Monday, 3 November 2014

Katy Perry Hot 'n' Cold Music Video Analysis

The video starts in a church at a wedding, the priest asks Katy if she takes the man to be her husband she says ‘I do’, he is then asked if he wants Katy to be his wife. There is a close up of his throat in which we see him gulping, this highlights his nerves. We see the congregation all looking at each other in concern, this is due to the fact they think he will say no. There is a close-up of Katy Perry’s face where she has minimal eye makeup and bright pink lips. She turns her head away from the camera and she pulls a disappointed face before turning back towards the camera and beginning to sing. The camera zooms out to show Katy Perry is in a chapel with a group of people dancing behind her while she shakes her head about to get married. She has her hair down with a fascinator in it and she is wearing a pink wedding dress. The colour pink is a symbol of unconditional love and means that your marriage partner should show sincere appreciation of you. The camera changes to show the groom as Katy says ‘You change your mind’, this suggests that Katy is speaking to the man and also the sentence she is saying contradicts with the meaning of the dress colour as the groom obviously doesn’t appreciate Katy if he has changed his mind about their wedding. The camera pans to show the wedding guests who are all moving their heads to the beat of the music and the goes back to show the bride and groom where the bridal party behind them are also dancing, this could suggest that the guests are too busy enjoying the music that they are not concerned by the seriousness of the situation that is occurring. The camera has a close up on Katy’s face in which she looks unimpressed as she sings to the groom. Katy says ‘changes clothes’ and after that the camera cuts to the man pulling his blazer down. This suggests that the man is taking the lyrics Katy is singing to him literally and is acting upon what he hears. The camera cuts back to Katy singing and then it zooms out so that we can see both the man and hers faces, where he begins to look away from Katy as if to say he doesn’t want to hear anymore and is tired of her moaning. Katy then begin to punch the flowers into the mans stomach as she sings ‘you’re no good to me’ as if she cant believe she was so naïve to love and trust the man.  
The man then runs away from the alter and a tracking shot is used so we move down the alter with him. Katy follows the groom and we see them both leave the church and begin to run down the road. There is a shot/reverse shot between the man running who is looking back at the camera as if the camera is on Katy and Katy running from a side and front angle, which are medium long shots to long shots. Katy’s facial expressions suggest that she is distressed and that she is potentially close to tears after her heartbreak. The man runs around a corner and where he is so distracted by Katy behind him he runs into and pushes over a person in a hot dog suite and he just gets up and carries on running without concern for the other person. This may have been done to embarrass the male character and to show Katy’s superiority, as she did not make such a mistake. Katy then gets onto a bike in the hope that it will make it easier to catch him however she struggles to control it. Within their chase they disrupt a lot of people but carry on without concern. Two people focused solely on each other is stereotypical of people who are just starting a relationship and are falling in love. This is a contrast to the actual events as the couple are separating.  Additionally not caring about other people is stereotypical of teenagers, which could suggest that they are too young to consider a serious commitment. In the next shot Katy is in the background and has high key lighting, which is natural, and from the sun on her making her clearly visible. The man who is in the foreground has low-key lighting which makes only has outline visible. This would have been done to show that Katy is the central focus of the video.

The man hides in a gap between the walls, where he ends up in a building attending a party. The man is smiling and crowd surfing, which suggests he is not concerned with his previous actions and just, wants to enjoy his life. The lighting in the room is red which is a symbol of both love and danger. Also red is a colour associated with heat and the song is called ‘Hot N Cold’.  The singer of the band appears to be Katy, this could suggest either he cannot escape her or he can’t stop thinking about her and sees her everywhere he looks. Katy sings the lyrics ‘your plain boring’ as the man is shown dancing in a crowd of people dancing. This contradicts what Katy says as clearly the man knows how to have fun, however it could be Katy is saying he is boring as he just blends into a crowd and does the same things as everyone else.  He leaves the party to escape from Katy but is greeted outside by Katy and a group of angry brides, this suggests that the groom makes a habit of leaving women at the altar and that he has a lack of concern for other peoples feelings. The brides all have streaky makeup and they are all wearing ripped lingerie style wedding dresses. The dresses being lingerie styled gives the impression that the women are trying to win the man back and are trying to show him what he’s missing, however the outfits are ripped and the make-up is messy which could mean the women have given up or they have came to realise that they deserve more.  The women are also holding baseball bats and hitting their hands with them in an angry manner, this highlights their frustration with the man and how they want to punish him for how they were treated. The women all get on bikes to chase the man, this is because stereotypically men are faster runners than women and therefore being on bikes will give them an advantage. The bikes the women are riding are pink, which is gender stereotyping to what is expected. Additionally the women are all looking straight at the camera and have a determined look in their eyes, which gives the impression that they are not going to let their targets out of their sight. The man then stands in a doorway to try and escape the women, he pulls out his phone and a video of Katy appears on the screen. This again links to the idea of the man not being able to escape from Katy. While on the screen Katy appears distressed and also often makes gestures that link to the song lyrics. The video then cuts between the footage of the women chasing the man and him looking at Katy on his phone screen. The man becomes overwhelmed with Katy’s presence and runs away. While running he ends up by a new building in which Katy is stood in a different outfit. This time she is wearing a white t-shirt, yellow shorts and a black hoodie. She may be wearing this outfit to symbolise her youthfulness and also the hot pants allow her to flash her skin and show the man what he is missing. She has straight hair and she is wearing green eye shadow.  The colour green is a colour, which represents well being and also learning, growth and harmony. This gives the impression that Katy has learnt from her experiences and is ready to move on with her life. Katy and mainly the people behind her do a choreographed dance routine. This would have been done intentionally to show that Katy is over the guy and that she can have fun. The man looks around with an overwhelmed facial expression this could be due to the sheer quantity of people around him, especially as there is the Katy in the shorts and hoodie but also bridal Katy and the other brides all stood around. Another man then points to the right where the video cuts back to the Katy at the party. The man falls over a boom box as he tries to back away from the brides, this suggests that seeing all his exes in front of him is causing him discomfort and it is also highlighting his stupidity. Bridal Katy appears with a zebra and there is a rainbow behind her, the man’s face looks very shocked by what he is seeing as ordinarily people don’t walk along with zebras on leads. This may have been done to show Katy’s superiority or to show that Katy always gets what she wants. The music fades out to emphasise the end of the song or what must have been a dream as the video cuts back to Katy and the man stood at the altar. The priest then asks the man again if he wants to marry Katy. The congregation all lean in with anticipation and a groomsman has a fearful facial expression; this could have been done to show their doubt or their impatience. The man says ‘I do’ and everyone breaks out in cheers and dancing to highlight the joyousness of the situation. The bride and groom run down the aisle, which represents their excitement and almost their necessity to start their lives together. Throughout the video there is product placement, firstly when Katy is performing on stage she is wearing Diesel sunglasses and belt, when the man goes outside and first discovers the brides there is a Pontiac which the women surround and lastly the phone used by the man is a Nokia. She would have used these products as the companies would have sponsored the production of the video in return for advertisement of their products.

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