The music video for Katy Perry's song "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" is set like an American high school film to appeal to film fans, especially of teen/high school movies. It features celebrities like Rebecca Black to further publicity. Katy Perry plays a character, Kathy Beth Terry, and does interviews in character. The video establishes settings and uses shots that recognize celebrities while also showing Katy singing. It relates scenes to song lyrics and has a modern high school theme with 80s-style costumes to appeal to audiences who grew up in that era.

1. Conventions of a Music Video

2. • ‘Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)’ is a song by Katy
Perry from her Teenage Dream album. The
song has sold over 2,405,000 copies in the US.
The video was directed by Marc Klasfield and
co-directed by John Hughes.

3. • The video for Last Friday Night is set out like
an american high school film. Music videos
often emulate films as many of the target
audience are film fans, particularly of
teen/high school movies and givs the
impression it has more to offer.

4. • Also it can have more avenues of advertising
with character profiles, for example Katy Perry
plays a teenage girl called Kathy Beth Terry.
With this she has done interviews playing the
character. Also in the music video they use
well known celebrities like Rebecca Black to
further the publicity of the song.

5. • This video works as part of a much bigger
promotinal campaign, profiles on social
networking sites like twitter and Facebook as a
way of advertising but on a much larger scale
than other artists.

6. • Katy Perry uses the idea of an alter ego (Kathy
Beth Terry) like Lady Gaga as ‘Jo Calderone’.
The idea of using alter egos have been used in
the past however they’re coming back into
fashion within the music industry world.

7. • The opening of the video compromises of
establishing shots of the suburban house, Katy’s
room before and after the party, Rebecca Black’s
house. These help the audience establish the
setting. Throughout they also use long and
midshots of celebrities playing characters to
allow audience to recognise them. They also use
midshots to show Katy Perry singing to the words
to give a mix of acting and performing so there is
still a relationship between the song and the
video.

8. • Close ups of Katy Perry particularly when she has
been transformed from ‘geek’ to ‘popular’ to
focus on stereotypes which everyone in everyday
life do and helps the audience relate to the video.
This also reinforces her as the star. The camera
shows Katy singing along to the lyrics to establish
her as the singer to the audience. However the
camera also focuses on celebrities like Rebecca
Black because it gives the video higher status,
helps the celebrity keep in the public eye and
associated with other celebrities. Goodwin noted
this as a convention of music videos.

9. • As Goodwin suggests there is a relationship
between the video and lyrics, for example the
actions fit with lyrics like “there’s a stranger in
my bed” with a boy sleeping next to her and
“pictures of last night ended up online” with
her looking at pictures on her laptop from the
night before.

10. • The intertexuality of the video is set in
modern day with a theme of an American high
school movie. However the costumes have an
80’s theme because a lot of american high
school movies such as The Breakfast Club,
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Some Kind of
Wonderful and Back To The Future came out
in the 80’s.

11. • The bright clothing shows the youth and gives
off a party theme however can appeal to a
wide audience such as young teenagers plus
older adults who had their childhood or
teenage years in the 80’s. The genre of the
song (pop) also appeals to both audiences.