lusk81, 19. November 2008, 02:14
Rihanna "Rehab" : Dir. Anthony Mandler

Starring Justin Timberlake.
www.mtv.com
         
This level of polish used to be so tediously normal, now it's almost a novelty.

I like the colored lighting effect. Does that require some some monstrous bulb or just careful bouncing.
         
It's incredibly stylish and full of nice little risks that pay off. Very cool.
         
Who cares about the director or DP of this one, the gaffer is the one to champion. Some of the best use of 'party gels' I've seen in a long time.
         
Nice looking video. Concept is kinda blah but the execution mostly makes up for that. It's a little unnerving to think that all that two of the biggest pop stars can achieve, video-wise, is a one or two day shoot in the desert with just a motorbike, motorhome, and pink flamingo for company. It's also freaky to see that a video of this caliber runs out of steam around the 2/3rd mark and has to start recycling shots.

K
         
Must say I haven't seen crazy gelled rims on an exterior before - I'm impressed. Probably DP Max Goldman who lit this as I know Mandler has worked with him before, but that's just a guess. Hats off.
         
i'm so fucking sick of JT. where's the appeal?
         
REHAB???? original title. never herd it before!
         
daytime gels a bit rich, methinks (whence the b&w..., no?)
         
Copyright restrict. Can't watch it here in Europe.

EDIT: www.youtube.com

Is this the clip? - totaly boring. imho. Random images. Clinic, club, beach, piano, posing alone, posing together with some guys.
Cars driving on a rainy street. touching the own boobie/body. Check the own ass in a mirror. people kissing. closeup from her eye.

I don't get it.

EDIT2: Oh, I get it. This is not the video. 11 Millions Clicks... but they shot a second one with timberlake in some dessert. Okay.
         
The timberlake un
         
in modern studio-technics plus mp3-reduction we experience the end of the slow song, the ballad. this here is a complete powerless performance of Ms Rihanna who apparently is not a bad bubblepopsinger. the song is nothing, the producion is without any kind of energy and / or rising tention. complete zero / zero / zero. back to work, Rihanna and Hitproducer - who's ever crime this was.
         
prog- sometimes i have no clue what you are saying.
         
Half the comments on this site make no sense to me. Like in-jokes inside of in-jokes.
         
whatmeobscure? stratobee was lauding the experimental use of coloured gels in a daylight scene. myself, i found it a bit much, and the fact that half of those shots were subsequently rendered black&white seems evidence i'm not the only one who had doubts about the effect...

(but: othertimes, do indulge me in some riddlin', wontcha?)
         
Captain, you're worrried about understanding Progosk? What the hell is Spreech on about?!?

It's funny, this all reminds me about a philosophical struggle I've been battling with recently. When I write treatments I often want to give the writing a 'flourish'. I tend to try and use all lowercase when it feels right, or I write the entire concept as a piece of poetry when that seems to get the idea across in the way it feels to me, or, I'll use only incredibly short and stream of consciousness style sentences.

However, at the end of the day, I always come back to plain old well written English. It never fails, I return to the philosophy of clarity and efficiency - tell the story clearly and tell it succinctly; let the story, on its own, interest the reader.

It seems that many of us have come to the conclusion that the medium is the message and we try and gussy up our writing with trick phrases, clever little witticisms, and obscure references or 'dialecticisms'. But, the medium or style is not, nor has it ever been, the message.

The medium, I would argue, should never overshadow an honest attempt at properly communicating the idea. Thus, the story, the idea you are communicating, is always the most important aspect of the act of communication.

The goal should always be clarity. I say, let the message itself do the heavy lifting.

Damn, after a night of drinking, I hope that made sense...

K
         
kalstark, what are you talking about?
(to give back the question ...)
& me? - I was NOT talking about the video BUT of the not-song.
         
wow, that's some serious net-talkery over something this pop. we must be in a bad way that it stands out so...

yep - the recycling of shots grated a little towards the end, but gotta applaud the random use of colour or black and white! even it was to cover over dodgy gels (which i personally think it could've done with more of!). but solid, good, even quite daringly arty for a mainstream vid.. i like.
         
The majority of ya'lls never make any sense methinks!

'course, it could be because you're all really smart and I'm a retard!
         
my favourite shot is the daytime shot with the green gel backlight. that really floated my boat. how sad am i? very.
         
This video bites. Screw all the lighting, makeup, beautiful hair. It takes itself way too seriously with its powty scowls, downcast looks and gravitas all posed to the levels of a bad Mexican soap opera. All of Anthony Madler's videos run the same tired line: a girl popstar lives a fractured ferry tale, is now looking hurt and vulnerable because of all the implied mean or hurt looks from being treated so bad. BFD.

The only good videos Rihanna has ever done were Umbrella directed by Chris Applebaum and Shut Up and Drive, directed by Dave Meyer. Both directors understand it's futile to try and pretend to be deep with pop tunes.

If you want to see what a good video's all about, take a look at Gnarls Barkley's "Going On". Shot for 50 grand, it has more inspiration, soul and artistry than all of Madler's videos.
         
I think all your comments have merit. It's a tricky medium, there are more things to juggle and balance then you can imagine. What we set out to do is not always what ends up on screen. Disturbia is a rare occurance, as is the Killers When You Were Young...
For people that want to know, the BW film was not a color transfer but BW film and the intention of this piece was to create a moving editorial, something simple with a charged emotion....

Only thing is that you should know your facts, I directed Shut up and Drive...
         
thx, mand - i stand corrected on the b&w. (was it goldman, then? also: this was yours, not lachapelle's, right?)
         
yes I did Disturbia...
and Omer Gnai shot Rehab and Disturbia...
Max did the Killers with me, One Republic Stop and Stare, Duran Duran and the new Ciroc campain....he's an amazing guy...