Katy Perry "Teenage Dream" Analysis

Camerawork

The intmacy that the artist is expressing for her partner who is shown sat in the car next to her is expressed through the use of close ups. Long shots are also used to show the fun of the beach party that she is having fun with her friends and her boyfriend, which fits in with Katy Perry's image which has been constructed by the record company from a "range of materials" (Richard Dyer 1979). The image has been formed because she is a pop star and her lyrical themes of love, friends and sex are easily acessible to a mass audience. Pete Fraser confirms this in his book "Teaching Music Video" (BFI, 2004), "These materials include the songs (their lyrical themes and musical structures/genres)". The chorus' lyrics also maintain this idea - "Let's go all the way tonight/No regrets, just love/We can dance until we die/You and I, we'll be young forever." The hyperbolic exaggeration of the last line of the chorus demonstrates the typical thought process of a teen in love, that it is eternal, when in truth, this is unlikely.

Editing

The editing for this video is extremely fast. A shot barely lasts a second. Peter Fraser's theory on this seems accurate for a pop video, "music promo is fast cut montage, rendering many of the image impossible to grasp on first viewing thus requiring multiple viewings" The speed of the editing could also be a subtle hint at how quickly youth rushes by us. Perhaps this is why a 25 year old pop artist wanted to reflect on the idea of a "teenage dream". For the chorus the video intercuts scenes of the artist kissing her "teenage dream" in a dimly lit bedroom with scenes of the beach party where the sun is going down. The splicing of the two actions suggests the excitement of the two acts and how the party has led to a night of passion.

Mise-en-Scene

The racy scenes in the bedroom are quite dimly lit, which is actually unconventional of a pop video, which usually always has high key lighting. But this is probably due to the narrative of the video, which seems to follow the beach party scene which is taking place as the sun is going down. The bright sunlight in the first scene in the car coincides with the happy lyrics and upbeat, uplifting nature of the song. The artist wears "skin tight jeans" which she references in the lyrics of the song. She also just wears a bra for the beach and bedroom scenes. This shows a sense of sexual freedom within the artist which she is renowned for.