(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6zdhHLvT7k)
Disturbia means contemplating or being disturbed about something, the song is about how Rihanna's mind is in Disturbia. This is obvious from the video set up, with all the dark colours, fast pace shots and flashing lights its clear the genre is related to horror in some way. The way the actors dance and flash from scene to scene make the underlying theme of the video seem evil and that there is something bad happening.
During the introductory period the camera flicks to a man who is turning a big ship like steering wheel, this gives me the impression that Rihanna is on a boat. In some scenes she appears to be tied up and help captive and in other shots she appears to be captain. This swapping or roles gives me an impression of juxtaposition, when good and bad or black and white are placed next to each other, in this case, its a prisoner and a captain.
At the start of the video Rihanna is sitting on an office like chair with dancers behind her, she looks almost superior to them, like they are her slaves. During the opening sequence, the camera flicks to a shot of Rihanna behind bars, there is a guard standing to the right hand side off the shot, it almost looks like she is being held capture under the watchful eye of a guard. Later on we see Rihanna with a rope round her wrist, she is struggling to escape, this enforces the fact that she is being held against her will.
Roughly half way through the video, the camera flashes to a scene with dancers, the shot is lit from behind, this gives the dancers an almost silhouette look about them. The dancers are dancing simultaneously to the beat of the song and almost look like zombies, to be more specific; they look like zombies from 'Michael Jackson’s' 'Thriller'.
The editing is very jumpy and cuts quickly to the next shot leaving no time for the viewer to look at characters properly and draw meaning from the video. The editing sometimes moves to the beat of the song. The lyrics match the codes and conventions of the music video, the first lyrics of the song are:
What’s wrong with me?
Why do I feel like this?
I'm going crazy now
Rihanna is asking us what’s wrong with her, why does she feel this way. Then she tells us she is going crazy now as a result of this. This is shown in the video by the scary looking dancers and the location, its always dark and looks very industrial and uninviting.
Camera movements in this video are no longer than two seconds, this is to keep in timing with the video as many shots change on the sound of the beat and to the fast pace music. The shots continue to flash on and off throughout the video. At some points in the video it is clear that some shots have been played over each other, for example, 44 seconds into the video we see Rihanna sitting on a thrown like chair, then her face appears in the left hand side of the camera. The two shots have been played over each other so you can see two clips at one time. Giving the impression that one shot is an imagination.
Short snippets of film and still images are constantly played over each other to give the impression that an actor or Rihanna is moving, when in real life it just a fast played sequence of still images and short clips. half way through the video (roughly 1 minute and 46 seconds), we see a dance scene where this technique is used to make still images look like the actors are moving/dancing.
While in this video Rihanna is playing herself in the narrative she does however perform to the camera, the camera is usually focused on her, and if not, one of her dancers. In most shots Rihanna is aware of the camera but in some she is not, and doesn't try to sing onto the camera, for example, at 3 minutes and 20 seconds into the video, we see Rihanna chained up by her hands and by her ankle, she is sitting on a chair struggling, and trying to escape. She does not notice the camera till the end of the scene, this is one of the longer scenes of video.
Close ups and medium close ups are regally used in this film to capture the emotions of the characters.
The lighting in this video is done very artistically, the scenes are mostly dark, but the scenes that are lit are usually lit from behind. Creating a silhouette like appearance on the dancers and actors. This fits in well with the mise-en-scene and creates a dark and eery look just like the rest of the video. In some shots fire is present, also enhancing the dark and evil theme.
When the scenes are lit, they are lit my long cylinder like florescent white lights. in some scenes when they are quite dark, the florescent-lights glow and emphasize the mise-en-scene.
Sound in the video is mostly non diajetic (the music) apart from the beginning and then end when there is diajetic sound. You see Rihanna run her fingers along the piano keys which makes a noise, this sound of the piano keeps playing throughout the introduction and until the music starts. The shots change on the sound of the piano, the camera flicks to a dancer who is chained up, this dancer moves to the sound of the of the piano noise. The editors have used sound very cleverly in this introduction, using the music as diajetic sound, like its not meant to be there and the characters have created it.
Task: Questions
The video and lyrics to the song relate well together, Rihanna is talking about being 'in Disturbia', and then later on in the song she says 'release me from this curse, I’m trying to escape but I’m struggling'. In the music video during these two parts of the song, Rihanna is behind some metal bars, her eyes are fully white like she has a curse upon her; she is pulling at the bars and looks distressed. This relates back to the lyrics as she says 'release me from this curse', and 'I’m trying to escape'. This makes the lyrics more real and emphasizes the video and it meanings.
2. How do the place and atmosphere generated by the mise-en-scene and technical code relate to the musical style and vocal delivery?
The place that the video is recorded at looks very horror film like, its dark and eery scenes emphasize the atmosphere generated by the mise-en-scene and technical codes. The beats to the song are fast and exciting, true to the genre, the music video follows along with this, its fast and jumpy editing creates an unusual sense of evil, something like you would find in a horror film.
- 'Hold Your C
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