.
The genre of this song would come under RnB as that is one of the genres that Rihanna is best known for, but this particular song is a ballad, ballads are known for their narrative based lyrics which normally represent a form of poetry and the director of the video has succeeded to show that in this video.
I think that there are two main characteristics in the video, the most prominent characteristics to represent the ballad side are the scenes where Rihanna is performing the song in an empty theatre hall with her ‘lover’ and when she is backstage in the theatre getting ready. The reason why I chose these two characteristics to represent the ballad is because the genre of a ballad is to tell the story and to represent a form of poetry, to which these two scenes have done easily, as the viewer is able to sense immediately, the emotion and the actual extent of the story in those scenes. To me, the side that represents the RnB side of the song is probably the most dominant being the flashy jeep of her man, the neighbourhood in which the video is shot, as the viewer can immediately tell what type of area it is, mostly assuming that its a black, most probably impoverished area, as those are normally the settings used for RnB settings.
The relationship between the lyrics of the song and the visual is very strong. The basic set up of the video being in a café at the beginning where Rihanna first meets her lover, whilst being with her man , the performance shots where Rihanna is in the theatre performing her lyrics and story with her lover and some particular scenes being an exaggeration to the lyrics as there are some quite tough examples used in the lyrics, such as “our love, his trust, I might as well take a gun and put it to his head, get it over with” , when she quotes this , she is in the theatre performing with her ‘lover’, she is basically saying that she cant keep hurting her man because it’s killing him inside as he knows about her unfaithfulness, this may be a reason for the title of the song. In the same scene, you can see the passion coming from Rihanna’s character, she’s sitting next to her ‘lover’ while he is playing the piano and saying those words, the viewer may sense a slight reluctance from Rihanna’s character, sensing that she doesn’t want to give up her relation with her ‘lover’ but also doesn’t want to give up or hurt her man, better demonstrated in the phrase: “wanting her cake and eating it too” or a similar phrase “you cant have the best of both world”. A second important demonstration of the relationship between the song and the lyrics is “I don’t wanna be a murderer”, by this the viewer gets a remorse guilt but also exhaustion coming from Rihanna’s character, this shows that she is tired of the situation but they also sense a bit of confusion. The viewer can also see this as a connotation of being a murder as she don’t want to cause him pain, maybe to the extent, that this situation is literally destroying him after the lyrics “I don’t wanna do this anymore” , there is a strong heartbeat for about 10 seconds in which her and her lover get close, but the viewer realises that that was a sort of judgment time for her character, and the viewer assumes that those ten seconds were her making a decision of what to do, as at the end she comes out to hug her man.
I think there is also a strong relationship between the music and visuals. For example, what stands out to me the most is in the beginning, when there is piano being played at a very calm pace as Rihanna is getting ready also very calmly, then the beat seems to speed up with it first being the piano and then the violin which is being played very fast, this causes a dramatic effect which builds up a slight tensed atmosphere for the viewer, therefore the viewer will assume that something bad will happen or this song involves a problem, to which the director decided to flash different jump shots of Rihanna’s character with her man assuming to show and exaggerate the nature of her relationship, this example is also a point to prove that the video does change pace with the music as I explained.
To describe the relationship between any solo instruments, I would sum up the whole video and its effects as only the violin and the piano are used. But the more dominant instrument is without any doubt the piano. What makes the relationship even stronger is when the pace of the instrument changes, there is an immediate change in the visuals, no matter if it’s the scene, speed or the shots. One of the most dramatic piece of sound in the video is the 10 seconds heartbeat; this is a very strong link as it sums up the tone of the video and the story in the lyrics.
The record company was not only trying to sell this track but also the artist Rihanna herself, I think that because all of her released singles up till now have been the type that could be played in party’s or in a live atmosphere, however, Unfaithful is a much deeper song that could be felt by people, it involves emotions and the viewers could even relate to it. I also think that the record company went a little different on Rihanna this time, making her sing a slower song in which the viewers could hear the actual voice of Rihanna with just the company of the piano and violin. I think they tried to sell Rihanna as a diverse artist who could do a variety of sound, music and tone to her voice.
