Music Video Analysis

Katy PerryLast Friday Night

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zcy_1IPREw8

Storyline …• The narrative of the music video for ‘Last Friday Night’ is a young high

school girl who appears to be quite geeky and not very attractive, and possibly not someone who would be very popular with other students. The beginning of the video shows the girl waking up from the previous night, and going onto her computer to find images of herself on social media doing embarrassing things or things which should would not normally expect herself to do and find acceptable. It then skips to a flashback of the night before where she is sat on her bed doing some sort of puzzle whilst getting slightly agitated at the loud sound of the party which she is not at. This results in her going to the front door to complain, however gets brought into the party feeling uncomfortable because more popular people are looking at her as though she is out of place. She is then taken upstairs to have a makeover where she changed her hairstyle, and clothes and wears much more makeup making her appear much more attractive. As she goes back to the party, she gains a lot of attention and everyone there begins to associate with her and she has a very good night, as though it was possibly one night away from her normal life, however this does not end with a positive outcome.

Location …• The location of this music video is set in a normal type of house, which appears to be in a

very bad state due to the party which was going on. We can see that there is a lot of rubbish and colourful paper being hung around the whole house perhaps as decoration, however has created a very messy environment. There are also balloons floating around lights decorating the furniture creating a very busy and full on setting, highlighting and exaggerating what is going on in the house. This type of location is more relatable to the target audience, which would typically be a younger/teenage audience as this setting of having fun and partying is something the majority enjoy.

Costume … • At the beginning of the music video, the main female character is

shown to be wearing a costume which presents her as being a geeky and smart character as she is wearing a high turtle necked top, with what look like a one piece over the top making her seem very covered up. She is also wearing glasses and has her hair tied in a plait put to the side, which again enhances the appearance of someone less attractive.

• Further along into the music video, she has a makeover where her outfit, hair, makeup and whole general appearance is changed. Her outfit is swapped for a very bright coloured and much more revealing outfit. Her hair was curled so that the style was very big and her glasses and brace was removed so that she appeared much more appealing and seemed to fit in much better with the other characters in the music video. She was also wearing a lot more makeup which were also quite bold bright colours, which was the fashion and style which was typical for around the 70’s and 80’s.

• The other characters in the music video were also wearing quite colourful costumes which were again quite revealing.

Style … • The style of Last Friday Night music video would be mainly performance, and

also narrative. This is because the singer, Katy Perry is performing throughout the whole of the music video, showing her dancing and being the main focus within the performance itself. It would also be narrative because it is showing a story which has in a way been summarised to be very short, explaining what is going on. The narrative of it is shown to be a geeky, unpopular girl being transformed into a more free and careless character who is accepted more by others.

• The music video is quite quick paced and this is so that it is suitable and related to the song itself, as it is very upbeat. The shots are cut relatively quickly also, exaggerating the atmosphere within the video as it is being presented to be some what of a ‘wild night’.

Colour …• The colours used in this video are all very bright and colourful, and this is

probably due to it being set in the 70’s/80’s when the fashion was much more different to what it is now.• The décor within the house which the video was based in was mainly all

multi-coloured to highlight the fact that the narrative is about a party, and the idea of bright colours emphasises the cheerful and excited atmosphere which the teenagers are in.