Rihanna's "We Found Love" music video tells the story of a passionate but unsustainable relationship between two lovers through drug and alcohol abuse. It is set in a gritty portrayal of modern British culture featuring council estates, pubs, and drug/alcohol fueled scenes. Throughout the video, various camera techniques are used to construct a realistic feel and engage viewers as the relationship unravels, culminating in Rihanna being alone at the end to emphasize it was just a role, not who she is in real life.

1. JEVAN’S
MUSIC VIDEO
ANALYSIS
RIHANNA - WE FOUND LOVE

2. INTRODUCTION
In Rihanna’s ‘We Found Love’ music
video the main theme revolves
around two lovers who are in an
unsustainable relationship
based on passion and drugs.
And the music video utilizes
many varied representations
and institutions very
effectively throughout the
video to promote, publicize and fund
her and her new single.

3. The location for the video is a rough, gritty Britain, shown
immediately in the music video’s establishing shot of a set of
council estates. Also throughout the course of the video
there is further usage of council estates along with small
shops, pubs and one room flats for many of the locations
throughout the video to help sustain the deprived and poor
setting. There is also a use of camera filter which seems to
enhance the greys making for a much duller image to bolster
the mood and atmosphere.
In the video Rihanna plays a young British girl in love with
her boyfriend, played by Dudley O’Shaugnessey – a Chris
Brown look-a-like and so the narrative could also link to
Rihanna’s past relationship with Brown that resulted in many
arguments and a case of physical assault. This is also
supported by the scenes of mild violence displayed in the
video, and could possibly feature to link to these physical
assault cases.

6. The entire video shows Rihanna in love – representing the
‘We found love’ aspect. And the video also presents the
dysfunctional, alcohol and drug-ridden, out of control lives
that are typically related to the British teenager stereotype
today, and this section represents ‘The hopeless place’.
The British teenage stereotype is highlighted throughout the
video with, as I have already said, the locations; and it is
further conveyed by the male gaze with the use of sex, and
evocative scenes, also with the alcohol and drug abuse
which many of us relate with the British teen culture today,
and all of this also has intertextual references to the many
British teen dramas now broadcasted all over the globe, for
instance the ‘Skins’ series usually uses the same sorts of
themes to the video, and also the ‘This is England’ programs
use very similar settings.

10. The music video begins with an establishing shot of a typical
British council estate, already implying the elements of
declaration and poverty, and also uses some cross media
promotion showing a shot of Rihanna as a silhouette linking
to the images used throughout her digital marketing
campaign.
The beginning part of the video is at the end of the narrative,
and starts with a small section of dialogue introducing the
narrative and re-telling and reflecting on the story. The
voiceover is read by Agyness Deyn, whose strong Northern
accent further represents the British element of the video.
During this dialogue the viewer is shown a variety of shots
showing the two main characters both alone and together to
highlight their importance, and all of these shots throughout
the video are at an eye angle recorded with a handheld
camera with a lot of camera shake to help construct realism
and to make the viewer feel attached and involved in the
narrative.

13. After the dialogue the piano playing stops and the viewers
are then shown a lightning strike that represents the
flashback to the beginning of the story, using pathetic fallacy
to reflect the mood, and is also used to start the beat and so
links the visuals to the music using Goodwin’s theory.

15. Throughout the rest of the video the audiences are shown
various scenes in which Rihanna and her partner are
partaking in drug/alcohol fuelled activities, breaking the law,
or arguing with one another. Throughout this piece there are
a lot of clips showing metaphorical destruction to highlight
all of the negative events that occur in the video.
There is also a huge amount of camera techniques used to
further bolster the out of control atmosphere. The build up to
the chorus alone uses a huge number of cuts making for fast
paced and disjointed montages, which continually cut back
to the two shot with the couple spinning around with the
camera with the shot time becoming increasingly shorter as
the song prepares to go into the chorus to make for a very
disoriented effect.

20. During these scenes there is also a vast array of product
placement this is monetisation aspect used to help fund the
video and also to promote other products, for instance in this
video Doc Martins shoes, Sanex cleaning products, and
Carlsberg beer are all shown/promoted.
There are also the demands of the record label which means
that there usually needs to be close ups of the artist during
the video to increase the artist visibility, these are clearly
shown in the video in the more performance oriented
sections of the video. The other artist featuring in the song,
electro star Calvin Harris, for producing ‘We Found Love’ is
also displayed in the video to meet his record label demands,
as shown in an earlier outdoor party scene where he is the
DJ. The whole piece is also recorded with what seems like a
handheld camera at eye angles to construct realism and then
help the viewers feel more attached and involved, increasing
the connection aspect between the artist and the viewers,
and to also make the whole video more believable and
realistic.

24. The video finishes with the whole story coming back to the
present showing highlighting a circular narrative, showing
Rihanna back in her flat alone after leaving her boyfriend.
Despite all of the rebellious and wayward behaviour
performed by Rihanna she still succeeds in setting a good
example by finishing with a close up of herself looking a lot
more presentable that basically highlights the fact that the
girl in the video is not the real her and that she is still a role
model for her fans.