Music Video Analysis

 Rhianna - Disturbia 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1mU6h4Xdxc

Rhianna's single "Disturbia" was produced by Brian Kennedy and released  by Def Jam in June 2008. Its a dance pop genre with a fast dance groove and has been composed with 124 beats per minute; this song was originally written by Chris Brown but it was then decided that he thought the song would suit a women's voice more than it would a mans which is the reason why Rhianna sang it. 

The title to this song links extremely well with the visuals within this video, its a disturbing video but done in a subtle way. The video at the start is set in a surrealistic torture chamber where we see Rhianna smoking beside a piano. We then go on to see Rhianna in a cage where she is wearing lenses that are covering her eyes which gives them a all white look like she has rolled her eyes to the back of head. Almost zombie like. This immediately gives her power as she has a strong look and is portrayed as scary and spooky. At the Bridge of her song Rhianna includes a thriller style dance routine. The bit i like most of the video is the fact that they overlay Rhianna's face with the dance routine, this to be bring true emotion to the video and because there is a lot going on the viewer will become engrossed in this video which is what any artist wants. 

Through this video Rhianna is in control, she is the dominate one among the other dancers. Throughout this video also the main focus is Rhianna as most of the camera shots are of her, the close ups also show Rhianna which is another indication that she is the dominant one and the power is with her. The close ups of her are also to show emotion, facial expressions and her movement. This video contains a lot of jolt movements which are done sharply, e.g. when the spider crawls onto her shoulder, the jolts are also done to the beat which shows musicality.  The video is dark throughout most of it apart from a few odd bits of light, this light is shown when it hits Rhianna's face in close up also only a minority of the video actually represents the lyrics. 

There is a part in the song that talks about struggle and the video goes with the lyrics but for great deal of this video the back ground dancers and their movements speak for themselves. Rhianna is seen in the video with objects such as stuffed wolves and mannequins, they are seen as part of the world that is being portrayed in the video. In my opinion she feels comfortable with things like this around her whereas some people wouldn't find this normal especially when shes all over a male mannequin instead of a real man. When we see Rhianna chained to the floor trying to set herself free, there are many shots used throughout this scene and they all go in time with the beat. Although the stuffed animals and mannequins are weird Rhianna is also surrounded by strange looking men and transvestites. She looks as if she comfortable with all these things being around her like its the only life style she has. 

An effect that i love within this video is when Rhianna shakes her head etc and its been edited to give it a dizzy effect because it looks like the whole image is shaking. 

This video is a subtle disturbing video and i think that's what Rhianna has tried to give off here. It shows a way of life and what is within it, its also a video that explains fully the title of this song "Disturbia"