ROMENA VASANTH

Love the way You lie

Close up

The song commences with a close up of Rihanna singing infront of a burning house and throughout fire is used to symbolise both the burning desire of their love but also the destruction it brings them. The shots of Rihanna singing appears throughout the song.

High angle medium long shot

As soon as five seconds into the video the actress Megan is shown to be sleeping next to her lover through an angle shot which highlights how we are looking down on their relationship.

Fire effect

In this shot the Mise en scene is important as she is in a dark surrounding which highlights the light of the fire giving it significance.The women is holding the fire in her palm

Medium long shot

At 0:26 the rapping starts with a low angle medium close up shot of Eminem standing in a field. There is a focus pull here transitioning from the grass to the singer.

Medium close up

The shots quickly jump from one shot type to another which is consistant with the pace of the rapping. This is a medium close up shot where Eminem is looking directly at the camera which is useful for addressing the audience directly. As well as this there is a reflection on the lense of the sunlight which illustrates a lighter mise en scene showing a sense of freedom incomparison to the dark house.

Introduction to the narrative

At 0:30 seconds, the audience are introduced to what is happening between the two characters. This shot shows a close up of the guy's hand which brings the two characters to argue.

Establishing shot

Wide frame of Eminem rapping - effectively shows his location and the camera moves around him whilst he stands in one place singing.

fight scenes

The scenes of fighting continue to jump back and forth between Eminem singing and the things happening between the two characters. This is done effectively through the fast jump cuts and close ups to indicate how everything is closing in and fast paces and opposed to the establishing shots of Eminem and the scenes of Rihanna singing.

Linking the song to the characters

The lyrics follow the narration between the two characters, "Where you going... I'm leaving you." Which helps to link the story to the music. From this point the camera tracks the female protagonist walking through the house.

Composition

In this frame the girl is closer to the camera and we can see her facial expressions more clearly, and behind her we also have a clear view of the man trying to make things better between them as he has done something to upset her but quickly she becomes annoyed. The location is important as it is where the breakdown of their relationship is focused. This helps the audience relate to the video as most other couples who argue is mainly at home.

Domestic violence

This shot is taken from the side where we can see both characters as they push each other. By doing this we can also see the man punch the wall and how much they wont to hurt each other but can't.

Changes in their relationship

By quickly changing shots between them arguing and kissing it signifies the changes in the relationship with how quickly everything moves. It also juxtaposes nicely how much they love and hate each other but also how their relationship is both good and bad.

Panning forward

There is a fast panning shot forward to where the male is sitting thinking on the sofa which immediately cuts to a different location. It is almost as if he is thinking back to something that happened as the next shot is at a bar.

Bar location

When the next verse starts at 1:41 it is set in a bar where we can see the man drinking whilst the girl is having a good time but getting attention from another man. It is clear that this frustrates the male protagonist, which is shown later in the video when he smashes a bottle on someone's head out of jealousy.

Low angle medium close up

The shot doesn't remain in one location as it quickly changes from the bar, to the shops to the home again demonstrating how their relationship also breaks down external to the home. This scene is very powerful as it shows her emotional anguish as if she cannot escape the relationship because she is too far in love. Through the low angle shot we feel sympathetic for her position.

Slowed down

This is another location that the shots transitions between. Here they are at a shop and the male protagonist steals some alcohol for them to drink after. Also, the camera tracks to two characters as Megan looking back is slowed down in a close up then her lover follows behind her.

Instances of their love

At this part the two people are kissing and the clips are slowed down. The video has been interestingly put together with the various shot types showing the progression of their relationship which simultaneously follows the lyrics of the song.

Medium long shot

What this connotes is that at the parts where they are shown to be in love everything is more slowed down to savour the moment and it makes it seem more majestic in contrast to the face paced shots of them arguing.

Over the shoulder shot

At 2:52 there is an over the shoulder shot where the male protagonist breaks the mirror and we can see the girl standing behind him, and her reaction to this is visible in the reflection.

Reaction shots

At 3:16 there is a close up of the the male protagonist's face and then when the camera quickly cuts to her face it is clear that she is saying that she is leaving him because when the shot jumps back to his face his reaction changes.

Reaction shot

The camera focuses on Megan's face which shows a sense of worry as if she cannot take the relationship no more but fears to hurt him.

Open view of the house

This is cleverly done by the director as opened the house up so that the camera can track the two people moving through the house without jumping from shot to shot. We have a shot of the women on one side of the door and the man on the other.

Symbolism of Fire

There are scenes of objects within the house being on fire. It is significant that this is shown at the end of the music video as it connects all the previous scenes to eventually show how everything has been burnt away and nothing will be left in their relationship if it continues in the same way.

Fire

It is effective to have the two lovers arguing infront of the burning house as it is almost as if they shouldn't be there since it is so dangerous, but they are not letting each other escape.

Rihanna and Eminem

The fire connotes destruction, chaos and war. Fire burns everything it does not discriminate, bringing nothing but ruin .

Estinguishing the fire

This shot returns to a scene from the beginning where the women protaginist was holding fire in her hands. Almost as if she was playing with fire, although here she has estinguished the flame. As if she is in control and like the fire in her hand she has to put a stop to the catastrophic.

The destruction of fire

Here it shows how fire effects everyone as the medium long shot shows the fire moving up his body.

Connection

By showing the rapper Eminem to be on fire also, it indicates how he has to been in a destructive relationship and no only does this fire element connect him to the song but also the characters within the music video. Along with the scenes that took place.

love consumes you

This continues the theme of the fire showing its end result and tiying together the other instances before where fire has been used.

Wide long shot

Here Rihanna and Eminem look back at the house once the music has stopped, as if they are looking back on their past relationships.

Final shot

This final shot is very impressive as it returns to one of the first shots within the music video, where the breakdown of their relationship begins. What this suggests is that even after all that and the sequences showing the changes in their relationship, it is in an endless cycle that in the end they will remain together. Possibly going through it all over and over again. It has a circular narrative where the story line ends where it begun.