Analysis of a music video. Katy Perry- Hot and Cold.

Jessica Love.

Industry Information.

Katy Perry was originally born the with name Katy Hudson however decided to change her stage name with the surname Perry. Katy is a singer/ songwriter and has written many songs not only for herself but for other pop stars to use, making her name famous world wide. She was born on the 25th of October 1984 (making her age 27) being signed up to the recording labels Red Hill, Island, Columbia and Capitol. She started her singing career at the age of 9 and sang in her local church choir up until the age of 17. Her songs categorises under the genres Pop, Dance and Rock (depending on which song you are analysing) however in this case Hot and Cold categorises under Dance and Pop. The song Hot and Cold was recorded in December in 2007 at Dr. Lukes Studios in New York City. The song was then released on September 9th 2008. In Ireland the song reached number 3 in the Uk Singles Chart and in Germany it reached number 2 on the high digital download sales.

Narrative aspects within the video.

Bride- Protagonist Bridesmaids- Antagonist. Prefiguring events.

Resolution of the enigma code.

This music video has a strong narrative structure, it does however include aspects of performance within the middle of the video making the link of lyrics and visuals more obvious. This music video has a storyline of a typical wedding day with all the characters wearing the stereotypical wedding outfits which clearly gives an indication to the audience of what is occurring within the storyline. Analysing narrative in music video. This music video has a strong narrative storyline within it, it creates an enigma storyline as the audience and characters within the video are waiting for the groom to answer whether he takes Katy to be his wedded wife after not answering this question the storyline occurs of Katy chasing after the groom, waiting for him to answer the question, this however is not answered until the end of the music video. The video contains pre-figuring events that have not taken place yet (a flash forward). This occurs throughout the middle of the music video creating a impressionist narrative storyline as it is dream like and not actually occurring, the audience however do not realise this is a dream until the end of the music video when the scene of at the church is shown again from the same place at the beginning.

Genre Conventions.

The genre is dance pop, this is quite clearly shown through the music and performance side of the video, by including up beat tempo with an easy orientation of dance moves. The quote Differences between genres meant different audiences could be indentified and catered to this made it easier to standardise and stabilise production. Pop music videos use the genre conventions of music videos to help target their audience by showing Katy in black shorts, and a red leather jacket in her performance section, to introduce the male gaze to attract a male audience to watch this particular video.

This video meets the genre conventions by adding scenes of performance of Katy Perry and an audience dancing as if they are at a concert. With lots of people raving it gives the impression that is a dance scene which is stereotypically shown within a dance pop music video. This links to Goodwin's theory that the video included both narrative and performance based throughout the music video.

This video meets the genre conventions by adding scenes of hip-hop dancers to complete the stereotype of a dance music video. By doing so, the audience can also learn the dance themselves and mirror image the music video.

Representations within the music This video represents stronger sex, the males video. foolish women to be thecomes to and more dominantdoes whereassexual nature are seen to be armatures when relationships. Katy show a
within her music video, however it is for her own self pleasure and to look glamorous rather than appearing to be victimised to have to dress a certain way. Katy wears a red leather jacket to show her punk rock side as well as her girly pop star look. This outfit could attract male attention for an audience who are seeking the male gaze and looking at attractive women.

Katy also shows that she the more dominant sex within the relationship, when the groom does not answer whether he takes the brides hand in marriage, she simply roles her eyes as if she expected it happen, rather than show her emotional side. The camera angles prove this when a close up shot of Katys face, this showed her facial expression rolling her eyes showing that she doesnt care. Within the lyrics Katy sings But youre no good for me this therefore shows that she thinks she is better her fianc and could easily move on and find someone better than him. This could give the impression to young women that it is the correct way to respect their man, however this is not the case. The groom is presented as a fool for running away from an attractive women which many other men would fight for to become wed to someone like this.
The Male Gaze is a Feminist theory that was first developed by Laura Mulvey in 1975. The male gaze occurs when the audience, or viewer, is put into the perspective of a heterosexual male. Mulvey stressed that the dominant male gaze in mainstream Hollywood films reflects and satisfies the male unconscious: most filmmakers are male, thus the voyeuristic gaze of the camera is male; male characters in the films narratives make women the objects of their gaze.

Intertextual References Katy Perry is seen to be the dominant figure within the relationship in this
music video. She is seen to be quite rowdy and feisty by her boisterous actions and dance moves shown throughout this video, this therefore gives her the impression that she is the dominant role within this clip. Similar to this video The Divinlys, Christina Amphelett created many music videos flaunting her body to increase the concept of the Male Gaze occurring; so men would watch her dance sexually to the camera. This video was not very well known however in the 80s she set the trend that it is ok to dance this way in music videos, Katy Perry is then trying to relive these values within music videos so people will accept the way she flaunts her body, as seen in I kissed a girl and Hot N Cold .