I think they way they tried to sell the track is firstly and most importantly being the narrative, as it isn’t the type we would normally see, and when we do, the narrative isn’t in much detail. Also, I think they wanted to show Rihanna as and artist being a normal person, with the same problems and the same situations as any other, by her being a adulterer in the video and many other women or men could relate to the narrative, whether it was the man woman vice versa being unfaithful. Another way is the characters that were used to cast in the video, for example if they chose unattractive characters for the video, the video wouldn’t be played which would mean that the record company would fail to make the track a hit. I think the overall way that this video was to represent the video was to represent the artist was to show her in a different light to what she’s been in already, the single was released a year after she came onto the scene, (when she was 16), so I think the concept of the video was not only to make her seem like a relatable person but also a matured person with the narrative of the song, most probably to attract a wider range of audience.
I think the audience would get the idea of the artist being on a sexual display, but I think that it’s done in a more sophisticated way, but still would be considered sexual form the audience. For example, in the video, Rihanna’s dressing, such as the tight black dress she wore in the beginning of the video when the piano was being played calmly, would be approved very seductive.
I think the video is both concept-based and narrative-based in an equal amount, the concept being about being unfaithful and the women making a decision and the narrative telling the story about the situation throughout the video. I think the director has been very smart when making this video, in other videos, they use narration in some small bits and the audience get confused about what is happening, but in this video they used a narrative consistently and the audience was very clear about what is going on in the video, the creativity put in this is amazing!
I think the ideological message being put across in this video is that first and mostly cheating all round no matter women or men, it only causes pain and confusion and your putting yourself and others into compromising decisions, I think the second more inspirational message would be the contradiction of a women stereotype that being we are and can be in control in any situation, though maybe in this video the situation is really bad, never the less , it shows that women are capable enough of doing every thing a man can do.
Overall, I would say that this video is very well made, due to the creative narrative and it also sends through allot of messages to the audience about the way that it represents gender and not being unfaithful with your partner because it will only cause you problems and difficult decisions. And not only does it send out a great message but also is relatable to the audience, and you could just watch the video to understand the lyrics of the song whereas just listening to the lyrics some people may not be able to understand what the song is about other than the emoting pain, which is another reason why this song is a success because of how well it explains the concept.
The genre of this song would come under RnB as that is one of the genres that Rihanna is best known for, but this particular song is a ballad, ballads are known for their narrative based lyrics which normally represent a form of poetry and the director of the video has succeeded to show that in this video.
I think that there are two main characteristics in the video, the most prominent characteristics to represent the ballad side are the scenes where Rihanna is performing the song in an empty theatre hall with her ‘lover’ and when she is backstage in the theatre getting ready. The reason why I chose these two characteristics to represent the ballad is because the genre of a ballad is to tell the story and to represent a form of poetry, to which these two scenes have done easily, as the viewer is able to sense immediately, the emotion and the actual extent of the story in those scenes. To me, the side that represents the RnB side of the song is probably the most dominant being the flashy jeep of her man, the neighbourhood in which the video is shot, as the viewer can immediately tell what type of area it is, mostly assuming that its a black, most probably impoverished area, as those are normally the settings used for RnB settings.
The relationship between the lyrics of the song and the visual is very strong. The basic set up of the video being in a café at the beginning where Rihanna first meets her lover, whilst being with her man , the performance shots where Rihanna is in the theatre performing her lyrics and story with her lover and some particular scenes being an exaggeration to the lyrics as there are some quite tough examples used in the lyrics, such as “our love, his trust, I might as well take a gun and put it to his head, get it over with” , when she quotes this , she is in the theatre performing with her ‘lover’, she is basically saying that she cant keep hurting her man because it’s killing him inside as he knows about her unfaithfulness, this may be a reason for the title of the song. In the same scene, you can see the passion coming from Rihanna’s character, she’s sitting next to her ‘lover’ while he is playing the piano and saying those words, the viewer may sense a slight reluctance from Rihanna’s character, sensing that she doesn’t want to give up her relation with her ‘lover’ but also doesn’t want to give up or hurt her man, better demonstrated in the phrase: “wanting her cake and eating it too” or a similar phrase “you cant have the best of both world”. A second important demonstration of the relationship between the song and the lyrics is “I don’t wanna be a murderer”, by this the viewer gets a remorse guilt but also exhaustion coming from Rihanna’s character, this shows that she is tired of the situation but they also sense a bit of confusion. The viewer can also see this as a connotation of being a murder as she don’t want to cause him pain, maybe to the extent, that this situation is literally destroying him after the lyrics “I don’t wanna do this anymore” , there is a strong heartbeat for about 10 seconds in which her and her lover get close, but the viewer realises that that was a sort of judgment time for her character, and the viewer assumes that those ten seconds were her making a decision of what to do, as at the end she comes out to hug her man.
