Monday, November 21, 2011

We Found Love ft. Calvin Harris

Rihanna
We Found Love ft. Calvin Harris, 2011
Melina Matsoukas



Rihanna premiered this song in September 2011 and it has been a worldwide hit ever since. The accompanying music video has an experimental feel to it, as there are multiple hip hop montages and quirky aesthetic qualities to it. The scenes with the diluting eye balls, bouncing pills, and rainbow cigarette ash was pretty trippy and reminded me of "Requiem for a Dream." The director of Requiem, Darren Aronofsky, has gained some notoriety for his usage of those hip hop montages -- rapid fire images flashing across the scene. I thought that they were executed very well here and definitely added to the general feel of the video.

From a cinematography angle, the lighting is very natural with little in the way of artificial lighting utilized. This gives the whole video a darker feel -- think David Fincher -- which fit the narrative of back-alley drugs and psychedelic love. I think that all elements of the video, including the imagery, cinematography, and editing, came together quite nicely to perfectly fit the narrative of the song. It's dark, edgy, and operates a bit outside of the box.  This video seemed "different" compared to a lot of other music videos that are coming out these days, and the fact that it stands out from the rest is why I enjoy it so much.

2 comments:

K. Tyler Christensen said...

I am reminded of a great video from the band Groove Armada, "Paper Romance." Similar grit, similar in- focus, out of focus lens movements. This video also plays like an ad for Urban Outfitters clothing-- similar aesthetic. It's great. The song isn't half bad either.

Chris Tonn said...

I just watched that Groove Armada video; agreed, the two are both cinematically quite similar. And yes, besides for a couple of the "trippier" scenes that showcase some good ol' Molly bouncing around, I could definitely see the "We Found Love" video used as an Urban Outfitters commercial.

Both videos are great at conveying those gritty feelings and playing up a "darker" emotional angle.