'Brutal' is one of the songs from Rodrigo's debut album and the music video deals with the misleading promise of youth and the challenges of disappointing those around you not only as an adolescent but as an artist in the crude music industry. It is describe as a punk-rock take on teenage angst and throughout the music video, Rodrigo also establishes her authentically emotional pop persona and early 2000s-esque brand identity.
1) Opening
Before the song begins, the video opens with a pastiche to classic video game screen and introduces all of the versions of Rodrigo that we will see throughout the video. This post-modern 'choose your character' homage is not only reflective of the songs themes about struggling with identity and expectations but is a cool graphic reminiscent of the 2000s.
2) 'Looking' / Screens within screens
It would be useful to consider Goodwin's music video theory and the notion of 'looking' when analysing some aspects if this music video as transitions through scenes are linked as the camera enters different screens. This ties the narrative of the video thematically and ensures smooth transition from each character.
3) Livestream + Intertextual References
There is a short section where one of Rodrigo's characters directly addresses the audience and screams the lyrics to the camera as if she is 'live-streaming'. The concept of a livestream in itself is not only an intertextual reference to social media platforms and 'Instagram' but it can be seen in the comments of the livestream, 'viewers' are sending messages which are actually titles from Rodrigo's album ('hope ur ok <3', 'good 4 u girl!', 'you're a traitor!'). There are also several other easter eggs found in this section: 'I love your guts!', 'learn to parallel park', 'I want to be like messy'.
4) Animation
5) Mise-en-Scene
As we enter each scene, there are aesthetically cohesive establishing shots, with monochromatic uses of colour and house style. The hair, make-up and costume for each each character is distinctively unique and bold. Small details can be noticed in the background of scenes (the 2000s apple computer, the bedroom posters etc). The uses of symmetry are pleasing for the eye and quantify the high-quality cinematography.
6) Camerawork + Angles
Low-key lighting paired with a low angle shot.
The camera dollies out during the outro.
A repertoire of camera angles are utilised throughout the video (in the pictures above: low angle, medium angle and high angle). These varying shots switch up the pace of the and can connote polysemic meanings. The use of symmetry is always consistent and direct address is incorporated at times matching the angsty and punk tone of the song.
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