ANALYSIS OF MUSIC VIDEO;

KATY PERRY, ROAR.

The use o f the shot type w i th in th i s f reeze f rame i s a loose f rame wh ich shows both Katy ’s react ion to the s i tuat ion she i s in and a lso the react ion o f the male in the background. The use o f th i s shot type shows us as the aud ience that she i s i so la ted and a lone f rom the o ther character due to h im not car ing about the fact that they are in a jung le and they ’ve c rashed, he i s more in terested in tak ing a se lfi e . The use o f h igh key l ight ing on the male in the background shows that he i s happy and that he fee ls l i ke he i s sa fe in that env i ronment , however , the use o f the low key l ight ing on Katy g ives us as the aud ience that she fee ls in danger and unsafe , th i s supports the typ ica l s tereotype that women show fear towards new and unknown locat ions that she i s w i th in . The way that Katy ’ s ha i r and makeup i s done w i th in th i s shot shows us that she has se l f confi dence and i s w i l l ing to fi ght , on the o ther hand the body language in wh ich she shows as i s qu i te negat ive and g ives us the fee l ing that she i s scared and confused and i s t ry ing to ga in sense o f what i s go ing on . In w i th in th i s f reeze f rame, we see Katy as a typ ica l s tereotype o f the female gender as she shows us worry ing but i s s t i l l g lamorous , th i s shows supports the male gaze theory as the c lo th ing she i s wear ing emphas ises her breasts and the sk i r t she i s wear ing revea ls her legs .

The shot shows us a sense o f not ions o f look ing through voyeur i sm as Katy has no idea that we are watch ing her and we are ga in ing p leasure f rom i t . I t i s as i f we are watch ing her f rom a fa r , as i f we are h id ing in the t rees l i ke a t iger . ( We are watch ing her th rough the eyes o f the t iger ) . (Goodwin)

The male in the background subverts the s tereotypes o f ma les because i s shows h im in a femin ine l ight because he i s tak ing a se lfi e wh ich a typ ica l th ing fo r females to do not males , th i s he lps subverts the typ ica l s tereotype wh ich Katy shou ld show, however she doesn ’ t , she shows us that she i s the male o f the re la t ionsh ip they have and that she i s the s t rong and ‘dominate male ‘ wh ich the the male shou ld show but he doesn ’ t .

20 seconds

The shot that is used here is an over the shoulder shot showing us as the audience what she is do ing; making a spear us ing a t ree branch and a heel off a h igh heel shoe. Th is shows s ign ifi cance and supports the s tereotype of a women. The l ight ing on Katy is low key which shows that she is untrustworthy and shady and that the an imal she is go ing to attack is in danger , th is subverts the hegemonic s tereotype we have towards women, i t shows us that she is tak ing the ro le o f the male and being dominate and tak ing on male ro les l ike k i l l ing an imals for food.

The lyr ics used in the scene are i l lustrat ive which means that the v isua ls l i tera l ly represent the lyr ics ;

‘Now I 'm fl oating l ike a butterfl yStinging l ike a bee I earned my stripesI went from zero, to my own hero’

The use o f the words ‘ fl oat ing l ike a butterfl y, s t ing ing l ike a bee’ shows us that the song has intertextua l meaning. The words show us her dominance and that she is tak ing on the ro le o f a fi ghter / boxer , we a lso ga in th is fee l ing because these are words sa id by Muhammad A l i who is famous boxer (support ing the intertextua l meaning) . A lso the use o f the words co l lect ive ly together , i t shows us her growth for her be ing scared of her surroundings to now where she's brave and she's ‘earned her s tr ipes ’ to have her part in the jungle rank ings .

1;46 seconds

The shot used here is a medium close up which shows just above her breast , th is makes us as the audience fee l involved in what she is doing, even through we’re not . Because we are watching her f rom behind a t ree, i t g ives the fee l ing that we are the t iger h id ing f rom her and watching her as i f she is pray to eat , i t a lso supports the male gaze theory as we are seeing her in the way males would want to see her and that we see her as pray for males . We know that i t i s male gaze because she is naked and having a shower which shows that she is over ly sexual ised, in the same way the male is in the coke advert where he is soaking wet and has no top on which we see f rom the female perspect ive.

In relation to Goodwins theory the lyric of the song during this scene are disjunctive and the meaning of the song is ignored.

The shot used is also a loose frame as there is a lot of empty space surrounding her, showing us that she is alone and isolated from human society and has only the companionships of animals to keep her sane.

From the shot before the type of editing that has been used is continuity editing to keep the images moving in a chronological order to emphasis the real-time narrative and to create a sense of realism for the viewer by giving the impression of continuous filming.

The lighting that is used on her is high key making it seem as if she is in a friendly and safe environment, which contrast against scenes where the lightening is low key on her showing her fear and the danger around her on the environment.

Image of male from the coke advertisement.

1:57 seconds

Th e u se o f t h e l ow an g le s h o t w i th in th i s f r ame , th i s emp h as i s es th e s i ze o f p ower i n wh i ch s h e h as . Th e sh o t i s a l s o a w id e s h o t wh i c h s h ows u s th e s u rro u n d in g a rea an d te l l s u s th a t s he i s i s o l a ted f rom p eo p le .

Th e c l o th in g tha t s h e i s wea r i ng a s we l l s u p po r t s L au ra Mu lvey ’ s th eo ry o f t h e Ma le g aze , a s s h e i s wea r in g a b ra top th a t emp h as i ses h e r b reas t s mak in g u s as th e au d ien ce l o ok a t them, i t a l so sh o ws us h e r f em in in i t y an d s u p p o r t s th e t yp i ca l s te reo typ e o f th e f ema le p op u la t i o n th a t l i ke to s h ow o ff th ey ’ re b es t f ea tu res .

