The main purpose of a music video is to promote an artist and their single. The development of the digital age has meant that music videos are becoming more and more important in order for an artist to stand out from the crowd in the competitive music industry. A reason for this is because any area surrounding music, be it audio or visual, can now be accessed on a variety of different platforms therefore artists are now putting extra emphasis on their videos to spark up attention and capture the eye of both the public and the media. Music videos are a visual representation of a song/songs. I noticed that Katy Perry, who is a very successful charting pop artist, uses extravagant themes in many of her videos.
An example of this, above, is her music video for her song 'Dark Horse'. In this video she has mainly used costume in order to stand out from the rest- the song is heavily based upon the Egyptian era therefore there are huge and constant visual references throughout. She is dressed up in a very bold Egyptian costume, I believe that she is representing Cleopatra, which changes colour as the video progresses. Her make-up is also extremely striking adding to the multicoloured theme. I think that this video is very clever in terms of drawing public attention to it, this is important as the video needs to also appeal to people outside of her usual target audience. An example of this is the fact that males may be interested in watching this video as she brings more glamour and sex appeal to it, even though they may not necessarily usually listen to a female pop artist who's fans are predominantly female. An example of the sex appeal in this video is when she is seen pole dancing in an Egyptian setting which matches her branding because she is looked at as a sex symbol therefore it is not out of the ordinary to see this in a Katy Perry video. The consistent use of these suggestive scenes in a range of her music videos means that the public/and or an audience not typically drawn to Katy Perry's music are aware of this and will therefore continue to watch many more- this is an example of successful promotion.
One of the main reasons why lots of attention is drawn to this music video is due to the bright colours. Many artists in the music industry are known to use rather basic and plain costumes which I feel gives a very slick and professional appearance however they all merge into one and are not very memorable. Katy Perry's use of colourful, weird and wonderful wigs mean that her image is instantly recognisable and we would be able to associate any other 'Egyptian look' with her 'Dark Horse' music video which is, more than likely, exactly her aim.
She has decided to include a storyline within this video which helps an audience understand the meaning of the lyrics. I feel that this video is an accurate visual representation of her song where it portrays her as a strong and powerful female in a 'modern' yet ancient Egyptian land. The use of breaking gender stereotypes would also definitely draw more attention to this video as women in society can be seen as weak and she is portraying the opposite- also supporting her 'strong female' branding. I feel that this video would get people talking as it is so visually different to so many existing music videos on the market- therefore standing out straight away. The video could appeal to a lot of different age groups and cultures due to its entertainment factor, perhaps acting as a guilty pleasure to the viewers as it stands out so much that people would want to watch it regardless of whether they liked the actual music- this shows that making a music video visually exciting is all very important in terms of reeling in different audiences and making them want to continue watching.
As this video is predominantly featured on YouTube it is most likely to be viewed on this platform. Along the side of this music video has a 'Suggestions' section where a lot of her other music videos are advertised meaning that if a viewer likes this, they may like another- thus promoting the artist's music even further to help sell the single and potentially the rest of the album.0
Gender is a large focus in this music video. Her character is represented as similar to Cleopatra who ruled a country and married Caesar- an incredibly powerful figure. These rather visually clear and strong associations make Katy Perry look like a strong female. This is quite unconventional of her gender as females are normally represented as weak therefore her powerful female representation could suggest that she is a dominant artist in the music industry and not afraid to show off her achievements/talent.
From researching into the purpose of music videos, I have gained a greater knowledge of why they are so important in today's digital age.
When you analyse videos, yours included, look at the representation of concepts that you studied at AS - here, gender would be a good one. Cleopatra was a ruler, married Caesar, ruled a country, etc. What does this say about Katy Perry? Why this historical character? What does it reinforce about her as an artist possibly?
ReplyDeleteMrs H