Rihanna "Only Girl in the World" Video Analysis

To ensure that I have a firm grasp of conventions of videos which spread to all music videos, I am going to briefly analyze another video.
The one I have chosen is Rihanna- "Only Girl in the World"

• There is a recurring colour of red throughout the video; from Rihanna's hair to the flowers shown to the rosy sunset. Red obviously connotes love, and the idea that the world is being seen through "rose tinted glasses" could be used here; Everything seems perfect.
• Rihanna is the "only girl" in the video, which ties in with the lyrics "want you to make me feel like i'm the only girl in the world". She appears in a field and on a rock on her own, emphasizing the isolation of herself as the video is set in quiet places
• Indeed, the video could represent how civility has broken down and Rihanna is infact the only girl left. This is presented through the use of rural settings and, like Ke$ha's video, suggests that love overrules everything.
• Rihanna is mainly singing to the camera. This conveys intimacy and suggests that there are two people in the world; Rihanna and the camera man. She appears quite seductive and the camera angles often mimic the way she would be looked at; often she appears elevated, as if she is on a pedalstool.
• The rapid cuts between 0:00 and 0:17 show a main scene of Rihanna in a field, but cuts quickly to her face and then back to the scene. This editing technique is used to show all sides of Rihanna's personality and indeed, the fact that she is very much on her own here.
• The rose bush which we see at 00:22 conveys romance, as roses are flowers of love.
• At 1:24, we see Rihanna again laying in flowers. The constant use of flowers is a very feminine gesture and this also states how Rihanna is the only girl around. The flowers could represent all other girls in the world, which Rihanna stands out from.
• A rotaing axis from 1:33 follows Rihanna round; she is always the centre of attention. This mirrors how she is the focal point of the video and the camera angle could represent somebody's eyes, always following her around.
• At 2:24, Rihanna is clearly singing out accross the barren, and she is clearly expressing her desires "want you to make me feel... like i'm the only girl". The fact that she has to shout and stand on a cliff emphasizes her isolation.
• At 2:48, an interesting video effect is used. There is a strong drum, which sounds similar to a heartbeat, and with that sound is the flashing of different still scenes; we can see a quick change of Rihanna standing on a ladder in the sky surrounded by balloons to a close up of hr face. This effect enables us to see all of her, suggesting that she has nothing to hide, but also enhances the strong drum beat and hence her strong heartbeat and passion.
• Rihanna on a swing at 3:04 is suggestive of her freedom and power over the world, she appears to be looking down on it. The swing represents fun and enjoyment, and she appears as some sort of god as she has a birds eye view of the world.
• At 3:19, there is an image of Rihanna jumping into the air with fireworks exploding around her. She is jumping and streching her limbs out, as if to mimic the firework itself. This relates Rihanna to a firework and the fireworks can be seen as a metaphor for her; she is fun, energetic and explosive.
• At 3:56, Rihanna is filmed dancing underneath a tree. A handheld camera effect is used, suggesting that somebody is watching her frolicking, probably the person who she "wants [her] to make [her] feel like [she is] the only girl in the world". This conveys intimacy and privacy.
• As the video ends, we see a great image of Rihanna in the sky, again next to a firework. At this point, she appears god-like, which reinforces the idea that she is indeed the only girl in the world, or at least the most important one.