Music Video Deconstruction: This Is What You Came For

This Is What You Came For - Calvin Harris (ft. Rihanna)

Performer(s):

Rihanna is one of the biggest singers at the moment and is from Barbados. She was discovered in 2003 and is known for being in the pop genre but also R&B. Her real name is Robyn Rhianna Fenty and is now the owner of a diverse make up line.

Calvin Harris is a singer, song writer, DJ and Producer but is mostly now known for DJing. He is normally into pop but as he's gone through his career and turned to DJing, he is more EDM.

Timeline Deconstruction:

0:00 -  0:06 : The music video opens up with a multicoloured striped/blocked screen that is normally used when an old fashioned TV stops working. "Calvin Harris, Rihanna  This Is What You Came For" is written on top in black writing in capitals. The screen flickers and fuzzes up as if it's glitching. 

0:06 - 0:16 : It cuts to an extreme long shot of a desert area with a white box in the centre in the distance. Then it cuts to a room full of smoke and flashing lights and its hard to make out anything in the room until the light fades down slightly and you can see another white box in the middle of the room. It cuts again to a forrest area with a the same white box in the centre in the distance.

0:16 - 0:28 : Then it cuts to a long shot of inside the white box with Rihanna stood in the back in the middle. It has high-key lighting and the box is all white. She is stood still but begins to slowly sway as the music begins. The light then turns to red, flashes back to white, to blue, then white to yellow.

0:28 - 0:57: It cuts to a mid shot of Rihanna, the lighting is still orange and begins to fill with smoke. It slowly begins to zoom out and flashes to white then purple. It all of a sudden goes black with a dim white light on Rihanna so you can only see her. It pans up slightly and what looks like the projection of a door way starts flashing colours and growing closer. As it gets closer you can see its a projection of a crowd from a concert. This projection then covers all the walls in the box. The projection switches between the crowd and an empty room with laser lights in it.

0:57 - 1:06 : It then fades to a mid shot of Rihanna and she is further forward in the box. The projections still change but contain different concert/clubbing settings. Rihanna walks towards the camera and the camera moves back with her. She has now stepped outside the box but the projections continue. There are lasers outside the box in the room that are flashing and changing colours.

1:09 - 1:34 : It cuts to a long shot and Rihanna is back in the box and is seen spinning around as it changes colours and has lasers flashing. It quickly cuts back to a mid shot of Rihanna dancing outside the box. It keeps swapping between shots of her in the box and outside.

1:34 - 1:49 : She then walks inside the box and the projections change from a clubbing scene to a forest scene. Long shots and mid shots are used and also low angle shots. Leaves are shown falling into the box as it relates to the projection. It cuts the extreme long shot of the white box in a forest. It fades back into Rihanna in the box with the forest projections.

1:49 - 2:34 : It then cuts to a mid shot of her in the box and now the projection is of a car being driven around a desert. Then it cuts to a long shot outside the box which shows a small amount of flashing lights on the box in low-key lighting. A white light flashes from behind and reveals a male figure stood off centre which is Calvin harris the producer of this song. It keeps cutting between different shots of Rihanna in the box and they last no longer than 3 seconds.

2:34 - 3:59 : The next shot is of a white Lamborghini Aventador that has projections on it of different flashing lights. It cuts between mid shots, close ups, tracking shots, long shots, high angle shots and low angle shots of Rihanna and the box and the car. It's very repetitive for the remainder of the video. It ends with a shot of the box and the projections and lights fade out until the screens completely black.

Shot Analysis:

Total Video Time = 3:59

Total Amount of Shots = 117


There is a huge range of different shot sizes and angles used in this video. There are a lot of cuts, which can be 2 seconds apart, which explains the high amount of shots.

