Coldplay featuring Rihanna - Princess of China is part of Coldplay's album Mylo Xyloto released 24 October 2011 by EMI. Princess of China was released as a single on 14 February 2012. The music video, directed by Adria Petty and Alan Bibby, was released 2 June 2012.
The lyrics of the song almost tell a story about a complicated relationship and how they could of been anything and had everything but something went wrong. Each verse starts with 'Once upon a time' which is usually the beginning of a story. In the second verse Chris Martin sings the words 'You're holding in your hands the two halves of my heart' this could suggest that Rihanna, who features in the video and the song being the other part of the destructive relationship, has broke his heart. Rihanna in the third verse, when she first enters the song, sings these two lines:
'Once upon a time, we burned bright
Now all we ever seem to do is fight'
This suggests that when they 'burned bright' they were both really happy and we in love but now all they do is argue so the relationship is struggling.
The music video reflects these lyrics and almost illustrates them by using a martial arts fight between the two singers. The music video is a narrative video but shows Chris Martin, lead vocalist of Coldplay, and Rihanna, solo artist, singing their parts of the song involving a slight performance element to the video.
Throughout the music video there are a range of camera shots. Thoughout the video it shows a close up of Rihanna singing with some chinese lanterns in the background showing a slight location as to where she is and it also links in with the title of the song. The shot that is here is of Rihanna in a hall singing whilst doing a dance with others behind her to make her look like a goddess with multiple arms. This shot shows her in a full makeup and part of her dance but in a close up shot of her singing and some of her hair.
The shot of Chris Martin from behind shows him walking across a bridge to a temple or palace which is designed in a chinese style. This is a medium shot but also has a slight establishing shot element to it as the composition of this shot does show the location in which the narrative is set in as this is where he is heading in the video. This shot opens up the music video. 
The shot of Rihanna and Chris Martin shows how even in a open space they have to either be touching in a nice gesture or close to each other tio intimidate one another. This shot is an establishing shot showing the two singers in the middle of the shot so that you don't lose them as the characters and also to draw the audiences attention to them and the space around them. 
The shot of Rihanna's hand reaching for a knife or samurai sword to begin the fight between her and Chris Martin is a close up. The close up consists of her hand, the handle and part of the blade. This shot is not on for a very long time but it gives the audience a shock as to what they are seeing due to the proximity of the two singers before hand and all of a sudden she is starting a fight with him.
Most of the backgrounds appear to be greenscreened in the music video as the shots consist of wide open spaces, deserted landscapes and extremely large rooms with a lot of graphic aspects to them.
Rihanna's outfit in this shot is very sultry and colourful. The top of this outfit is similar to an authentic chinese robe but in a shorter version so it is similar to a shirt. By adding this glamour to the music video and the expensive look about the room in which she is in it makes her look like royalty which again links to the song title of being a princess.
Each artist has an equal amount of screen time and focus on them and make them equally important to one another. There are a free other characters that get some screen time but the are of little importance and are only on screen when it includes Rihanna or Chris Martin in. This is so that the main focus is on the two main performers. The rest of Coldplay isn't involved in this video, but most of Coldplay's videos follow this trend as Chris Martin tells the story as to what is happening.
The audience, when watching this music promo, feel the tension between them but also the love between them. because of the content in the video it can become quite confusing. When I first watched it I realised that the directors may have been trying to make Rihanna look glamorous and almost like a goddess and for Chris Martin to be somebody that she cannot fall for due to his social status. For the audience though they may not be thinking this as the atmosphere of the video is almost desire yet hatred.
Overall this music promo links its content to the title of this song and the lyrics.
The mise-en-scene of the music video is based around a chinese theme which links to the title of the song. In this shot Chris Martin is surrounded by 6 drummers in similar attire to him which has a slight ninja element to his outfit. Dressed in all black to add a darkness to the song could illustrate a darkness to their love.
Rihanna's outfit in this shot is very sultry and colourful. The top of this outfit is similar to an authentic chinese robe but in a shorter version so it is similar to a shirt. By adding this glamour to the music video and the expensive look about the room in which she is in it makes her look like royalty which again links to the song title of being a princess.
Each artist has an equal amount of screen time and focus on them and make them equally important to one another. There are a free other characters that get some screen time but the are of little importance and are only on screen when it includes Rihanna or Chris Martin in. This is so that the main focus is on the two main performers. The rest of Coldplay isn't involved in this video, but most of Coldplay's videos follow this trend as Chris Martin tells the story as to what is happening.
The audience, when watching this music promo, feel the tension between them but also the love between them. because of the content in the video it can become quite confusing. When I first watched it I realised that the directors may have been trying to make Rihanna look glamorous and almost like a goddess and for Chris Martin to be somebody that she cannot fall for due to his social status. For the audience though they may not be thinking this as the atmosphere of the video is almost desire yet hatred.
Overall this music promo links its content to the title of this song and the lyrics.
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