Katy Perry

Katy Perry-  How pop videos appeal to target audiences and reflect Katy's private life

Katy Perry is an american singer, song-writer and actress. She was formerly known as Katy Hudson, which was her birth name, and she pursued a career in gospel music as a teenager. She stated that her inspiration for her gospel styled music was brought on for her aspiration to be like Alanis Morrisette. After releasing her debut album in 2001, Katy Hudson changed her name to Perry and moved to Los Angeles to undertake a career in secular music. Perry described Queens song "Killer Queen" as the song which inspired her to pursue a career into music. She expressed how the lead singer of the band, Freddie Mercury, is her biggest influence, and explained how the combination of his sarcastic lyrical approach and his uncaring attitude inspired her music. However, although Freddie Mercury's attitude is part of her influence, she also has to set a good example for her fan base. Her target audience is teenage girls ranged from 14-17 years old. Katy Perry had to be somewhat of an older sister or friend to them, and she has to reflect some of the anxieties young girls have. She also has to be someone young girls can admire and want to be like; she has to appear sexy in a non-threatening form. 

Katy Perry uses Andrew Goodwin's which leads to the characteristics of music videos in her work, and I will be analysing her music videos and observing how the characteristics are included in the videos.

Hot And Cold (2008)

In this video, the narrative is first presented to explain the story of the song. It starts off at a wedding with Katy Perry and her fiancé standing at the alter. The fiancé hesitates when he is asked whether he wishes to marry her, which leads to the beat of the song. The song then illustrates the story for Katy sings "you change your mind like a girl changes clothes," and "you're yes then you're no," which suggests that he always changes his mind and needs to decide on whether he wants to stay with her for the rest of his life. This video shows that Katy is able to make fun of herself, for she uses quite dramatic scenes, such as the synchronised dance from everyone at the wedding before the song starts,  ripping off the train of her dress and her dancers in short, muddy wedding dresses carrying baseball bats. This makes her different to most artists, for she is able to make fun of herself, and her fans will appreciate her work for she has a sense of humour. In the end of the video, Katy is presented standing over the fiancé, with a low angle shot looking up at her which presents her as superior and sends a message to her fans that she doesn't need a man in her life. This video presents a major concern for her target audience, for her fiance leaves her at the alter, which could be seen as many other situations, such as a break-up. However, in the end of the video, Katy is presented standing over the fiancé, with a low angle shot looking up at her which presents her as superior and sends a message to her fans stating that she doesn't need a man, she has control in her life, and she is trying to give support for her fans.

I Kissed A Girl

In this video, Katy is trying to prove to her fans that she is a human being, just like them, and she faces the same problems as them. She is dressed in a slightly short outfit yet she does not appear threatening to her fans. This video follows along the lines of Andrew Goodwin's theory for it contains voyeuristic treatment of the female body, such as the women in the video are wearing quite provocative clothing, which appeals to the male gaze. In the video, there are no men present in the video until the end where she is lying in bed with her boyfriend, as the music states "hope my boyfriend don't mind it." There is an amplifying scene throughout the video of Katy lying on a pink pillow, which suggests that she is dreaming it all, however, in the other scenes, Katy is surrounded by other women, which is an illustrative relationship with the lyrics for Katy sings "I kissed a girl and i liked it," and she mentions girls throughout the entire song. Katy is trying to appeal to her teen girl fan base, by using the problems they may face and interpreting them into her music and videos. Her fans may be experiencing problems such as their sexuality, and so she wants to create a video which shows that she is just like them, and it is a natural thing for them to experience. There are quite a few close ups in this music video which present the voyeuristic treatment of the female body, such as a close up of Katy's chest and a shot of a women lying on the ground half-naked. it also shows a close-up of Katy lying down in her bed in the end which moves out to present the only male in the video which is suggested to be her boyfriend.

Firework

Firework is a very empowering video for Katy's fans. In this video, Katy is trying to tell her fans that they are special and they can make a change, they should have fun and take risks. This video outlines many problems and fears which her fans may face, such as parents arguing and feeling body conscious. Katy includes many of these problems and fears, for when the girl is feeling body conscious, she is at a pool party, where there are many girls in their bikinis. The girl is too scared to take off her jacket and get in the pool, and so Katy creates a positive message throughout this video, saying have fun, take risks, and quoting "cos baby you're a firework," She wants her fans to feel special and feel good about themselves, She wants them to "let their colours burst." Katy wants her fans to know that this video is directly towards them, for there are many shots of her looking directly into the camera, which suggests that she is empowering. This video has illustrative lyrics, for the people starring in this video who face the problems are unhappy, however when Katy sings "ignite the light and let it shine," she has fireworks shining out of her, and then the actors in her video which are facing problems understand that they can make a change, and then fireworks are shining out of them; they made a change, just like Katy's lyrics illustrates. When the fireworks shine out of them and they are facing their fears and problems, the lyrics go "make them go oh, as you shoot across the sky." Her lyrics are telling them that they are amazing, they need to believe in themselves. Many of Katy's fans could have been positively affected by this video for many teenagers go through the same fears and problems in this video. Hearing this song will give them support, therefore they will have great respect and admiration for Katy Perry. 

California Girls

This video was created during the time Katy Perry was with Russell Brand. This video contains many scenes which would seem inappropriate for her usual fan base, which suggests that Katy had changed her motives whilst she was in love with Russell. In the video, there are many scenes which contains voyeuristic treatment of the female body, as Katy is practically naked, and most of the video contains girls wearing bikinis. However, these bikinis had cakes on them which represented a female chest, creating a more inappropriate view to this video. This sexual imagery and costume creates a divide between Katy and her fans, suggesting that she is alienating them and suggests that she doesn't care about being a role model to her fan base. This video also contains Snoop Dog, who, in one scene, is sitting at a candy table with a supposed staff in his hand, whilst watching Katy and the other girls dance in their bikinis, which suggests that he has dominance over them and they are only there for his entertainment. This completely disregards the points made by Katy in her previous videos which implied that women should not allow men to dominate them and that her fans are worth respect, which suggests that Katy has changed now that she is with Russell. 

