Katy Perry - Wide Awake
The video for this Katy Perry single is set in an outside world with different plants and greenery covering the brick walls in which Katy Perry is trapped. It seems to be a maze or a labyrinth in which she is trapped.
This creates the negative, eery vibe which becomes continuous throughout the rest of the video. Darker shades of all colours are seen in the video with a darker shade of purple being predominant, even in Katy Perry's hair.
This creates a kind of vampiric, gothic vibe and is enhanced by the style of clothing that Perry is wearing. There is a part in the video where Perry meets a younger version of herself.
It could be said that Perry's character is herself after becoming famous and the little girl represents a more innocent version of herself before she was in the limelight. Similar to GaGa's videos, the message conveyed could be that of how fame can change a person.
There are multiple close ups and a mid-shots of Katy Perry which signifies that the message of the song isn't just a general concern but something close to herself. Perhaps something that has happened, or is happening, to her. A close up implies power but also allows the audience to see the emotions being expressed. The negative video also features some negative expressions and emotions from Katy Perry like sadness and hostility.
This shot shows Perry being stalked by paparazzi with their flashing cameras and her holding the little girls hand. The mirror has connotations of a reflection and creates a ideology of Perry seeing an overwhelming fame in herself which she is beginning to regret. It could be stated that she is warning the girl that it isn't what she wanted and that there is a chance to change it.
This intense shot shows Perry in a wheelchair, much like the video Paparazzi by Lady Gaga, which delivers the same message of overwhelming fame. The wheelchair and the hospital gown creates a sense of illness and a weakness which Perry cannot fight. As you can see in the next screenshot, the little girl has made a difference because the once dreary, cold, grey setting has become a flowery, bright meadow, signifying change and a more positive outlook.
The editing throughout the video is quite standard. The cuts used are regular due to the huge amount of settings, scenarios and characters in the video, having cartoon-like transitions would make the video feel too gimmicky.
The genre of the artist is predominantly Pop however the beginning of the video appears to be more gothic and appears much like an Evanescence video. The narrative is very untraditional for the style of music because of the generic conventions of Pop songs being star-focussed performance shots and a typical, positive narrative. The majority of the subverted aspects of the video are different to the norm for this genre creating quite an unexpected effect. There are intertextual references from the film Pan's Labyrinth which are quite obvious in the setting of the video. The maze and the dark woods are much like the ones which can be seen in the film Pan's Labyrinth.
Similar also are the little girls which can both be seen in Wide Awake and Pan's Labyrinth and the horned Minotaur-like creatures in both texts.
Propp's character theory can be applied to this video due to the characters involved. Katy Perry can be seen as the hero, journeying through the maze while her younger self is seen as the helper. There are villains like the horned beasts which try to stand in their way but eventually the hero and helper make their way to a better part of the maze where the setting begins to change. The video does connect lyrics and visuals throughout. An example of this would be the lyric "I'm wide awake, I was in the dark" which connects to the constant low key lighting and darkish filter on the video.
Capitol Records are one of the largest, richest mainstream organisations in the world, and due to this, the budget for Katy Perry's video would have been huge. Capitol's role in the video would be to portray Perry in such a way that would maximise sales of the song and the music video. Showing her in a innocent light and perhaps a new perspective for her fans would spark interest in the audience. The video actually promotes Perry's concert documentary-style film Katy Perry: Part of Me because it was created to begin the concert.
"The video was supposed to have its world premiere on June 19, 2012. However, the video was unexpectedly uploaded by EMI to the Czech website mixer.cz. one day earlier. Due to this, it was announced that the June 19 premiere was being scrapped and that the release was pushed up to June 18, 2012 at 7:53 p.m. ET on MTV as part of "MTV First: Katy Perry". After the premiere, an exclusive 30-minute interview with Perry will take place on MTV.com. The worldwide premiere will reach more than 600 million households around the world via MTV’s global network of more than 60 channels, as well as over 300 digital media properties in more than 150 territories."
Target audiences for Katy Perry's music videos would be her fans, also known as KatyKats and predominantly age 10 - 35 females. Male's also are a big percentage of her fan base with Perry herself having a large LGBT following, as well as heterosexual fans. Like most music videos, Perry's video was premiered on MTV for millions of people to watch for the first time. The next most common way of audiences viewing her material would be Vevo or YouTube. With nearly 300 million views, YouTube is one of the most popular ways her music video was watched. Due to the new dark nature of the Katy Perry video, which has never been seen before, the two step flow would be in great practise with the exchanging of opinions and thoughts between fans. Intertextual references also draw in a minority crowd who are interested in whether the film or videos original vibe has been damaged or complimented.
There are some un-stereotypical representations of age within the video due to the little girl being the one to save Katy Perry as an adult. Stereotypically it should be the adult protecting the child but Wide Awake shows a different representation of age. Throughout the video women are seen as inferior because they are extremely panicky throughout the maze, encountering the monsters and the obstacles along the way. However, un-stereotypically at the end of the video when the fairytale plays out and the Prince Charming is ready to rescue the Damsel in Distress (Perry), she actually punches him, showing that she is independent and strong and doesn't require a man to help her. This also is very different to how Pop music videos display women and instead of sexual exploitations, independence and feminism views are portrayed to the audience.
Analysing this video has helped me realise that some key conventions can be changed when it comes to a message being put out through a music video. The essence of female empowerment and fame becoming overwhelming was a strong message to portray to audiences and I appreciate how it has been done. When creating my music video this will help me because I wish to have a subtle message incorporated in my music video - like a fable.
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