Analysis of a music Video

1. Katy Perry – “Thinking of You”
MICRO ANALYSIS – UNIT 3
JESSE HAMMOND
HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=WDGZBRAWW74

2. "Thinking of You" is a song by American singer-songwriter Katy Perry, taken
from her second studio album, One of the Boys (2008). The song was released
on January 12, 2009 as the album's third single. The song was written by Katie
Perry and produced by Butch Walker, and is a pop rock and soft rock power
ballad, with the influence of country music. Lyrically, the song deals with a
break-up in which Katie Perry does not want to move on but has no choice, and
feels nostalgic of a previous lover while in a relationship with another man. It is
one of the three songs on the album that Katy Perry wrote solely herself.
The song received generally positive reviews from music critics; however, it is
Katie Perry's lowest charting single from One of the Boys. The song peaked at
number 29 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming the album's only single
to fail to reach the Top 20 in the United States, and peaked at number 27 in the
United Kingdom. There are two music videos released for the song. The first
was released in 2007 and featured Perry in two different rooms, black and
white, and was directed by a friend of hers. The second was the commercial
release in 2008 which was set in the 1940s and featured Katy Perry playing a
woman who lost her lover, a soldier (played by Matt Dallas), in battle during
World War II. Katy Perry began playing the song during gigs as early as 2006,
and performed the song on all of her concert tours: the Hello Katy Tour, the
California Dreams Tour and The Prismatic World Tour.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION

3. Katy Perry’s Music Videos
• I will be analysing Katy Perry’s commercial music video, inspired by the 1940s about a breakup between a couple with one
partner not being able to move on. The music video is filled with emotion and is very touching.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thinking_of_You_%28Katy_Perry_song%29
DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF THE MUSIC VIDEO

4. The first scene opens with a fade in
the an peculiar image of the actress’
shoes. There is a soft focus overlay
which enhances the 1940s style.
Fade in
Throughout the music video there are many jump
cuts from one scene to another. It is a manipulation
of temporal space using the duration of a single
shot, and separating the duration to move the
audience ahead. This kind of cut abruptly
communicates the passing of time as opposed to the
more seamless dissolve heavily used in films.
EDITING
The next scene is a close up of Katy Perry’s face which gradually
comes into focus, showing her emotion of the tragedy from the
break up. Not only does this scene have a close up but it is a
side shot with her face, to the left of the screen, cutting out
part of the actress’s head which signifies she is not the centre
focus.
Variationsofshots

5. EDITING - FLASHBACKS
Flashbacks are used to express the actress’
previous relationship compared to her new
one which she is not as happy in. The use of
flashbacks creates emotion and allows the
audience to comprehend the two
relationships that the actress has been in.
Flash back to the relationship she was
happy with, to the one she has currently.
During the music video, many
flashbacks are used purely to
bridge time, place and action
to reveal a past emotional
event or physical conflict that
affects the character. In this
case it’s looking back on Katy
Perry’s affectionate
relationship with a solider.
Sometimes, it gives insight
and understanding into a
character's behaviour or
solves a past mystery; it
explains her current
emotional state of being
disconnected.
When the actress looks at her previous lover, it reminds her of the life she used to love.
As the story progresses, the story develops to the loss of
Katy Perry's soldier. The video exposes the past time with
the solider then adjacently to that it reveals the life she lives
now which shows her new relationship in the bedroom and
how her new partner is obsessed with her, yet her life
revolves around looking back to the solider.

