Music Video Analysis: Katy Perry - Roar

Genre

There is a clear indication in what the genre of Katy Perry’s music video ‘Roar’ is – pop. Pop is one of the more mainstream genres as it is ‘popular’ music. Therefore the characteristics of the genre would usually reflect the audience of pop music. This is reflected though the over the top and cheesy music video. The setting although has been created through the use of green screen the naturalistic jungle excites the audience as it is different, although it is unrealistic, it helps lift the idea of the song and what the song is about. The pop genre is presented through the stereotypical view of men being seen in a dreamy, prince charming manner. This is shown through the male at the beginning of the video. This will attract female audiences and make them more interested in the video if they see a good looking man. Furthermore, the look of Katy Perry in her outfit which is although fitting to the setting she is surrounded in, it is over the top making it fit to the genre of pop. The bright colours of the visuals throughout the whole video, emphasise that this is a lively and upbeat type of video and song, therefore depicting to audiences that the main theme of the video is pop.

Relationship between song and visuals

The song title being ‘Roar’ and having numerous references to animals within the song and the video immediately shows a link between visuals and the song. The lyrics ‘Eye of the Tiger’ links to empowerment and triumphing, as this lyric links to the song ‘Eye of the Tiger’ in the movie ‘Rocky’. As Katy is using the metaphor of a lion throughout the song, this links to her being seen as a queen as lions are usually visualised as Kings of the jungle. This is seen when in the video she is sitting on a throne. The song and the relationship with the music and the video is clear throughout, as the narrative of the video gets further in, the visuals on screen such as the story and song become more powerful. This is presented when the artist repeats ‘roar’ when a tiger is in front of her. The effects used on screen to emphasise how loud she is ‘roaring’ whilst the song is also building up creates a sense of tension as the audience can feel something is going to happen building up tension. The camera effect to shake the video when the artist ‘roars’ also gives an affect to how powerful she is, which links to how to song builds up.

Camera Shots

The various camera shots help present the narrative of the video. The beginning of the video the camera shot of being a far away shot and hidden behind a few bushes looks like the camera is there without her knowing. This suggests that the audience is watching her and what she is doing and what events are happening. The various camera shots and the view that the audience has over the artist emphasises that we are watching a story unfold and that things are going to happen. This is then proven through the shots taken by the waterfall. At the beginning of the video, the artist is shown in a plane crash. There is a high camera angle used to emphasise the vulnerability of the artist which is further presented through her facial expression. However once we see her journey unfold, the camera shots begin to progress lower and lower. When she is standing on top of the waterfall there is a very low camera angle looking up towards the artist. This conveys the story of how she has now become more powerful within her time in the jungle and the camera angels used portray the journey she has gone through. The artist uses various close ups in her music to make the audience feel more involved in what she is doing. This therefore builds up a sense of connection of her and her fans through a screen, making the setting feel more intimate towards their favourite artists.

Voyeurism

There are numerous references to the notion of looking in this music video. At one point in the video she is showering naked. Having the camera there we can see that this is represented the male gaze which could suggests that we are seeing her through a male point of view as she is an attractive woman. The close ups of the artist emphasise her beauty making it evident that she has done this to attract the male audience. The artists clothing of wearing revealing clothes, although the video is showing women empowerment, she is still allowing the male gaze to be present through the clothes she is wearing.