Katy Perry Music Video Analysis
California Gurls
This video I find incredibly interesting because whilst I have a voyeuristic view it also contains a very fun harmless element , the whole video is based on a game where the ‘star’ Katy Perry is put into a game to try and get her friends out in which the evil ‘snoop dog’ has encased them in various sweets. The target audience I would say would be around the ages of 12-25 as the video could appeal to a younger audience due to the fact that the video contains a ‘candy land’ and the concept is a game. However Katy Perry is very sexualised in parts of this video her costume when she ‘shoots the cream out’ and her cupcake bra all have sexual connotations and allow men to look at her to admire ‘ gaze’, and women to compare themselves to her. The video has a very light hearted feel which is typical of a ‘summer song’ released in May 2010 making it a summer anthem for the year. The mise-en-scene, gives it a very colourful fun appeal with all the candy land props such as the candy floss and the gingerbread house and all of the costumes. The wigs became iconic to Katy Perry and helped her create a different image for herself. The video is very surreal as it shows the ‘california gurls’ in a different world , the game world, which allows the mind to capture the fun that these ‘california gurls’ appear to be having and it takes the viewer away from the real world and gives them a more light hearted feel good video. The fact that it’s a board game gives it an intertextual reference with games such as ‘monopoly’ and ‘ludo’ where you have to try and get around the board as Katy Perry does in this video.
Lady GaGa – Edge of Glory
In this video Gaga shows a typically voyeuristic view of herself in the first shot as she opens the curtains in the window this engages the concept of looking when we’re not meant to. This video is a performance based video where she is dancing and singing in the streets, but does not have a narrative. However this does link the music to the lyric because she is dancing to it and the music to the visuals as of the lyrics mention ‘dancing’ which is heavily featured in this video. Her costume choice is iconic of lady gaga and her weird choices of clothing, however the video has a very ‘80’s’ feel to it with the costume and the setting to the video. Her dance routines and costume create a sexual image as she is wearing a little more than underwear but showing a lot of flesh and her dance moves are heavily sexualised. There are a lot of close –ups of gaga’s face as she’s singing to help create part of her star image and show off her iconic ‘weird ‘ style. The camera is nearly always on her and she is very central to the shot to show her importance in the video. Her heavy make-up and wig shows her style and creates an image for her as a popstar. There are a lot of shots where she is looking directly at the camera which makes the audience feel included and all knowing. The smoke at the beginning is used to create the style of performance as ‘gaga’ comes out of the smoke and we see her face where we automatically recognise her.
Arctic monkeys – when the sun goes down
This is a narrative video which tells a story about a prostitute, the band aren’t featured in the video which is unusual for a band, but the narrative links to the song and adds a different concept to the video , it shows a victim of mental and physical abuse, which sends a message to the viewer’s showing them the effects of this kind of abuse, there are a lot of close-ups in this video and suggestions to drugs and prostitution , which gives the viewers a small insight into the life of someone who lives that way, and allows them to feel sorry for the young girl who is being abused. There are also a lot of shots of the man inflicting the abuse and reference to him as a ‘scummy man’ in the song which links the lyrics to the visuals. The video is effective because it includes the audience in the narrative all the camera shots where the victim looks at the camera and where we know something that the abuser doesn’t allows them viewers to feel involved and emotionally connect to the video. The costumes suggest a lower class and the fact that we constantly see her going home with different men suggests she is a prostitute. The lyrics ‘ who’s that girl there , I wonder what went wrong so that she had to roam the streets’ gives incentive that she is the girl the band are talking about in their song . I like this video it has a more serious element than most other music videos and addresses real issues showing that the band want to send out a message.
Single Ladies – Beyonce
There isn’t a lot to say about this video but I chose to analyse it because of its simplistic view and its huge success. There is little mise on scene and the focus is on the three dancers with Beyoncé central to the composition. However the camera cutting is fast to show the level of pace that the dance moves are done at. The costumes again are very simple, black leotards, so that the focus isn’t taken away from the dancing. The video is shot in black and white again allowing the main focus to be the dancing .The video is shot in a studio with studio lighting which is very heavy and the three women are fully lit up , although the video is very simplistic there is still a voyeuristic element the girls are not wearing very many clothes and some of their moves have sexual connotations . Beyoncé has a number of close –ups so we can see her as the main character in the video. This video is very much performance based as there is not narrative just three women dancing a very complex dance routine. I think the reason this video was overly successful was because this simplistic view is very different to tall current music videos and the dance routine is very complex which gives people a challenge to try and learn it . Also the hand movement became an iconic gesture for this video with people all over the world doing it in reference to the song.
Jade Butcher
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