Textual Analysis 1

At the start of the video through the use of Mise En Scene we establish the mood the video is trying to create, the lighting is dark which connotes the feeling of mystery and dark negative emotions. We are presented with a shot of Rihanna’s feet as the first thing we see, this supports Mulvey’s theory as it connotes the idea of Rihanna’s face not been important and her body been the main focus, she also has no clothing on her legs which suggests seductive playful manner, she is wearing limited clothing which also supports this, the use of the colour red for her lipstick and red nails connotes the ideas of love and danger, she also is wearing a big fur coat and her top is made of diamonds, these both relate to wealth and are iconic of pop stars to show off their fame and the money they have, this is suggested by Richard Dyer with his star theory, the fact she is wearing sunglasses also supports this, they are an iconic image of celebrities and due to the lighting been dark she is not wearing them for their designed purpose, the sunglasses also restrict her eye contact with the camera so the audience can’t engage with her in as much depth as they possibly want, this also supports Mulvey’s theory as it is showing that it is not important for the audience to connect with her on a personal level as it is purely her body that is the important element, the use of slow motion and pans up her body also supports this idea as it portrays her body as a sexual object there for male satisfaction, specific cinematography dramatizes this and emphasizes what they want to think when watching her. Rihanna’s body movement throughout the video connotes provocative behaviour such as the twerking and biting her lip. The fact there is no males in the video is an important element, as throughout the video Rihanna is seen throwing money at the pole dancers, this is something stereo typically males do, you wouldn’t expect women to attend a pole dancing club and watch it for pleasure, the video creates the idea that she is taking on a male role but still uses her sexuality and body for power and dominance. The gold liquid she is dancing in and the green lighting connotes idea of wealth and money this links to the lyrics we hear ‘money make the world go round along with ‘all I see is dollar signs, money on my mind’ this suggests that the dancers aren’t happy with doing what they do but all they do it for is money, it’s like they have to do it to get somewhere in the world, the green lighting however could suggest envy, such as Rihanna been jealous for having to dance and show of her body in that manner to earn money yet men just get money to be able to throw away at dancers for their own pleasure as the dancers aren’t earning or gaining anything from it except money to survive. Conventions you expect to see in a Hip Hop/R&B music video are provocatively dressed women which is evident however you also expect to see some male element possibly them been the dominant ones however in this video there is no male aspect which challenges these conventions, in a male R&B music video the conventions are slightly different to that of a female music video, due to this been a female music video you would expect to also see dramatic styled hairstyles and dramatic eye makeup to catch the audiences attention, you would also expect to see the women in heels to elongate their legs, the higher the heels the longer the legs look, this is evident in the video as Rihanna has dramatic heels on and with a pan up her legs used it adds to the emphasis of dramatizing her legs.However the use of a lot of bold statemented jewellery is often associated to males such as chains, however in this video she is seen to be wearing a big statement top/necklace that covers her boobs but leaves a lot of her body still revealed, this challenges the stereotypes we have of the male/female image however helps to create this image of Rihanna playing a male role.