Research 11: Katy Perry - Firework (Video 9)

One of my favourite music videos, Katy Perry's Firework sends out a message like no other music video that I have ever seen before. There is a lot of shot enhancing, however there are also a lot of shots that took some time and effort to achieve. I will go over a few that I have picked out from the video;

 The first shot we see, London at night with sounds of traffic, and an emergency siren. For this shot you would need a helicopter, which I don't have btw, but it does show how much of an impression on the video it can give by giving a shot like this to set the scene. From this one shot, with the audio included, we know that it is an urban setting, it is night time so a higher risk of danger (siren), but it is somewhere familiar, which gives a slight false sense of security and vulnerability knowing that nowhere is safe even if you know it like the back of you hand. This really does add emphasis to the message given by the song.

 This is one of those shots that I was talking about at the beginning. I expect there was a crane used to capture this shot, but is creates such and effect, with the lighting, that it was well worth doing.

 Again I come back to another 'key' shot. This shot is used so often in music videos. It lets the audience see the emotion being given off, as well as being able to hear the lyrics and the music. The whole point of this shot is to show what emotion is being given portrayed. The way her face is in focus and the background is not emphasises the fact that she is the subject in this particular shot.

A brilliant shot, with the editing added afterwards. This shot is here because of the song. The words 'you're a firework' mean what we are seeing on screen. It means have confidence in yourself no matter what people think of you or what situation you may be in. The song goes on to show literal scenarios of this. (Child with cancer, a mugging which turns into a magic show...)

I love this shot. It is only a match on action shot. But it shows how much emphasis can be achieved by using these shots. A normal step, nothing special, yet this child has cancer (we presume) and is ill in a hospital, but to show the determination, looking at him step out onto the street bare footed, even though very ill, the face that he has the strength and self confidence to do this portrays the message very strongly to the audience. All from a little match on action shot lasting no longer than a second!