Wide Awake

Katy Perry wanted to tell her fans that she made a mistake, and she did so by making this music video. This video and song was created after her break up with Russell Brand. Using a very clever tactic, Katy Perry wants to tell her audience that she made a mistake by making "California Gurls," by showing Katy at the end of the "California Gurls" video, in which she goes into her dressing room, takes off her wig and looks into the mirror at herself. The next scene presents Katy with dark hair and dark clothing, and then she looks up into the camera and sings "im wide awake," which is a repetitive scene throughout this video. This automatically implies that Katy is telling the audience and her fans that she made a mistake by choosing Russell over her fans and disregarding all of her beliefs for him. In this video she is presented with a little girl who we later find out is her younger self, for the name on her bicycle is Katheryn. Her younger self appears to be stronger than how Katy is after Russell, as Katy is in a wheelchair whilst her younger self is pushing her, and protecting her from enemies. Katy wants to go back to the way things were before Russell, which is suggested through her lyrics "I am born again, out of the lions den, yeah I dont have to pretend," which suggests that she wasn't herself when she was with Russell. There is also some implications that Russell lied to Katy, for her lyrics are "I wish i knew then what I know now," and in one scene of the video where the scenery is bright, Katy is walking up to a man, and she has a loving expression on her face, however he has his fingers crossed, and she hits him. This suggests that Katy saw through Russell's lies and left him, and now she wants to start again. One very important scene in the video is right at the end, where Katy is presented rising up to get onto the stage at one of her concerts. This suggests that she wants to reconnect with her fans and let them know that they are very important to her.

Roar

In this video, Katy tries to make amends from the points she created in 'California Gurls'. She wants to go in the direction that her video 'Hot and Cold' went, for she tries to prove that women don't need men in their lives. The man in the video gets eaten by a tiger, and Katy is left alone in the forest. However, towards the end of the video, she is shown to fight with the tiger, and become the queen of the forest which suggests that she is trying to tell her audience that they can be powerful and that she doesn't need a man to have control in her life. However, this video could be her indirectly telling Russell Brand that she didn't need him, and that she is completely over him. This is her saying that she has control over her life now and Russell will "hear me roar." 

Group Meeting!

After a discussion with another group, we decided to join forces and work together on our music video. Our fellow group's plan for their video had collapsed, and there was not enough time for them to create a new plan and shoot their video. After a discussion between our two groups, we come to an agreement that it would be much easier for their group to join our group and help us with our video. Although my group had already filmed the video, there was still plenty of editing to be completed, and so all of our skills as a group will be combined.

Although before when we worked with this group, there was a bit of tension, for we all had different ideas and opinions, we have come to a decision that we will work together as a team and make sure that the whole team agrees with the choices being made.

Risk Assessment

Risk Assessment

Group Members: Kamie, Ellese, Kendall, James.                   

Location: Eastbrook Drama studio, Central park, Dagenham East Station.

Hazard	Person(s) at Risk	Likelihood of Hazard 1 – Extremely Unlikely 5 – Extremely Likely	Severity of Hazard Outcomes 1 – Very Low Risk 5 – Very High Risk	Risk Level (Likelihood + Severity) 2	Measures to Take to Manage Risk	Risk Managed? Y/N
Tripping over wires.	Kamie, Ellese, Kendall.	4	3	3.5	Make sure all wires are out of harms way and make sure we are careful where to walk.	Yes.
Litter, Broken glass, Tripping hazard.	Kamie, Ellese, Kendall, James.	3	4	3.5	Make sure we clear the path before we start to film and make sure we are careful where we walk.	Yes.
Dogs and/or dogs knocking over equipment.	Kamie, Ellese, Kendall, James.	4	4	4	Make sure we take necessary precautions to avoid dogs, and make sure all equipment is safe around dogs.	Yes.
Falling onto the tracks.	Kamie, Ellese, Kendall, Public.	4	5	4.5	Make sure we take extra precautions to be careful near the tracks and make sure the public are out of harms risk.	Yes.

Contacts:

Emergency Service: 999
Robert Clack School: 02082704222

Other Contacts: Eastbrook Comprehensive School - 020 8270 4567

Filming Day One.

Today was our first day filming and we filmed the studio scene for our music video. We had a slight issue with our location choice, for the dance studio had been booked, and so we filmed in the drama studio at our school. We also had a minor change of costume for our actress had misplaced her plaid shirt, and so she wore a simple black t-shirt as this would contrast with her hair. Our first day filming was an overall success for we created a variety of brilliant shots and we feel as though it was all great quality.

 

Shooting Schedule

Shooting Schedule

Day	Scene	Location	Equipment	Costumes	Props	Cast +Crew
1. 9/12/14 2. 10/12/14 3. 11/12/14	Studio Scene Park Scene Train Station	Eastbrook Drama Studio. Central Park Dagenham East Train Station	Dolly, Camera, Tripod. Dolly, Camera, Tripod. Dolly, Camera, Tripod.	Black t-shirt, Choker necklace, Denim shorts, Boots. Black Coat, Jeans, Scarf, Boots. Black Coat, Jeans, Scarf, Boots.	Microphone, Stand Mobile Phone.	Kamie, Ellese, Kendall. Kamie, Ellese, Kendall, James. Kamie, Ellese, Kendall.