Katy Perry 'Last Friday Night' - Goodwin & Vernallis Analysis

The first video I chose to analysis is Katy Perry's 'Last Friday Night'. This song only conforms to 4 of Goodwin's conventions. 

The relationship between lyrics and visuals are illustrated in the video as she sings about 'last Friday night' and the video shows several flashbacks from the previous night she's singing about. She sings about getting up to things she doesn't remember ending up online - 'pictures of last night ended up online'. The video to match this shows her sitting on her bed with her laptop looking at the pictures that seem to have been posted on social media sites. 

There are multiple close up shots of her dressed before she went to the party and then also as she comes down the stairs after being made over. We get the sense that she is the main character/ lead and this creates a star image as she is the only one who is featured in close ups making her seem the most important.

Genre-related props and iconography is also conformed to in this video as it's more a pop song and fits in with the traditional girly themed videos. Also their costumes are pink so this also fits in with a more girly theme. 

Voyeurism is used in this music video but it isn't as prevalent as in some music videos. At certain points, for example, when she walks up the stairs, the camera shot shows her legs being sectioned off from the rest of the body so that we see her from the 'male gaze'. Several times the camera shot is only focused on her legs or her bum which is another example of voyeuristic angles. 

The music video also conforms to all 4 of Vernallis' theories as the camera work, Diegesis, editing and narrative. 

The video does have a narrative however it appears very disjointed and confused as it doesn't follow a chronological order.  Although, the video is a clear visual response to the music/ lyrics and in turn illustrate the lyrics. 

The video/editing in general cuts to the beat of the music or in time with the lines in the song to run fluently alongside the music. Every movement, action or cut in the visuals mostly fit with the rhythm of the soundtrack.  

There are a variety of shots used including some close-ups, medium shots and some tracking shots. The camera also moves in time with the music and beats.