I think there is also a strong relationship between the music and visuals. For example, what stands out to me the most is in the beginning, when there is piano being played at a very calm pace as Rihanna is getting ready also very calmly, then the beat seems to speed up with it first being the piano and then the violin which is being played very fast, this causes a dramatic effect which builds up a slight tensed atmosphere for the viewer, therefore the viewer will assume that something bad will happen or this song involves a problem, to which the director decided to flash different jump shots of Rihanna’s character with her man assuming to show and exaggerate the nature of her relationship, this example is also a point to prove that the video does change pace with the music as I explained.
To describe the relationship between any solo instruments, I would sum up the whole video and its effects as only the violin and the piano are used. But the more dominant instrument is without any doubt the piano. What makes the relationship even stronger is when the pace of the instrument changes, there is an immediate change in the visuals, no matter if it’s the scene, speed or the shots. One of the most dramatic piece of sound in the video is the 10 seconds heartbeat; this is a very strong link as it sums up the tone of the video and the story in the lyrics.
The record company was not only trying to sell this track but also the artist Rihanna herself, I think that because all of her released singles up till now have been the type that could be played in party’s or in a live atmosphere, however, Unfaithful is a much deeper song that could be felt by people, it involves emotions and the viewers could even relate to it. I also think that the record company went a little different on Rihanna this time, making her sing a slower song in which the viewers could hear the actual voice of Rihanna with just the company of the piano and violin. I think they tried to sell Rihanna as a diverse artist who could do a variety of sound, music and tone to her voice.
I think they way they tried to sell the track is firstly and most importantly being the narrative, as it isn’t the type we would normally see, and when we do, the narrative isn’t in much detail. Also, I think they wanted to show Rihanna as and artist being a normal person, with the same problems and the same situations as any other, by her being a adulterer in the video and many other women or men could relate to the narrative, whether it was the man woman vice versa being unfaithful. Another way is the characters that were used to cast in the video, for example if they chose unattractive characters for the video, the video wouldn’t be played which would mean that the record company would fail to make the track a hit. I think the overall way that this video was to represent the video was to represent the artist was to show her in a different light to what she’s been in already, the single was released a year after she came onto the scene, (when she was 16), so I think the concept of the video was not only to make her seem like a relatable person but also a matured person with the narrative of the song, most probably to attract a wider range of audience.
I think the audience would get the idea of the artist being on a sexual display, but I think that it’s done in a more sophisticated way, but still would be considered sexual form the audience. For example, in the video, Rihanna’s dressing, such as the tight black dress she wore in the beginning of the video when the piano was being played calmly, would be approved very seductive.
I think the video is both concept-based and narrative-based in an equal amount, the concept being about being unfaithful and the women making a decision and the narrative telling the story about the situation throughout the video. I think the director has been very smart when making this video, in other videos, they use narration in some small bits and the audience get confused about what is happening, but in this video they used a narrative consistently and the audience was very clear about what is going on in the video, the creativity put in this is amazing!
I think the ideological message being put across in this video is that first and mostly cheating all round no matter women or men, it only causes pain and confusion and your putting yourself and others into compromising decisions, I think the second more inspirational message would be the contradiction of a women stereotype that being we are and can be in control in any situation, though maybe in this video the situation is really bad, never the less , it shows that women are capable enough of doing every thing a man can do.
Overall, I would say that this video is very well made, due to the creative narrative and it also sends through allot of messages to the audience about the way that it represents gender and not being unfaithful with your partner because it will only cause you problems and difficult decisions. And not only does it send out a great message but also is relatable to the audience, and you could just watch the video to understand the lyrics of the song whereas just listening to the lyrics some people may not be able to understand what the song is about other than the emoting pain, which is another reason why this song is a success because of how well it explains the concept.
Sunday, 25 September 2011
We struggled to choose our music video, we decided to look at different videos from the type of genre that we have in common and liked, which included, RnB, Rap, HipHop, Pop; reason I decied to do textual analysis essays on songs from these genre. Toddla T "take it back" was an initiall idea and came under the genre of Dance. We liked the song but didn't think we had the resources to film this song. We decided to go more mainstream and looked at a video by Chris Brown. However, a mainstream artist is well known and to be compared to his video would actually probably prove to be too difficult. Looking at other peoples ideas in class we decided to choose an Indie/Rock genre song by Jack Penate "Torn On The Platform". We learnt that it had a much bigger target audience and would be easier to create rather than the genres we listened to or liked.
Sunday, 18 September 2011
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