Class discussion for "we found love" by Rihanna

As a class we discussed how different techniques are used to keep the audience interested in the video for "we found love" by Rihanna.

This is a narrative video which shows a young couple who are in love, it shows how a relationship evolves into something that they no longer want. Step by step the relationship becomes worse as faults in the persons personality become clearer, the lust clouded eyes seem to open and they realise the truths about each other, that love is no longer enough and that it is suffocating them as it is hurting them both. Although if they are apart they will be upset but being apart will save them from each other. It shows a sense of loneliness in Rihanna and that although they are together she is still somehow on her own. There is a scene when they look at each other in the bath, they both look like they hate each other as if they have gone to war with one another, this creates a sense of tension and conflict inside them both and that at some point something will cause an argument between them.

It starts of showing a block of flats in and establishing shot, this sets the scene and gives a sense of being trapped but although this place seems like a prison or a place of misery even love can prevail, as the chorus lyrics suggest 'we found love in a hopeless place', found being in the past tense which could suggest that it is no longer there anymore, this begins to hint at the possible ways that the relationship could have spiralled into to make end.

The scenes switch from a slow one, to one filled with a lot of energy like the one where there is a
crowd around them and they are dancing in mud. To me this shows that even though they are not in particularly nice place they are 'high' on the presence of each other, so that 'love' is their drug.
This video is clearly telling certain aspects of her very public relationship with Chris Brown, as even the main male character looks like him, although some key details were left out, such as when she was physically abused, they do show an inseperable bond and tolerance of his behaviour by her.
The clothes she wears shows a different side of her character as normally she is seen in highly fashionable clothing that is expensive to keep her image 'fresh', but in this video we get to see a more relaxed and natural side of Rihanna. This could be her going back to her 'roots' or simply that she didn't have to pretend to be anyone else when around him, and that her true beauty could show and she could truly be herself.

As a group we noticed that each clip within the music video was no longer than 2-3 seconds long, each cut was in time with the music, this is the most common type of editing as it keeps the audience interested as the younger generation have shorter attention spans, and don't usually watch with their full focus.

Some scenes have been tried to be partially merged so that not every clip is shown with discontinuity, such as the clips where there is lightning then Rihanna is stood in front of a projector where the same lighning clip is being projected onto her. Although there is discontinuity all the way through it gives the effect of seeing a before and after of the life of Rihanna as it shows her on her own, singing, and then shows clips of her and the lead male character, as the song progresses and reaches the end the clip shows Rihanna walking away as if leaving the past behind her, and she is moving on to forget about it. This also suggests that she is telling the audience to forget about it as she is critisized for forgiving Chris Brown, and he is still shown in a bad light for his mistake eventhough he has appologised.

Timeline of the main sections of the whole song.

0:00 - Introduction
0:11 - 1st verse
0:36 - 1st Chorus
0:57 - 2nd verse
1:20 - Pre Chorus
1:26 - 2nd Chorus (x2)
1:50 - Bridge (x2)
2:10 - Pre - Chorus (x2)
2:39 - 3rd Chorus
2:50 - Outro 
3:06 - End