In Rihanna's music video Cheers there are many of these things throughout. The beginning of the music video starts with video footage from Rihanna's concerts, this is a common theme that occurs among music videos. This is a screenshot from her video showing one of her concerts.
Next we see Rihanna putting on make up in the mirror while having her hair done, this is clearly an example of intertextuality when an artist recognises themselves as an artist, this is done by showing shots of cameras/sets/directors or artists looking at themselves such as Rihanna. Below is Rihanna's example of intertextuality.
Fragmentation of the body is the most common theme used in music videos, mainly female. Rihanna is not exempt to this and shows examples in her music video. Her example of fragmentations of the body is of women's bums which not only shows fragmentation but also the exploitation of the women in music videos. this is controversial as it implants the idea that women are only seen as sexual objects and nothing more.
Ritual celebration is another example of a highly used motif, often these are parties as in Rihanna's music video. As an theme in these celebrations the black artist is usually happy while the white artists are the opposite. In Rihanna's video we see her at a party with friends and family, this also matched the lyrics as the song is all about partying.
Other features often seen in music videos include shots into bright lights, breaks in narrative for the artist to sing and clips from the film the song is featured in. Within Rihanna's video we see an example of this with a shot of a firework in the sky.
As we can see from all the common motifs used in Rihanna's music video that they feature in all types of music videos, from Madonna's 1989 hit Like A Prayer to Rihanna's current 2011 song Cheers.
Aisleen Dunne
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