Katy Perry - Teenage Dream Music Video Analysis - Helen

This video is based on the artist Katy Perry and her growing up in the town of Santa Barbara where the video is set.

A’ teenage dream’ is what is being shown in this video looking into this phrase on the internet and teenagers in.  Teenagers are shown to have their first love, have fun, hang out with friends, and go to school. All these elements are shown throughout the video which brings it back to the song lyrics ‘you make me feel like I’m living a teenage dream’

During the chorus the lyrics sing ‘Let’s run away’ which is a stereotypical fixation of what teenagers do or want to do when they want to rebel.

The lighting is crucial in this video as it stays the same all the way through. The brightness which is very light throughout the video symbolises the pureness that children have, but juxtaposing with the pureness is the scenes where the two main characters are getting intermit which shows the change from childhood to being a teenager.

The costume is very simple but still fashionable which is another element of being a teenager as they are very fashion conscious. The costume makes the lyrics come to life during the lyrics ‘skin tight jeans’ the lead female in the video is wearing jeans.

The camerawork changes a lot throughout the music video as there is close ups, zoom outs and panning shots. This is dissimilar to her morning elegance where the camera is practically the same all the way through. During the first verse of the song there is a close up on the lead males food as it is going down on the accelerator in the car. This is zoomed in as it is trying to focus on the adolescence and is reinterpreting the stereotype of young males being boy racers.

Also during the first verse there is a pan shot of the beach while the artist is in the car. The beach is also tied into the video later when they are playing around in the sea. The seaside is meant to be a fun place and later on in the video that is how it is being represents. The panning shot is also showing where the video is set and how teenagers act who live near the beach which the singer said to be a crucial part of where she spent her childhood.

There is slow pace editing where they are fooling around in the sea and running into the sea. It is a conventional element of all films to play memories in slow motion so this being showed with slow pace editing is replaying the memories all the teenagers in the video have got together and maybe the childhood memories they have together.

This is not the only place where slow pace editing is shown, it is also shown when the lead male is boxing with the punch bag. This slow pace editing makes you concentrate on his muscular physique as self image and being fit takes a key role is teenagers.

Another form of editing is being shown from the beach to the scene where the two main leads are getting

 intimate. There has been this technique used to not make the video too inappropriate and hard to watch.