6. MISE-EN-SCENE
This music video was created to
be set in the 1940’s which has
been shown through the neutral
colours, clothing and the setting
for each scene. I researched into
the 1940s to form a general idea
as to what the so called ‘fashion’
was. The decade was filled with
pastel colours, swing dresses
and, the hair style of Victory
Rolls. Below are some images I
collected to compare to Katy
Perry’s ‘Thinking of You’ music
video.
The music video was based for the 1940s, which had is successfully identifiable partly because of the
clothing that the actors wore. On the left are images which were prominent in the 1940s, many of these
styles were grasped in the music video, although some of Katy Perry’s outfits have a modern twist to them.
The settings remains in a neutral
colour scheme, which keeps to
the 1940s theme. When Katy
Perry is at her desk, as an
audience we can see that it is a
traditional wooden desk with a
simple floral design on the draws,
the top of the desk has an oval
mirror in a wooden frame. This
desk was common for the 1940s,
the desk is placed in Katy Perry’s
room which is undecorated.
Across the window are plain,
white net curtains that allow light
to come through delicately.
The setting of each outdoor scene is an
open space which is filled with nature.
When Katy Perry is looking back to her
last relationship she is always enclosed in
a small space which could mean she is
trapped within her current relationship,
compared to being filmed in large, open
fields where their love is essentially ‘free’.

7. MISE-EN-SCENE - LIGHTING
Lighting is a key element in Katy Perry’s
‘Thinking of You’ music video. It has
been used to signify thoughts and
feelings; when Katy Perry is looking back
to her previous lover, the lighting
normally drops and is quite dim creating
a gloomy atmosphere. This emotion
reaches the audience subsequently
meaning that they will understand the
loss of Katy Perry’s solider. But when
Katy Perry has flashbacks to her former
relationship, the lighting is bright and
carefree which characterises the actors
affectionate relationship.
In Katy Perry’s music video the lighting is one of the
main elements that convey meaning to the audience. As
a viewer I can pick up on the emotions due to the
lighting; often when Katy Perry is sad there is low-key
lighting, but when she is happy the lighting lifts to realise
Katy Perry is in a much happier position. During the end
of the song the video shows the death of the solider (the
one that Katy Perry loves and always looks back at). The
mood changes almost immediately because there is now
realisation to why Katy Perry can’t get him back.
When the death of
the solider
happens, the shots
are in black and
white which, as an
audience, is
discouraging to see
because now that
the colour is gone,
so has his life.
Katy Perry gets ready to attend her soldiers
funeral at the end of the music video, the shots
used emphasise the melancholy mood. Her
makeup changes from rather delicate, soft to
harsh and dreary. This change connotes the
bereavement of her loved one. In previous
shots from earlier on in the music video, Katy
Perry is seen to wear, light and revealing
clothes but now has changed into a formal suit
with her face covered by black netting; this
could imply that because she is now alone in
some sense, she has closed off all emotion and
that is why her current relationship isn’t
fulfilling enough.

8. CAMERA ANGLES
A range of camera angles are used within Katy Perry’s music video ‘Thinking of You’. Camera angles can be used for many reasons like: to
create greater understanding of a situation, express someone’s view, emphasise emotion, etc.. Below are screen grabs of different shots used
and why from Katy Perry’s music video.
This scene is a wide shot of
Katy Perry sitting at her
desk, this is the very start of
the music video. This shot
doesn’t represent much but
it does show the era of the
music video; there are many
wood furnishings in this shot
that were very popular in
the 1940s; the dark, almost
mahogany like wooden floor,
desk and doorframes.
This shot comes into focus to
show side of the actress’ face
which is very close. From the
previous shot we know that
Katy Perry is sitting at her
desk, potentially singing to
herself over an unknown
matter as the storyline has
not yet been revealed. Not
only does being this close to
the singer allows us to notice
all emotions that Katy Perry is
feeling but also take more
notice of the lyrics being sung.
The over-the-shoulder shot
had been used well here
because Katy Perry’s emotion
is reflected in the mirror so
the audience can see how
she is feeling. Whilst sinning
Katy Perry is looking at a
picture of a soldier that we
later find out that he is her
true love but were torn apart
by war where he died in
action. Through the tone of
the song it is easy to tell the
heart break that Katy Perry
went through.
This shot is during Katy Perry’s
flashback to the relationship
that she misses. It is a very
wide shot as the subject matter
(Katy Perry and the soldier) is
visible but exceedingly hard to
see. This clip is used between
close ups of the couple. The use
of this wide shot allows the
audience to see that they are
alone and happy. The
flashbacks are normally to open
spaces which entails the nature
aspect to the 1940s.

