Eminem- Love the way you lie ft. Rihanna

I have analyzed Love the way you lie as it is one of my favorite songs around at the moment and I believe the video has many media techniques that my group might be able to use in our video.

The opening shot of the two main characters involved in the music video is them lying together in a bed sleeping. This is code for intimacy and them being in a relationship.

The close up of the Rihannas face shows the emotion that she is putting into this song. This is clearly an emotional song to Rihanna after her public domestic abuse at the hands of her ex-boyfriend Chris Brown. Rihanna said it "was something that needed to be done" in order for her to move on.

The video has been edited in order to make it look like Megan Fox has fire in her hands. This is code for a fierce relationship and that Megan Fox can start an argument whenever she wants that will make the relationship fierce and "fiery". At the end of the video the the whole house sets on fire. Throughout the movie the house is a metaphor for their relationship therefore it is code for Megan Fox's anger destroying the relationship and everything around it. In the back ground we see that the curtains are closed this is code for the couple not caring what is happening in the world there focus is only on their relationship. However if we look through the gap in the curtains we see that it is sunny. This is code for if they stepped out of their relationship and moved away from each other, things would be better and they would be more happy.

The mise en scene inside the house, is realistic for a young american working class couple. The sofa looks like a relatively cheap one, with none matching cushions. On the right hand side we can see empty cans (presumably beer). This shows the dependance of alcohol in this relationship. Because the house is in a mess it is code for their relationship being in a bad state.

It looks like Eminem is performing live however he is actually lip sinking this is a convention of nearly all music videos. The low angle shot also makes it look like we are a live audience and that we are watching Eminem perform. 

A crane shot and a dolly shot is used in order to show the field is almost endless. This shows that Eminem has escaped from the type of relationship that Megan Fox and Dominic Monaghan are still in. The sky is blue and there is a sun in the background this is code that he is out of the relationship and is now free and happy.

 In both these shots the narrative either does what the song ways or the narrative and song merge together. In the first one Eminem raps "I snap" and we see Fox "snap. And in the second one the actors say the words that eminem is rapping "I'm leaving you" "know you aint". This is code for the song being directly about them and them almost being the past Eminem and Rihanna or them being what Eminem has in his mind.


There is a non-chronological order used in this music video this could be becuase domestic violence can be spontaneous and can happen at any time, and so the edits reflect that with temporal continuity. This is a convention of some music videos as it is a reflection of the events. In this bit it is showing the start of their relationship and how everything use to be so much better than it is "now" and how there relationship has been ruined. Life was better when they wern't in the house (their depressing serious relationship). There is no actual dialogue we can hear from the actors so it is left to the actions in the video to let us understand what is happening. Throughout the video there is quick cuts, with each cut on average lasting no longer than 3 seconds this is a key convention of music videos especially ones with a high beat count like this song.

The burning house behind Rihanna and Eminem could once again be code that they managed to completely leave and with doing this song be able to forget about their past relationships. The artists and the actors worlds now merge into each others. This is because the artists are standing behind a burning house and the actors are in the burning house. The costumes they are both wearing is very important. The white vest that Eminem has almost become his iconic outfit. Whilst with Rihanna her short shorts give her a "sexy" look that is essential if you are aiming to be a successful women hip hop singer.

The directing here is very cleverly done. Although i wouldn't have the resources or funds to be able to do this it is a clever peice of footage. We can see that the actors are walking through the house, however instead of when walking through doors having to use a match on action shot, instead the is missing a wall so we can clearly see them walking through the different rooms. This also lets us see and know that the man is almost chasing the women.

The edititng used shows the man burning. As the house is also burning it could show that the man is nothing without the relationship and if it ends so does he. However the womens flame goes out suggesting that she will be better if she gets out of the relationship.

Dominic Monaghan and Megan Fox were used as the actors in this video, as they were two of the worlds most famous and important actors at the time the video was released. Because of this it got even bigger publicity than it would of before. It would of brought in people from normally different genres such as people who were intrested in the TV series Lost as that is what Monaghan is most famous for. Megan Fox has been in many movies and she is idolised by millions of women and loved by even more men. People would then deffiantly what to watch a video she is in. This proved to be successful as It broke a Youtube record for having the most views in 24 hours.