The document analyzes the music video for Rihanna's song "Diamonds". It describes two main characters, with Rihanna being one of them. The video uses cross-cutting between scenes to tell a story that is open to interpretation. Scenes include Rihanna smoking diamonds, floating in a river, and standing alone in a field with a horse. The dark color palette and Rihanna's minimal clothing are meant to set a moody tone. Diamonds are prominently featured as an iconic element due to the song title.

1. Characters- In the music video there are
two characters. One character that we see all
the way through is Rihanna. The other
character you do not see the face of. The
other characters hands and arm are in one of
the shots. This genre of music often refers to
love and relationships therefore it is
stereotypical to have a male appear in the
music video as well as the female artist. In
one of the shots Rihanna appears to be
naked. This is also stereotypical of this genre
of music; as female artists are normally seem
as sexual and provocative. As well as this
Rihanna also appears to be smoking drugs in
the video, which is not necessarily
stereotypical as her target audience may be
younger children, that may be easily
influenced from Rihanna’s actions.
Technical/ audio codes- The use of cross
cuts is present in this video. This is so that a
new and different scene can be shown. This is
done to tell a story through the video. As well
as this cut alway’s are also used throughout.
This is when they cut in the same scene to
make it appear different, for example a
different point of view. There is no diegetic
sound throughout the video as all of the
music played is over the video, as there is no
performance throughout the video.
Mise en scene- In the mise en scene the
colours used are mainly black and white and dark
blues and greys. This could be to show the mood
of the video and show that something bad has
happened, referring to a break up of a
relationship. As well as this Rihanna’s clothing is
minimal. In one of the shots she is seen to wear
no clothes. This is showing us the many tattoos
that Rihanna has on her body. This is good
representation of this type of genre as many
female artists have tattoos on their bodies.
Narrative events- The narrative order is
contextual. There is no performance throughout
the video. The video shows cross cuts to different
scenes and seniors as though it is trying to tell a
story. One scene shows Rihanna smoking
diamond in a rolled up Cigarette. This may be
stereotypical of the R’n’B genre, as money seems
to be present a lot. Through Rihanna ‘smoking’
the diamonds it shows she is not interested in the
actual real value of the diamonds. In another
scene Rihanna is seen to be floating on a river
bed. This is enigmatic as this scene in the video
makes you wonder how she got there and why
she is floating on a river. This scene could be used
to tell a story she is trying to sing about in her
song. There is also another scene where Rihanna
is stood alone in a field, where is cross cuts to a
big black horse running through that same field.
The horse could be seen as a strong male in a
relationship and Rihanna is alone. The final scene
is when Rihanna is touching the mans arm, it
shows them breaking away and losing contact.
This could have connotations of a break up.
Iconography- One thing that is iconic of this
video is the diamonds used in the video. As the
song is titled ‘Diamonds’ you would imagine
that diamonds would be shown in the video,
although Rihanna has used them in a different
way. She has used Diamonds to put into a
Cigarette skin and rolled them up into a
cigarette. This is an iconic moment in the video.

3. Characters- There is one main character
throughout the video which is drake.
Another two characters do feature
throughout the video. At the start they
are shown working in the supermarket
where drake is working when he was
younger. This relates the title of the
music video ‘Started from the bottom’.
Throughout the video it shows the time
difference from when they used to work
there compared to the lavish lifestyle
they now live due to Drakes fame.
Setting- There are many settings
throughout the music video. One of them
being the Supermarket where drake used
to work when he was younger and before
his fame. It shows how he was working
the nights shifts. As the video goes on it
shows a period of time and how drakes
lifestyle is now. It shows him in many
lavish places. Such as in clubs, on private
aeroplanes and in very expensive cars
and on holidays. This is showing how
time has changed the life in which he
lives.
Mise en scene- In the mise en scene there are
many props used that are relatable to the
genre of R’n’B. For example expensive bottles
of champagne, gold jewellery, expensive
clothing and private aeroplanes and flash cars.
These are all used to create and atmosphere
and also create the genre of the music video.
Iconography- One thing that is iconic in
this music video is the genre of R’n’B and
how it is presented throughout. For
example through props and narrative.
The gold chains and dark expensive
clothing is iconic of this genre of music.
As well as this the flash cars and the big
group of girls that are with them is also
iconic of a music video of the R’n’B genre
as money is often associated with R’n’B
Narrative events- At the start of music
video it shows Drake working at the
super market which he worked at when
he was younger. It shows him getting a
promotion to ‘store night manager’. It
shows how happy Drake is to have the
promotion and it also shows how
grateful he is. Cross cuts are used
throughout the music video to show the
period of time and the changes in his
lifestyle. Then throughout the rest of the
music video it shows the different places
and the different things drake does in his
day to day life. For example driving in his
flash cars and on his private jet. As well a
this it shows him with a lot of women.