CALIFORNIA GURLS – KATY PERRY

Chrissie Bishop

• The music video begins with an image of a board game.

• This, as well as the pink, candy floss clouds suggests an element of hyperreality.

• There is a play of words – ‘Candyfornia’ instead of ‘California’.

• The whole video seems to imitate the classic film ‘The Wizard of Oz’ (1939), through the use of pastiche, with Katy taking on the role of Dorothy as she saves three candy characters (who are replacing the characters of the tin man, the lion and the scarecrow as she skips across a candy lane (the yellow brick road).

• The audience are then introduced to featured artist, Snoop Dogg, who is dressed as ‘Sugar Daddy’ in a sweet patterned suit.

• Through mise-en-scene, his clothing can be intertextually linked to Gene Wilder’s costume as Will Wonka in Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory 91971).

• Audiences will immediately identify the similarities of their sweet patterned clothes and brown cane, associating Snoop Dogg with the hyperreal sweet land.

• By placing him over the game board, and close up shots of him putting Katy Perry into the game, which creates a God-like status.

• This hyperreal candy land is based in Hollywood which is an intertextual reference.

• This also references the board game ‘Candy Land’, with much of the set decorated with cupcakes, ice creams, cotton candy, and lollipops.

• Katy is seen to be conforming to Laura Mulvey’s theory of the Male Gaze as she is seductively eating candy floss, lying bare on a pink cloud and using direct address to the camera by giving eye contact.

• An element of parody is seen in the music vide, as the references to Willy Wonka is reinforced as Snoop Dogg is followed by his ‘gummy bear’ workers.

• This is an intertextual reference to Willy Wonka as his workers are ‘Oompa Loompas’ so the audience can relate to the bears and gain an understanding of what their purpose is.

• The director uses pastiche to self-consciously imitate the ‘fembot’ scene from film ‘Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery’ (1997).

• This is reinforced through the use of mise-en-scene where the artists' hair is styled in a similar way and she fires whipped cream at the gummy bears from her chest.

In terms of mise en scene, Katy’s video is heavily based on candy and all things sweet. There is also a lot of teddy bears and dream-like scenarios such as Katy floating on the clouds. The lighting is very bright and everything is colourful to make the video seem like a fantasy. Katy wears a lot of eccentric outfits, such as a corset and tutu with a lot of sweets stuck to it as she wonders around a forest of candy. She’s wearing a purple wig which makes her seem very childish in a teenage dream. We can also see Katy waving to over-sized gummy bears who appear to be alive which uses personification. We can see that Snoop Dogg is rolling sugar dice; controlling Katy on a board game which signifies that the video is not real. Other props involve Katy’s friend floating in a bubble gum balloon and Katy saving her with her stiletto heel – which is clearly very unrealistic. The candy canes at one point turn into snakes which symbolizes that even a dream has it’s faults. Katy then proceeds to climb the candy cane and is floating in a candy floss cloud. Whilst in the cloud, Katy is nude which signifies her growth within the video, in contrast to her previous child-like behaviour. At another point, Katy crosses another candy cane over a very dark ‘town’ which is actually chocolate. The game board can be compared to the yellow brick road in the Wizard of Oz, so Katy can be seen as a character like Dorothy, and she’s saving people along the way – including the woman who is stuck in jelly. The video is also very similar to Willy Wonka due to it’s heavy influence of sweets. The gingerbread man is saved by being given a heart by Katy to make him happy – similar to the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz who doesn’t have a heart. Half way through the song, Katy switches outfits into denim daisy dukes a bralet which is like cupcakes and cream. The next person she saves is stuck in a sweet wrapper. They then proceed to find a castle which is like Emerald City and she then stays in this wonderland. Katy dressed in a red Wonder Woman like costume, quickly defeats the army with whip cream guns attached to her breasts, after which the stunned king throws down his staff and surrenders. The video ends with "Sugar Daddy" buried up to his neck in the sand by the women, nonetheless admiring their beauty and wishing that women everywhere could be California girls. Various California landmarks appear in the video, such as the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Hollywood Sign and some West Coast beaches which were all made out of confectionery. In terms of camera, a huge variety of close up shots are used to see Katy in a very desirable manner. There are also a lot of establishing shots so that we can see all of the amazing props and landmarks in the video which are made up of sweets. Whilst Katy is saving people and floating on the cloud, long shots are used so that we can see the surrounding areas around her whilst still being mainly focused on her.