Th e u se o f s o m u ch g reen i n th e backg rou n d makes h e r more eye c a tc h in g to u s a s h e r s k i n c o lo u r i s s o p a le ag a in s t th e d a rk g reen co lou r. Th e h ig h key l i g h ten in g th a t s u rro u nd s h e r g i ves th e f ee l th a t the en v i ro n men t i s n ow s a fe an d h ap p y , th i s h ig h key l i gh t i n g a l s o makes h e r s tan d ou t mo re .

Th e l y r i c s i n th i s s cen e , a t fi r s t g l an ce , d o n ’ t re l a te to th e v i s u a l i n wh i ch we see mak ing th em d i s j u n c t i ve an d th e mean in g o f t h e l y r i c s a re i g no red b y th e v i su a l s . However th e l y r i c s d o ne re l a te s l i gh t l y a s sh e i s s ay in g ‘ you ’ re g o n na h ea r me roa r , l o ud e r , l o u d er th an a l i o n . ’ th i s d oes i n a way re l a te to th e v i su a l s b ecaus e l i on s a re typ i c a l l y s een s tan d in g o n a h ig h rock wa tch in g ove r h i s k i n g do m, j u s t l i ke Ka ty i s , th i s makes th e l y r i c s i l l u s t r a t i ve as th ey rep resen t th e l y r i c s . Th i s i s a l s o a u s e o f A mp l i fi ca t i on a s th e au d ien c e i s be in g man ip u la ted i n to b e l i ev in g s h e i s wa tch in g ove r h e r k i n g d om as i f s h e a d om in a te ma le L i o n .

Th e s c en e i s a l so f o l l ow in g a na rra t i ve caus e -eff ec t s eq u en c in g , a s we s ee h e r i n a cave wa tch in g s ome c aveman d raw in g s wh i ch a re te l l i n g th e s to ry o f th e n a t i ve l i o n , a f te r th a t we s eem to b e l i eve th a t s h e h as g a ined i n sp i r a t i on f rom the d raw in g s to fi n d h e r i n n e r l i o n es s an d h ow to o ve r co me h e r f ea r s i n wh i ch as h as . T h e u s e o f a c ran e sh o t a l l o w th e c amera to d ro p , s h ow in g u s h e r p ower . I t a l s o s h ows u s th a t th e t i g e r ( o u r p o in t o f v i ew) h e d rop p ed i n r an k in g ag a in s t h e r an d th a t h e i s n o l on g e r th e d o min a te l i o n i n th e com mu n i ty. Th i s i s a l s o s u p p o r ted b y th e f a s t p ac ed cu t t i n g a l so emp h as i s es the ra te tha t s h e h as b ec ome m ore con fi d en t and th e con t ro l s h e h as n o t o n l y ove r h e r s e l f b u t ove r h e r ‘ l i on p r i d e 'wh i c h s h e i s n ow th e l ead er o f.

2:19 seconds

The shot that i s used here i s a w ide shot showing the locat ion she i s in , showing us her dominance through the use o f m ise-en-scene , the fl amboyant co lours surround ing her and cha i r she i s s i t t ing in . I t i s a l so an es tab l i sh ing shot that i s used to show the s tar t o f a new scene or a new beg inn ing , i t shows us as the aud ience her re la t ionsh ip between her and the locat ion and the characters w i th in the scene ( Katy , an e lephant , a monkey and the l ion) . The re la t ionsh ip she has w i th the locat ion i s that she contro l s i t and the characters i s that she i s the dominate one and has power over them, they are by her s ides showing they ’ re apprec ia t ion fo r her and that they w i l l p ro tect as i f they are her bodyguards .

Her body language has changed throughout the mus ic v ideo as a t the beg inn ing as was sacred and worr ied compared to now, she ’s s i t t ing in thrown and w i th her legs apar t l i ke a male wou ld , th i s shows us that she has gone back to her roots , becoming a lp l i ke and her body language subver ts the typ ica l s tereotype we have fo r women as they typ ica l ly s i t w i th the i r knees together because she subver ts that s tereotype we th ink that she has become male- l i ke . However the use o f the fl amboyant co lours beh ind her he lp us re la te her back to a female as i t i s ma in ly made up o f p ink and red wh ich typ ica l ly females l i ke or pre fer.

The use o f the hat next to her , reminds us o f her past and her re la t ionsh ip w i th the male a t the beg inn ing o f the v ideo and that she 's moved on f rom h im and has found another male , wh ich i s w i th in her , her dominance and confi dence.

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3:15 seconds

The use of the loose shot shows empty areas around the lion which make us feel that he, the lion, it shows loneliness and that he maybe isolated from his community as he has lost his dominance and control over them. They also use a close up shot emphasises the tag the lion is wearing.

The use of the tag the lion is wearing shows us Richard Dyer’s theory of ‘pop stars are constructions’. It shows us that Katy’s ‘pop star’ role in todays community is down to star status and her followers. The use of the tag also supports Andrew Goodwin’s star image theory as it is a promotion of the star herself using frequent close ups and using motifs that represent her. The use of the lion promotes Katy herself because she is known for being lion-like as she’s a fighter and has no fears.

The use of the lyrics in this scene directly link to the visuals that we see, meaning that they are illustrative. The visuals show us the image of the Lion and the lyrics are ‘ and your gonna hear me roar’.

Throughout the song, there are elements of intertextuality related to being ‘winners of life’ which is also heard in two others famous songs; * Eye of the tiger by survivor and * We are the champions by Queen. Intertextuality can also be found by listening to the lyrics of roar and Eye of the Tiger, both of these videos contain lyrics that talk about having the ‘Eye of the tiger’ which supports the idea of intertextuality as lyrics in both songs cross over.

3:26 seconds