Sweetness and Steel: Rihanna

ON A HOT spring day, inside a large, airy studio in the town of Castaic, California, a group of men and women are watching paint dry. The occasion is the video shoot for 'If I Never See Your Face Again' by Maroon 5 featuring Rihanna. The concept appears to be high-end erotica. Rihanna and Maroon 5's dashing frontman Adam Levine flirt professionally with each other in a series of smartly furnished sets, one of which has to be repainted between set-ups, hence the drying paint. It neatly sums up the experience of watching a music video being made. As the same song plays over and over again, the hours crumble away, never to return.