man down - rihanna- narrative analysis

There are several types of narratives within music videos. 
1. Linear narrative - beginning, middle and ending in chronological order
2. Non- linear narrative - order of events are fragmented/not chronological
3. Open ended narrative- cliffhanger at end of video, no clear ending
4. Closed narrative- ending is resolved and clear 

An example of a non-linear narrative is "man down" - Rihanna

The video begins at the end of the narrative, establishing the non- linear narrative. The lighting is very warm toned, perhaps connoting evil or fire, as the main character commits a murder. Digetic sound of a gun being fired is heard as she fires the weapon. Close up shots of the main characters face represent her star image and medium close ups of the victim are shown so that the audience learns his face, as it will appear again later in the video.

A shift in time occurs as the screen fades to black and reads "yesterday morning". The main character is then shown wearing a white outfit, symbolising innocence and purity, contrasting with what we just saw her do.

She greets people in the neighbourhood, hugging children and old people giving a loving and caring image, appearing to be well liked. Then, she appears in a bedroom with the curtains drawn wearing darker clothing and hair dropping over her face, a more sinister appearance. Her lyrics are narrating the story, and she appears next to a waterfall afterwards, so the settings are constantly juxtaposing between pure, light and dark, evil.



Rihanna appears in a club setting, with high lighting contrast, juxtaposing the bright lighting from the previous scene on the each and then the point of view is suddenly the camera spins as if we are looking out into the room ourselves, which stops when Rihanna enters showing the focus is on her as she is acting out the narrative.




Later she is wearing a red outfit, representing lust but also danger as she kills someone in the video. The camera angles go from mid shots to long shots and
are low angled, making her seem more powerful. 
The man she is with in the club also wears red, symbolising that he is the other main character in the video. He attacks her outside the club and Rihanna's hair slowly covers her face in the next shots while she switches from the violent scene to a pure waterfall dressed in white, because in the video she is both innocent while being attacked, yet guilty and evil when she murders him.

Towards the end of the video, the warm toned settings have come full circle completing the story back to how it started, at the end.