Lyrics:

Baby, this is what you came for

Lightning strikes every time she moves

And everybody's watching her

But she's looking at you, oh, oh

You, oh, oh, you, oh, oh

You, oh, oh, you, oh, oh

You, oh, oh, oh, oh

Baby, this is what you came for

Lightning strikes every time she moves

And everybody's watching her

But she's looking at you, oh, oh

You, oh, oh, you, oh, oh

You, oh, oh, you, oh, oh

You, oh, oh, oh, oh

We go fast with the game we play

Who knows why it's gotta be this way

We say nothing more than we need

I say, "Your place, " when we leave

Baby, this is what you came for

Lightning strikes every time she moves

And everybody's watching her

But she's looking at you, oh, oh

You, oh, oh, you, oh, oh

You, oh, oh, you, oh, oh

You, oh, oh, oh, oh

Baby, this is what you came for

Lightning strikes every time she moves

Yeah

Baby, this is what you came for

Lightning strikes every time she moves

And everybody's watching her

But she's looking at you, oh, oh

You, oh, oh, you, oh, oh

You, oh, oh, you, oh, oh

You, oh, oh, oh, oh

Lyric Analysis:

The song is written by Calvin Harris and his girlfriend at the time (now ex) Taylor Swift. Because of he fame a lot of the attention would go to her rather than him but she claimed that no matter what, her attention was on in. The line "lightning strikes every time she moves" is said to be how whenever she goes out their is paparazzi flashes going off, following her every move.

Setting:

The main setting is a warehouse with a white box in it. There is also a desert and a forest which never have the characters actually in them. Rihanna stays in the room with the box in the whole time. The setting has no connection to the lyrics of the song.

Costume, Make Up, Props etc:

Rihannas costume in the music video is a slouchy, glitzy jumpsuit paired with heels and a black vest underneath. Her make up is a full face of make up but very natural toned. Although Calvin only features in the video once, you can see his is wearing a plain t-shirt, bomber jacker, jeans and trainers. This goes with the lyrics and Rihanna's outfit stands out and everyone would be looking if they saw someone dressed like that, where as Calvin is a basic outfit but the lyrics show that "she" is only focused on him no matter what he's wearing. The props used in this video are the leaves and the Lamborghini Aventador.

Camera, Editing, Lighting and Colour:

The camera work is very varied as it used a range of angles and shots. From mid-shots to extreme long shots. The camera is both hand held and supported to stand still. The editing uses effects to make it look like its glitching and also to do the fade transitions. There is no extremely complicated camera or editing skills needed for this video. The colours in this video are multicoloured and there is a new colour every second. This is from the lazer lights and the projections in the box.

Record Label:

Rihanna is signed to Roc Nation which was founded in 2008. They do not only sign singers, artists and songwriters but also athletes. Rihanna was previously signed to DefJam but signed over fully to Roc Nation in 2014. They also have signed artists such as Shakira, J. Cole, DJ Khaled, Jay Z, Meek Mill, Willow Smith and Big Sean.

Calvin Harris is signed to a numerous amount of record labels including Roc Nation like Rihanna. He has also founded his own record label called Fly Eye Records which has been around since 2009 but released its first single in 2010. It specialises in House music.

Song Popularity: Spotify / YouTube

This Is What You Came For is Calvin Harris's most streamed song on Spotify at 738,829,313 streams and the next nearest amount was 421,362,906. Although it has this many streams, it was ranked the 3rd most popular song of his.

On YouTube, This Is What You Came For has almost 2 Billion views and 5 million likes with 382K dislikes. The comparison between the likes and dislikes shows the popularity of the video as well as the extremely high number of views.

Focus Group:

1: I like the use of flashing lights throughout the video as it gives a clubbing atmosphere and suits the dance genre well. The distorted effecs are also effective. Although the video is aesthetically pleasing, it is slightly repetitive.

2: I'm not a fan behind this video as it's very basic and repetitive. I like the colours used and the use of projection but don't really understand the rest of it.

3: This video is different but kind of the same as what I've seen before. It's a typical Calvin Harris/Rihanna colab video.

4: I really like the glitching effects used and the lasers and lights. It's fun and very EDM but a bit repetitive after a while.