Lyrics and Visuals.

These lyrics relate to the music video being set in a wedding scenario. When Katy Perry sings that her fianc Is hot then youre cold this can relate to the fact that he has cold feet at the wedding and he begins to run away (as shown in the screen shot) this therefore links the lyrics and the visuals from the music video. This chorus can link to the whole scenario of the music video, until the viewer realises at the end of the video that it was actually pre-figuring events rather than the man actually running away. This is successfully created due to the visuals being about the groom having cold feet and running away, showing that their relationship isnt perfect. These lyrics also prove that the Bride knows the relationship isnt working out well; knowing that the groom doesnt really want to stay nor go, and that they are both confused about their relationship whether they want to be together or not. These lyrics would make the audience believe that the couple feel like they are being forced together stuck on a rollercoaster, cant get off this ride meaning their relationship is an on-going argument that often occurs, making a rollercoaster relationship which many people in the audience could relate to this situation as divorces have became more common in society.

When the visuals appear of the bride with her makeup ran down her face this shows the weaker side of the bride, the music here slows down showing that the bride is breaking down and is no longer angry with the fact the groom running away form her at the wedding, this therefore shows she is feeling vulnerable and lost without her other half. The video begins with the vicar announcing whether both the bride and groom take each others hand in marriage. There is no music playing back at this point however when the groom does not answer the question and the brides eyes fills with frustration and the music begins. It is upbeat which could represent the brides heart beat as she is annoyed with the groom for leaving her at the alter.

Music and Visuals.

Instruments presented within the performance section is Katy Perry being the lead singer, The bass performer lead guitarist and the drummer. This band creates the performance section, but it still included the storyline of the groom as he is carried to the stage by the jumping fans. Due to the upbeat tempo to the song, this therefore makes it easier to include a lot of cuts and edits within the shots, this means you can see the video and actors from different angles and close-ups giving the audience a true 360 perspective of the scene so they feel like they are in the video giving them a feel for the atmosphere.

Shots of Katy Perry.

This close-up shot is used to emphasise the frustration within the brides face that the groom has not answered if he takes her hand in marriage. This shot is used to see the facial expression of the character, she also turns around and looks at the audience (her family members) looking for support that her fianc is about to leave her at the alter. This shot on the stairs is used to create emphasis that the groom has lost any power and status within the relationship after gaining cold feet and running away. Due to Katy being higher up on the stairs at this point she has gained power and is looking down at the groom ready to run after him, this makes her appear to wear the trousers within the relationship and is running after the groom in anger rather than sorrow. This birds eye view has been created to look into the scenario that the bride and groom are facing at this point of the music video. It allows the audience to see this scene from a new angle as this shot is not used anywhere else within the video. When the brides are circling the couple it puts the groom in an uncomfortable position of which male viewers would be able to sense. These shots make Katys character seem to be strong minded and powerful considering she is going through a tough time of

Narrative vs.
The video is mostly narrative setting the story at a wedding scene. This sets the scene before the music begins, of which when the fianc does not answer whether he will take Katy Perrys hand in marriage, the music begins at an upbeat tempo. She directly sings to the groom himself, which shows that the song is written directly about a certain person.
This pop song creates the image that women control the relationship, in this case Katy does not get her man, and therefore runs after him and fights for him until he takes her back. However, this storyline has a twist to it at the end, seeing that the video is all a fantasy and looking at pre occurring events and most of the video is actually a dream. Tzvetan Todorovs Theory of Narrative Equilibrium can be included into this scenario because the video beings at an every day situation which the disequilibrium is then increased when the groom doesnt answer, and tension increases. However when the audience realises this is all a fantasy equilibrium is restored.

Performance.
There is only a small section of the music video of which is performance. This part of the video Katy Perry is in a small band, containing a bass player, lead guitarist and drummer. Katy here is wearing a tight red leather jacket, which represents her as a sexual object. This red colour can also represents the anger she feels that the groom left her at the wedding. She wears sunglasses throughout the performance part of the music video of which hides her eyes, making her appear to be mysterious and hiding away from her finance. The performance is still linked to the narrative part of the video, as the finance is carried among the crowd linking her performance to the storyline.

Voyeurism.

The whole music video could be seen as a voyeurism due to them looking into what could happen in their lives if the groom was to say no. The audience however do not realise that this is a voyeurism to begin with as the twist of the tale is not revealed until the end on the video, that it was all dream like; the audience were actually looking at pre-occurring events.