Analysing Music Videos- Katy Perry, Last Friday Night

Katy Perry- Last Friday Night

Last Friday Night by Katy Perry was released on June 6, 2011 and comes under the pop and dance-pop genres. The song is a single from her album Teenage Dream.

Katy Perry or Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She makes mostly pop and rock music with some of her songs having more of a disco-like style. Katy Perry’s record label at the time that she released Last Friday Night was Capitol Records, an American record label who have signed artists like Sam Smith and 5 Seconds of Summer. The record label are not associated with any particular style of music as they are described to work with various different styles.  Katy Perry’s song Last Friday Night was produced by Dr Luke and Max Martin. Dr Luke is a musician, songwriter and record producer who has worked with acts such as Kesha and Jessie J, and is usually associated with pop music. Max Martin is a Swedish music producer and songwriter usually associated with pop and R&B music. He has worked alongside acts such as Taylor Swift and Britney Spears. 

The video for Last Friday Night is both narrative and performance based, however the video is mainly based on a narrative. It follows a nerdy looking girl (Kathy) who wakes up with her house destroyed after a massive party, we then rewind and see the party which begins at her neighbour’s house and ends up at her house after her friend Rebecca gives her a makeover. At the end of the video, the girl’s parents come home and she speaks with them about the party. Following on from this, credits are shown for all the characters who were in the video, this makes the video seem more like a short film. 

There are several different settings used: Kathy’s room, inside Rebecca’s house and Rebecca’s back garden. The street that Kathy and Rebecca live on is also shown very briefly at the beginning of the video. This is used to tell the audience where the video is taking place- a quiet and welcoming looking street. Throughout the video, the character Kathy is shown wearing two different costumes. Her first outfit is a dungarees, a turtleneck jumper, big glasses and a head brace. Whilst in this outfit, she sits at home alone doing sudoku, making the character appear ‘nerdy’. In contrast to this, her second outfit consists of tight neon coloured clothing with heels. She has also lost her head brace and glasses. When wearing this outfit, she is perceived as more attractive to the male characters at the party, compared to in her other outfit where they ignored her. 

Significant props like plastic party cups are used throughout the video, a prop used in most american parties. Other props like streamers and balloons are also used as these props also have connotations of parties. Throughout the video, lighting is used to distinguish between the scenes showing the party and the scenes showing the morning after the party. The party takes place during the evening/night, so we can tell that it is dark outside  but the party itself is well lit, to try and create a lively atmosphere. During the day we can see light coming in through Kathy’s window, and her bedroom is well lit from the day light. Throughout the video, Kathy is always seen wearing the colour pink and her room is also pink. Connotations of the colour pink include, innocence as well as childishness. The colour pink is often also associated with girls or girly people. This could suggest that the character Kathy is still quite childish with her pink, toy filled bedroom as well as also having a girly side. Iconography in dance pop music videos tends to be vibrant colours, bright lighting and party like atmosphere/clothing. All of these things are shown during the party scenes of the video Last Friday Night.

Diegetic sound is used quite frequently throughout this music video. At the very beginning of the music video, we see a boy cycling down a street whilst the track starts playing, we can also hear outdoor noises like birds tweeting. Before Katy Perry starts singing, we can also hear conversation between two characters as well as noises such as doors slamming. Also, at one point during the song, the song Last Friday Night fades out and we can hear a different song, which we assume the people at the party are listening to. 

Some of the more prominent shots throughout the video include the close up shots of Katy Perry, and the wider shots used in the party scenes to show all the people there. Wider shots are less common in music videos, however as this music video is made to resemble a short film, the wider shots are appropriate. A majority of the other camera shots used are mid shots. Also, throughout the party scenes, tracking shots are often used. This enables the viewer to see all of the different things happening in the busy party which is created. Although the song is a fast paced dance track, a story is being told, this means that the usual fast cuts are not always used and a few ripple like effects are used to transition between reality and imagination. This slows down the pace of the video, however, the pace of the video still seems fast due to the bright colours and high amounts of people creating a busy atmosphere. 

Associations with the dance-pop genre include, a fast pace, bright colours and clubs/parties. This video has incorporated a party with lots of people. This has lead to a faster paced video as the people make the video appear busy, despite the fact that the cuts are not as fast as we would expect from a typical dance-pop video. The party itself is brightly coloured and well lit, conforming to the other expectations of a dance-pop video. 

The music video itself shows a party that the character Kathy previously went to, as well as this the lyrics describe a party that happened previously. This shows that there is a link between the lyrics and the visuals. As well as this, the upbeat dance track, is similar to that which would be expected to be played at a teenage party, which is shown in the video. This means that the lyrics and the sounds both link strongly to the visuals. 

Throughout this music video, Katy Perry is clearly favoured in a majority of the shots that she is shown in. For example, at the party she is often shown away from the crowds of people and closer to the camera, making her stand out more. She is also shown dancing on the table a lot, showing her above everyone else at the party. There are also several close ups of Katy Perry’s face used while she just smiles at the camera and laughs etc. These shots are all used in order to promote Katy Perry.