Music Video Research - Roar

Music Video Research
Artist: Katy Perry
Track: Roar
Director(s):  Grady Hall and Mark Kudsi

Camera/Editing:
All the way throughout the music video, the visuals matched the lyrics being sung. This made the video relevant to the song, not breaking the audiences expectations. However, there was a clever difference in the editing used. In the opening, there was a shot setting the scene, but it was animated (unlike the following shots) suggesting that this was all her imagination. Wide shots of the jungle where also used, especially on the lyric 'Champion' highlighting how she had concurred that space and it was hers. Finally, the music video saw a subtle use of parallel narratives and this was expressed through shot reverse shot, making it easy to see the lion and then Katy Perry, before they met in the end.

Narrative:
The story portrayed initially seems quite basic, it's about a plane crash landing in a jungle, with only Katy and her pilot on board. There is a conflict in the narrative, as the stereotypical masculine man tries to explore the jungle alone and in turn being killed by a tiger. This leads to the singer trying to find her feet in the jungle, before asserting dominance and becoming Queen of the jungle, resolving the narrative, as the animals obey her unlike before. The underlying message could be about breaking gender stereotypes, because as the music video suggests, the man who is typically meant to be strong and in control doesn't complete this job and instead the woman does.

Conventional/Unconventional:
There are aspects of both within the music video:
Conventional -
Performance to camera throughout, using extreme close ups (ECU)
A conflict within the narrative that is resolved by the end
Unconventional -
Breaks stereotypes and audiences expectations
No dancing (typical of pop videos)

What Works:
The animation used is effective, as it adds another visual element that is unique and different to the video. The use of parallel narratives works, because it helps the story progress, also through the conflict and resolution. However, what didn't work was that the music video ran like a short film. The pace of the video didn't match the song and the editing wasn't necessarily in sync with the tempo.