Analysis of Calvin Harris - This Is What You Came For (Official Video) ft. Rihanna and Clean Bandit - Symphony feat. Zara Larsson [Official Video]

1. Analysis of a music video
By Wiktoria Paetz

2. Links to the
Music videos
Calvin Harris - This Is What You Came For (Official Video) ft.
Rihanna
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOkQ4T5WO9E
Clean Bandit - Symphony feat. Zara Larsson [Official Video]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aatr_2MstrI

3. Conventions used
Calvin Harris ft Rihanna- This is what you came for
The different types of music videos include: performance,
narrative and abstract. This music video uses performance and
abstract to convey it’s meaning. The generic conventions of a
music video are clearly shown as the camera focus mainly on
the artist/performer (Rihanna) with the use of long shots, mid
shots and close ups. The genre of the music video is electro-
pop. The video shows conventions of this genre quite
effectively with the continuous use of the synthesizer
throughout the video. Use of a fast-cut montage provides a
professional look for the video. The set is unique and bold as
the centre of the focus is a cube that projects backgrounds that
Rihanna interacts with. There is use of three locations which
include the dessert, club and forest, however in each location
Rihanna is still in the cube. The videos main concept revolves
around the cube being in different locations, This makes it look
very modern and original which is what the conventions of the
genre include. There is a light-hearted relaxed atmosphere with
is emphasised by the bright colours and lights used in the
music video.
Clean Bandit ft Zara Larsson- Symphony
This music video uses performance and narrative to
convey its meaning. There are many long shots, mid
shots and close-ups to to present the singer and the
emotional narrative in a way that sparks the audience's
attention. The genre of the music video is electro pop,
the video definitely use conventions of the genre as
their is use of a synthesizer through the video. There is
use of four locations in the video: The street, stage,
house (couples house) and the park. The narrative
happens in the three locations while the performance is
set in only one locations which is a generic conventions.
Theres use of stage lights on the performer makes the
video look modern and extragovent which is part of the
electropop genre conventions.

4. Camera work
Calvin Harris ft Rihanna- This is what you came
for
The camera shots start of with extreme long
shots establishing the three locations the cube is
in. The shots after that are mainly focused on
Rihanna showing that she's inside the cube.
There's constant use of long shots, mid shot and
close ups to highlight Rihanna's performance of
lip syncing. The camera uses pan and zoom to
complement Rihanna's movements while the
change in projection inside the cube is happening
throughout the video. We can see long shot
projections of Calvin Harris towards the end of
the video but only for one/two seconds which
implies to us that overall the camera work is
focused on Rihanna more.
Clean Bandit ft Zara Larsson- Symphony
The establishing shot is a bird's eye view, extreme long
shot, the birds eye view shot is used many times
throughout the video making it quite unique in terms of
camerawork. The video has many two shots as the
narrative revolves around a gay couples relationship
and the unfortunate death of one of them, the two
shots show their closeness and bond which will make
the audience feel sympathy for the man's loss of his
lover. There are also lots of pans and tilts used when
the artist is singer most likely to centre the attention on
them and the performance as a whole.

5. Editing
Calvin Harris ft Rihanna- This is what you came for
The editing in the video is quite unique using a
variety of cuts that are not traditional for a music
video. The transition of the shots are mainly straight
cuts with a few exceptions of fade cuts and quite a
few dissolve cuts. There are many distortion effects
in the video that make it look very electropop
overall. The transitions get more distorted and
technological with many different dissolve cuts and
fade cuts as the video continues. It’s also noticeable
that the cuts get faster throughout the video to
keep in pace with the upbeat music. Some other
editing includes the use of CGI and green screen
use for the locations of the desert and forest.
Clean Bandit ft Zara Larsson- Symphony
The the editing of the videos includes many cross
cuts between the singer/artist and the narrative to
put equal attention to both aspects in the video. The
transitions are all traditional in this video with only
mainly straight cuts. In some shots there is use of
light effects to present how strong and loving the
couples relationship, it also lets the audience know
it's a flashback. The actual pace of the
transitions/cuts gets faster as the song progresses
until it reaches climax and after, gets gradually slower
this empowers the powerful narrative and leaves a
lasting impression on the audience.

6. Sound
Calvin Harris ft Rihanna- This is what you came for
The first sound heard is in the very first shot where Rihanna
and Calvin Harris’ names are displayed along with a static
TV sound, this creates uncertainty in the audience as the
sound is quite eerie. As the three locations are introduced a
diegetic sound is used for each. For the dessert it's the
diegetic sound of the wind moving the sands, in the club is
the sound of lights being turned on and off and lastly for
the forest the diegetic sound heard is the singing of birds.
This introduction to the video sets a relaxed atmosphere for
the audience as all the sounds are quite calming. Although
the diegetic sounds are calming in between the shots the
static TV sound returns, as if someone is changing the
channels on a TV. The melody uses a synthesizer to layer
the music into a thicker texture as the song progresses and
then strips the layers off as the song comes to an end
leaving it with a thin texture. Rihanna's voice moves
through the octaves to a low-key EDM backdrop from Calvin
Harris
Clean Bandit ft Zara Larsson- Symphony
The first sound you hear it the acoustic piano and violins
as well as drums being layered to build tension. The music
comes to a sudden pause and there's sounds of traffic to
signify an accident happened to the audience. The melody
uses a similar technique as theres use of layering the
sounds to create texture, however the melody is
composed of both acoustic instruments and a synthesizer
which creates a harmonic contrast between the upbeat
and instrumental melody. The music is layered until it
reaches a thick textures and then slowly the layers are
stripped to create a thin texture and at the very end only
use a single melody/layer.

