Textual Analysis :)

Ideas for our Music Video :) I've decided to look at two different Music Videos and thoroughly analyse them in order to see if their is anything we would like to contain for our Music Video and any other ideas that I thought worked well!

Firstly I've decided to look at Katy Perry - Hot and Cold. Along with the textual analysis I have also collected some audience research to compliment and also in some places challenge my own opinions. Audience research is key to the success of any project because ultimately you are making your product for other people to enjoy and more specifically in the case of our Music Video - to watch :)

Here is the Katy Perry Video, it's directed by Alan Ferguson and has gained over 74million views on YouTube along with being nominated for Best Female Video at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lkaf9PdlNM
(the video is copyrighted therefore won't embed)


I've decided to analyse the Music Video using categories:

Camera Shots/Angles:

• There is a low angle shot at 28seconds, here the shot contains three characters: Katy Perry, the Groom and a young girl. It's a complex shot that has the perfect angle to incorporate carefully three points of view and and I think it matches the silence in the Music Video at that point very effectively.


• At 1minute 49seconds there is a extreme close up of the right hand side of KP's sun glasses, this is an idea which we really liked and felt we could use effectively within our Music Video, but maybe change the brand of sunglasses to keep the intertextuality of our Music Video relevant with our themes. Below is a screen shot of this part of the Music Video.

• There is also a shot of KP's feet and a Zebra's feet, this shot is mid shot and I feel very effective, it adds a quirky nature to the Music Video and this is the type of effect which we are going for. (below is a still of this shot.) The shot is more conceptual as it only shows part of each of the bodies and this is good as it pulls focus away from having a primarily performance based music video which sometimes can get very labouring and repetitive.

Mise-en-scene:

• When looking at props within KP's Music Video I found many which were slightly random and concept based, although the video has a narrative surrounding Katy Perry's chase of her husband-to-be that won't commit, there are some objects and props which you wouldn't expect. For example the bicycles, we loved this idea and it's an object which we intend on featuring in our Music Video.


• Furthermore within Mise-en-scene I particularly like the green eyeshadow which Katy Perry wears in one of the final locations within the Music Video, it is similar to the creative styles we have experimented with in previous posts and intend on using this.


• To compliment the extravagant make-up KP wears lots of costumes which at one point reflect the location she is in, e.g - wedding dress and a church, however later on in the video she is riding down the street on a bicyle wearing the same wedding dress and this is therefore a contrast. I like this idea as it links different locations throughout the video together through costume and also adds to the conceptual image of the Music Video.

Editing:

• The main editing point which stood out to me was a complex shot where by KP is being shown singing on the screen of a Nokia phone which her husband-to-be is holding. This is technically challenging and even though we were not looking to use a mobile phone like that within our Music Video, I felt it was still a memorable part of the video which worked well surrounding the performance aspect. Furthermore after this shot the video goes back to a full screen shot of KP singing with the same black background and white wedding dress, this matches the two locations together and works effectively.
  
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• As you can see above each shot leads in to the other effectively :)
  

Sound:

• Because I have been mainly analysing the visuals to help us when making our video and the main sound contained is the song itself there is only really one point which I feel is relevant to make surrounding sound. This is that within the video there is a point at the beginning where it is silent and this lasts for 15seconds. It is used as it's important to the narrative however I don't feel that it would work effectively within our Music Video as we are not intending on focusing on narrative as heavily as Hot and Cold does.

Audience Feedback:

I asked three Year 13's at our 6th Form to comment and answer a few questions surrounding the Katy Perry video. I felt that Audience Feedback would be extremely helpful when approaching our Music Video as the audience are the ones watching and supporting our work, therefore it has to be enjoyable for them. The questions I asked and comments/answers made are shown below:

• What was the most memorable part of the video for you?

1. Mostly enjoyed the involvement of random objects, such as the Zebra. 2. Thought that the part where KP was riding a bicycle through the streets was memorable. 3. Enjoyed the dancing at the end where more people were involved.

• Do you think that the lyrics and visuals combined well?

1. Lots of the straight cuts were on the lyrics and sound changes therefore they helped emphasise the song. 2. The dancing was effective as a lot of KP's hand gestures were linked directly to the lyrics.

• Overall do you think that the video sells the song well or does it clash?

1. Thought that the song was suited to it's narrative however felt that some of it was too obvious and the costume and editing wasn't inspiring enough and lacked a high technical element.

• Any parts of the video that you liked/disliked?

1. Liked the performance based elements e.g the dancers. However felt that some of it e.g the make-up was over exaggerated and maybe should have been used better but does believe also that it made the video more vibrant, which was needed.

From my Audience Research I have picked up many points which as a group we can discuss and work on, I particularly like number 2's point about hand gestures linking directly to lyrics and this is something which I didn't pick up on myself, therefore showing just how helpful audience input is.

I will post another video with analysis soon, hope you enjoyed this one and learnt as much as I did making it!

Jess :)