9. CAMERA MOVEMENT – LYRICS
There is a lot of
meaning to the lyrics
that Katy Perry sings
which are enforced by
the visuals on screen.
The producers of the
music video have
created a storyline
that is described
within the song. As
the song goes on the
music video shows
insights of Katy Perry’s
life with her previous
and new partner. Each
line is either a
flashback, lip singing
or the current
situation that Katy
Perry is in. The video
and the song go well
together and
intensifies the story
line.
Pan
The video cuts to a panning shot of Katy Perry’s new lover
when Katy Parry sings “I guess second best is all I will know”
referring to her past lover that no one will be able to replace.
During a flashback Katy
Perry sings “thinking of
you”, the flashback
occurs when she looks
at a photo of her soldier
and remembers her
relationship with him.
Throughout the music
video it flashes back to
the soldier whenever
Katy Perry sings
“thinking of you”.
The line “And bust through the door” is sung
when Katy Perry closes the house door, this
creates a connection between the lyrics and
visuals which signifies the tragedy of death –
Katy Perry wishes he’d come home so remains
within the house. But now she is attending the
soldiers funeral therefore shutting the door and
ending the waiting by leaving the house.
Christianity is quite a predominant theme within the
music video, but I have yet to work out the
significant of it apart from the adultery that Katy
Perry may have committed when the solider went to
war because the lyrics say “He pulled me in I was
disgusted with myself” when showing her new
relationship.

10. NARRITIVE
‘Thinking of You’ is primarily narrative based which follows a closed structure because the plot is revealed to the audience, then drawn
to a close. It is all from one person’s point of view; Katy Perry's. The story line is about Katy Perry finding love with a soldier but they
were torn apart by war, where the soldier died in action. Thus meaning Katy Perry tried to find love again with another man but she
could never forget her soldier which was revealed as Katy Perry attending his funeral. Throughout it was interspersed with flashbacks
of the pre-war relationship when Katy Perry was happy.
The flashbacks are in order but are fragmented with clips of Katy
Perry’s new relationship that is dispirited because of Katy Perry’s love
for the dead soldier. Although the music video narrates a heart-
breaking story, it is also performance-based as a third of the time
clips are shown of Katy Perry is singing the song ‘Thinking of you’.

11. Combinations
Camera angles and Mise en
scene
The use of the wide angle shot
(shown below) helps portray
the 1940’s because it shows the
interior decoration within a
house at that period of time.
There is a traditional wooden
desk with a set of mirrors in a
wooden frame. This desk was
common for the 1940s, the desk
is placed in Katy Perry’s room
which is undecorated. It also
shows the pastel colours, mainly
peach which was also one of
the main elements to the 1940’s
fashion.
Audio and Visuals
There is a lot of meaning to the audio which are re-enforced by the visuals on screen. The producers of
the music video have created a storyline that is described within the song. As the song goes on the
music video shows insights of Katy Perry’s life with her previous and new partner as it tells a story of
her love life. Each line is either a flashback, lip singing or the current situation that Katy Perry is in. The
audio and visuals go well together and intensifies the story line.
The line “And bust through the door” is sung when Katy Perry
closes the house door, this creates a connection between the
lyrics and visuals which signifies the tragedy of death – Katy Perry
wishes he’d come home so remains within the house. But now
she is attending the soldiers funeral therefore shutting the door
and ending the waiting by leaving the house.
Mise en scene, Lighting and Camera Angles
Lighting is a key element in Katy Perry’s ‘Thinking of You’ music video. It has been used to signify
thoughts and feelings; when Katy Perry is looking back to her previous lover, the lighting normally
drops and is quite dim creating a gloomy atmosphere. This emotion reaches the audience
subsequently meaning that they will understand the loss of Katy Perry’s solider. But when Katy
Perry has flashbacks to her former relationship, the lighting is bright and carefree which
characterises the actors affectionate relationship, the camera angles are close up to show how
happy they once were.