Rihanna: Reb’l or Fleur?
Rihanna portrays a strong dominant celebrity in the music industry which has led her to produce other products such as her perfume to express her successful life and her movements forward. This advert represents both alternative and dominant ideologies of women.
By close textual analysis, the scene begins with a bird’s eye shot where Rihanna is surrounded by pink feathers which is a stereotypical colour for girls as blue is used to represent masculinity, in the same way; pink is used to represent femininity. The use of close ups of her body and facial expressions in this scene, and tracking shots makes the audience acknowledge he happiness and draws their attention into her success and figure. The camera uses a slow, steady and calm hand held shot to elicit medium close ups of Rihanna so the audience are aware of her pink dress and begin to develop and introduction of other scenery in the shot. At 20 seconds, the camera used a medium close up, where we see the sun beaming on Rihanna which suggests she is pure and possibly the ‘chosen one’ as it only shines on her. Also we see snow, the binary oppositions of weather suggests two personalities. In the background we see she is sitting in a garden, and a male figure in the distance is seen; blurred. Using slow moving camera shots, we see her running away from the man as she approaches a mirror where we see a reflection of Rihanna in a black dress which connotes hatred, evilness and a colourless life. On screen the text ‘Good feels so bad’ written in italics representing sophistication.
Rihanna enters the ‘bad’ side where the lighting becomes more dark, the music becomes more sinister parallel to the scene and as an audience we witness a montage of medium close ups through a mirror of Rihanna’s reflection. This continuous use of shots through a mirror suggests that Rihanna is continuously questioning her new identity as she feels insecure in which the perfume can generate if audiences use it. In this scene, the camera uses a long shot in which we witness four or five men following Rihanna within a maze where you could connote her life is inescapable. As the scene carries on, there is a greater use of close up shots to express Rihanna’s facial expressions as she is distressed due to several men following her. Movements of the camera stop as it uses close ups of Rihanna’s various body parts are several pairs of hands cover her eyes. This suggests that an element subliminal sexual content is incorporated within this advert which is a key element in today’s perfume industry because ‘sex sells’. After showing a close up of Rihanna holding the perfume bottle near her legs, the scenes start to rewind back as music is parallel to this technique of rewinding. This shows that Rihanna wasn’t comfortable with her image as she returned back to the mirror. The writing on screen read ‘Bad feels so Good’ as she returns to the flowery, pink environment. She now feels free and relaxed with the use of close ups of her face to acknowledge her happy facial expressions. The advert ends with a bird eye shot of Rihanna amongst the moving feathers as the title of the perfume appears in which a couple of seconds after the advert ends.
Overall, this difference in image is portrayed through various close up shots, parallel music and different settings and lighting to achieve differentiation between images.
Yves Saint Laurent: Belle D’Opium
Yves Saint Laurent is a very high market brand with has high class production values amongst print adverts, cinema and TV adverts alongside the actual packaging of the product and bottle. This class has developed over time and now has been recognised as worldwide desirable product in the range they offer to appeal to a large target audience.
Belle D’opium is a women’s perfume in which the purple and gold bottle portrays richness and luxury. This colour stands and shines amongst other products which attracts sophisticated yet daring women due the use of ‘opium’ which means drug. It mesmerises the audience and what this perfume could do to you if you wore it which is the main selling point incorporated in the advert.
The advert begins with a long shot which slowly zooms into the main setting of the advert. As an audience we see a large authentic room with lanterns and sun beaming through the top window hitting the woman protagonist in the centre. There are a few fade to blacks leading to a medium close up of the woman wearing a white elegant dress connoting purity and innocence. The music starts to build up becoming harsher with hard hitting sounds which are parallel to great expression in the woman’s movement in some sort of contemporary dance. The camera uses a variety between hand held camera and long shots which creates ambiguity and disorientation which makes the audience feel confused and intrigued into what may happen next. The camera also uses low angle shots to show the beams of light entering the dark setting. You could suggest that the red lipstick worn by the woman suggests small amounts of danger incorporated with wearing the perfume; it elicits your daring side.
We then see the scene slowing down due to less cuts and circular movement of the camera around the woman. The music slows down but still with hitting beats alongside sounds of breathing in heavily connoting that the woman in excited and overwhelmed by what the perfume has done to her and she wants to calm down to feel more relieved and relaxed. We then see the imagery and music speeding up with quick zooms and long shots as it leads to a climax where the woman is seen on the right side of the screen on her knees. This suggests that the build up of excitement has led to relaxation or connoting that she has given into the power the perfume brings allowing it to control her whole body due to exaggerated distressed movements. This is further shown through her aims to standing back up to overcome the power; the audience may feel that this perfume gives you status in your everyday life which every woman wish they’d possess in the 21st century.
Overall, we see the woman continued to be controlled, she starts to look more glowing or sweaty which shimmers in the sunlight through the windows making her more desirable and attractive to the audience. Lastly we see a over the shoulder shots, medium close up of the women and the narrator says ‘I am your addiction’ then introducing the perfume. The last shot is shown of the perfume in front of the setting which is slightly blurred out to give more emphasis of the product to the audience.
In conclusion, the use of setting and lighting alongside various camera shots makes the advert exciting to watch due to its simplicity in the narrative which sells the product more. It created the high class productions values in which all perfume adverts possess.
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