Media Language Analysis | Rihanna - Rude Boy

"Rude Boy" is a song by a Barbadian singer Rihanna, taken from her fourth studio album, Rated R. Rude Boy is an up-tempo dancehall song which incorporates elements of ragamuffin. The song received mixed to positive reviews from critics;some called it is the highlight of the album, but other criticized Rihanna's "monotone" and "icy" vocal performance. The music video of this particular song is based around the use of various graphic effects which indeed makes the video stand out against other music videos available on the net. The use of very colorful special effects makes the video intriguing for the audience as well as allowing the artist to show herself in a very unusual way.

Cinematography/Editing/Mise-en-scene

At the very beginning of the music video, we can see Rihanna introduce herself in a very strong manner. A close-up has been used to convey the impact she has on the ground e.g. the floor changing colour when she steps which to us shows her being very dominant. I believe that this has been used deliberately to capture the audiences attention as they have a limited view due to the close-up and the strong message it conveys. By the song fitting into the dancehall category I believe that this strong stump with her foot could link into that music genre, as dancehall is mainly associated with very decisive dancing moves which convey feelings as well as temper of the dancer.

Following the close-up we can see the artist being shown using a multi-image shot on the screen. This is not a common view in music videos, however I believe that by the artist implementing this shot she does underline herself as the artist, but mainly the dancehall genre. This is because in this shot we can see a drum set, whereas drums are essential to dancehall music as they construct the beat. The special effects used in this shot make it quite simple as the main purpose of them is to emphasise the artist, however we can see a squared background being added and a spray like border.

This special effect which has been used in the music video portrays Rihanna twice on the screen which to the audience emphasises her lip-sync as well as her body movement. By this the audience can easily see the artist perform the song which does indeed make the song performance based, however by the clever use of special effect and props its quite concepts based. This concludes onto me believing that the music video is a hybrid. Additionally, a second special effect which has been used in this scene is the placement of "Rude Boy" text in the background behind the artist. This has been placed there deliberately to underline the lyrics of the song as this text appears during the chorus of the song. The same use of special effects can be seen used later on. The mise-on-scene in this shot shows the character wearing quite summer related clothing as she is wearing a vest which does signify the region where the dancehall music comes from. She is also wearing jewellery, large earrings and sunglasses which could also be signifiers of hip hop music, however in this instance they have been used to emphasise the Barbadian temper of the song and the artist.

Here we can see a second use of the special effect in order to emphasise the lyrics of the song. This shot presents a dancer with "Want Want" text on top of him. Again this is a very useful technique as it allows the audience to keep up with the lyrics as well as grabbing their attention as the music video consists of flashing images. I believe that this special effect technique does go against the dancehall genre as I mainly associate dancehall with dancing therefore the song does not need any particular lyrics. In this song the emphasis on the lyrics is not as necessary as it mainly is in dancehall songs.

The mise-en-scene in this shot fully depicts a very exotic surrounding which the music genre originated. As a symbol of this we can see that Rihanna has placed a fake lion which she uses as a prop for her to pose against. Additionally the special effects in this shot cause the surrounding to look very cartoony, representing a very warm country due to the colours used and the rocky sculptures they represent. Rihanna is wearing clothes which do resemble a leopard print. This again represents a hot country as well as making her contrasts with the surrounding and the lion she has on her side.

At around 1:11 into the song we can see a very good example of a fast paced cuts which are there in order to link with the songs lyrics. The lyrics at that time talks directly about the "rude boy", who is then represented using the cuts as they represent quite masculine.In this sense masculinity would convey the rudeness Rihanna is singing about. The use of fast paced shots does indeed make the music video seem faster and snappier. By the artist using fast paced cuts in a section of a video it does make the video go with the genre presented as dancehall music does vary in pace.

This is a very good example of special effects being used in order to construct the video. A ripping paper effect has replaced an ordinary cut, making the video by far more attractive for the audience.

Sound
Throughout the song we can see the artist performing as well as dancing and modelling therefore the sound we hear is very mixed. I believe that the song is a hybrid of both diegetic and non-diegetic sound as partially we can see the artist lip-sync with the song and partially the song presents shots which do not convey any performance from Rihanna's side. By the music video conveying such combination of diegetic and non-diegetic sound I believe that it makes the music video quite intriguing. This is because at times we can see the artist perform and the lyrics on screen due to the special effects which allows us for easy following of the song, however at times where there is no artist or on screen lyrics we have to focus on the song and listen carefully. This way the artist makes sure the audience is kept focused on the song, and additionally is allowed to implement secondary shots which reflect the genre.