7. Genre
Calvin Harris ft Rihanna- This is what you came for
The beats of the song is reflected in the editing and
cuts and pacing, the beat of the music matches he
shots creating a compelling visual. This is what the
genre is based around on which makes it true to
the genre. There’s a lot of bright colours and the
music video mainly focuses on the artist which is
what the genre usually includes. Her costume is a
silver sequin onesie which is effective as it reflects
the lights making her look like a star.
Clean Bandit ft Zara Larsson- Symphony
Similarly the beat of the music is stimulated with the
shot pace and duration which makes an effective
impact on the audience the video features a
emotional narrative which is something new in the
electropop genre but is works effectively with the
music as it's equally as emotional as it is compelling.
There are bright lights which replace the vibrant
colour lights usually shown in electropop. Zaras
costume is also silver and shiny which links with the
genre as it's all about lighting and brightness to show
the modern technological side of music.

8. Narrative
Calvin Harris ft Rihanna- This is what you came for
The videos doesn't have much of a narrative if any
at all as it's all based around Rhianna being in a
cube which is in different settings. This means that
the video is mainly focused on the performance
aspect not the narrative.
Clean Bandit ft Zara Larsson- Symphony
The narrative of the video is quite emotional and unique.
The narrative revolves around a gay couple loving each
other very strongly, however due to an accident one of
them dies. After that the narrative follows the impact of
the death on the other man and how he handles the pain
and grief of losing someone he loved, we see him
reminiscing about their relationship with a deep sense of
nostalgia. Therefore we are shown flashbacks, as the shots
go into the past and present showing the audience the
impact of death in a relationship. However towards the
end we se that the man pays tribute to his boyfriend's
death and he can finally be free, this makes the audience
relieved to know they can both let go but never forget their
time together.

9. Performance
Calvin Harris ft Rihanna- This is what you came for
For the most part there is use of the performance
aspect only as the video revolves around Rihanna
dancing and singing inside the cube. The camera
mainly focuses on her with the constant use of close
ups and mid shots as well as the tracking movement
that shows that Rihanna most important aspect of
the video. Her constant movement intrigues the
audience as the song is quite upbeat and active
which Rihanna is interpreting quite effectively.
Rihannas lip syncing is very playful as she dances
and makes different faces to the audience creating
creating a humorous yet entertaining atmosphere.
Clean Bandit ft Zara Larsson- Symphony
There is a definite mix of performance and narrative
in this music video. The performance side of it can be
seen as Zara is singing alongside acoustic
instruments, she doesn't move from her spot,
however she uses hand gestures and facial
expressions to convey the meaning of the music to
the audience which is quite effective with the close
ups and pans around her which shows she's one
with the lyrics of the music.

10. Representation
Calvin Harris ft Rihanna- This is what you came for
This video represents Rihanna as a main focal point
of the video, having all the lighting on her as the
camera follows her every move on the set. She
keeps the audience entertained as she dances and
makes playful facial expressions this represents her
as a confident and empowered woman that's
comfortable with her body, this will impact female
audiences as they will want to be like Rihanna and
admire her actions and personality.
Clean Bandit ft Zara Larsson- Symphony
In Symphony’s music video there are quite a few
representations. Zaras representations would be that
she's a unique female singer, as she sings along with
classical instruments, she's shown as a beautiful and
passionate young woman with her small physique
and curly hair paying tribute to the death of man that
was loved dearly. The second representation would
be the gay couple which are shown as quite loving
and caring in their own bubble, they are both black
americans which shows they go against stereotypes of
black men as they both appear to be strong and
muscular but are also gay which is not the general
stereotype for gay men as they usually seen as quite
camp and flirty.

11. Institutions
Calvin Harris ft Rihanna- This is what you came for
Rihanna's record labels include: ‘Def Jam recordings’
established in 1984 which is an American record label
focused predominantly on hip hop and urban music owned
by Universal Music group and ‘Roc Nation Records’ founded
in 2008 by Jay Z is an american entertainment company.
Calvin harris’ record label is Sony Music Entertainment
an American music company that is incorporated as a
general partnership of Sony Music Holdings Inc.
Clean Bandit ft Zara Larsson- Symphony
Clean Bandits’ record label is WArner Music Group an
American multinational entertainment and record label
conglomerate headquartered in New York City
Zarra's record label is Universal Music group which is an
American global music corporation this is a subsidiary of a
French media conglomerate Vivendi.
A music institution are the companies that fund and create the music videos that the consumer (audience) watch. These
institutions are better known as record labels. A record label is a brand or trade mark that is associated with the marketing of the
music recordings and music videos

12. Values and Ideology
Calvin Harris ft Rihanna- This is what you came for
The idea of the video is to show that women only
look at men that they truly like and no one else,
Rihanna shows this as she keeps looking into the
camera as if showing she's only looking at one focal
point, which could be the metaphor for only looking
at the one you love. The fact that Calvin keeps
appearing throughout the video like a hologram
implying that when you're in love with someone
they are always on your mind.
Clean Bandit ft Zara Larsson- Symphony
The message of the music video is to break
stereotypes and show that love takes all shapes and
forms as well as too show that even gay couples can
have a romantic and beautiful relationship just like
straight couples and the video shows this clearly with
the amount of flashbacks that show all of their time
spent together as well as the grief of the loss of a
loved one and how it affects gay couples and straight
couples just as much.