California Gurls - Katy Perry

The video I am analysing is Katy Perry's number one hit 'California Gurls'. The video was directed by Mathew Cullen alongside the help of American painter/cultural iconographist who helped enhance the candy theme of the video. This song belongs to the Pop genre where the women are portrayed as sexual symbols. The lyrics aren't necessarily illustrated in the video but we get the impression that Perry is flaunting and boasting about what Californian Gurls have & how California is 'unforgettable'.
However when Snoop dogg refers the Californian Gurls as 'Tone, tan, fit & ready', theres a shot of Katy Perry who's lying naked on cotton candy clouds which is used to cover her behind. The lyrics were used to amplify the fact that 'Calfornian Gurls' do it better than girls from any other state. Snoop also says 'All that ass hanging out' and a shot of the girls shaking their bums is seen. Again amplifying that 'Californian Gurls' do it better. The video doesn't necessarily cut to the beat and there aren't any solo insturments bits throughtout the whole song, however the editing is at a much slower pace whereas the song has a more upbeat tempo. There aren't many close up shots of the artist as the song is about the 'greatness' of california, so the video is more focused on the setting & background. The record are trying to sell the track with the props used and Perrys 'Alice In Wonderland' look. Katys previous famous 'I kissed a girl' single also displays Katys love to express herself in a different way. Katy is being portrayed as a some sort of doll, In 'I kissed a girl' we see Katy wearing a breast pointed corset which we also see her wearing again in California Gurls. I get the sense that the Perry and the extras are on sexual display. For example Californian girls are being portrayed as sexy, independent and confident people through Perrys representation. Altough the videos noot set at a beach we still get the drift that california is a fun place to be. The apparent concept of the video is that they wanted to show Californian girls in a 'different' world so they merged together Alice in Wonderland & Charlie the Chocolate factory, however they turnt sweet things and put it in a sexual light. For example their bras were made out of cakes & buns taking a twist on sexual representations and turning it into an innocent symbolisation, which is similar to Britney Spears' 'Baby one more time' where she wore a school girls uniform; taking something innocent & making it sexual. There are many intertextual references in this video for example, Perrys cone bra corset has been seen many times on Madonna in the 80's and again recently on Lady Gaga who's bra sparkled which is similar to Katys cream-spraying bra at the end of the music video.
This fashion craze derived from Fritz Langs film 'Metropolis' in the 20's. The concept of the film was that a scientist created an ideal women who hypnotised upper-class men. Another intertextual reference is to the classic Charlie & the Chocolate factory. For example Snoop represents Willy Wonka but Katy represents Alice in Wonderland & Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, so its a combination of three films. For example, theres a scene where Katy gives a mean gingerbread man a heart referring to when Dorothy gave the Tin Man a heart. There are other references such as Hollywood stars and so on.
The music video is narrative based and contrasts to the concept of the lyrics. For example the narrative of the song is Katy freeing the girls Snoop is holding captive in 'Candyfornia' whereas the main concept of the song is about California & how the girls are presented.
In conclusion I think the music video fits into John Stuarts theory for example, Katys made to look like an icon

Discuss the way media products are produced and distributed, within a media area, which you have studied. Film4 is an independent British movie company that is owned by Channel Four. Their yearly budget, since the worldwide success of Slumdog Millionaire is $15 million per year. The way Film4 produce their movies is usually based on co-productions with financiers from outside UK. Slumdog millionaire was a co-production between Film4, Pathe and Celador. Film4s target audience are British males 24-30 and this is clearly noticeable in past movies such as ‘Train spotting’ and ‘Shallow Grave’. UK film companies have low budgets compared to Hollywood film companies which means they have to co-produce and sell rights to other companies. For instance Slumdog Millionaire sold its distribution rights to Fox Searchlight, Warner Bros & Celador; all Hollywood film companies. With Film4 they had to market Slumdog Millionaire through ‘word of mouth’. This is from getting nominated from Oscars and Baftas, however they also advertised the film on their parent company Channel 4. The film soundtrack ‘Jai Ho’ sung by American girl group Pussycat Dolls was played multiple times on their branch channel 4music. This type of synergy was cost effective for Film4 as it was a cheaper way of distributing the film indigenously. However Hollywood companies such as Disney Pictures can afford to distribute their media products within their own company. For example ‘High School Musical’ was first release on their Disney Channel and it was very successful that they made a franchise of it. High School Musical 3 was eventually released in cinema and grossed $252,909,177; the film opened $16 million on Friday for the biggest opening day for a musical film of all-time, it also had an International opening of $40,000,000. All the profit made went straight back to the company which is something Film4 hardly ever sees as they have to co-produce in order get their films recognized worldwide.

Technology Development

What significance does the continuing development of technology have for media institutions and audiences? Top ten 3D movies in 2010
1. Shrek forever After
2. Toy Story
3. Friday the 13th Part 2
4. Despicable Me
5. Megamind
6. Alice in Wonderland
7. Step Up 3D
8. Alpha & Omega
9. Pirahna
10. Yogi Bear 3D.
All the movies above are Hollywood Productions, this evidently tells us that UK can't afford a 3D film but also their films wouldn't suit 3D effects. Some people believe 3D is a waste of money as many producers aren't thinking about quality but more about quantity. They think about the money it will bring in rather than the audiences consumption. Famous American critic and screenwriter said 3d is 'A waste of a perfectly good dimension'. The money comes in from the higher priced tickets the audience pays. This is why I think it's just a fad as less people will be willing to pay more for a 3D film when they can get the same effect from watching a 2D film. Cole Abaius from ww.filmschoolrejects.com said 'filmmakers are rushing to gimmick-up their movies'.

UK Film Council

1. What evidence can you find in the article that the UK film industry is healthy?

UK film production reached £1.155 billion across 119 films in 2010 - A record breaking high for the BFI.

2. What are domestic, inward investment and co-production? Give an example of each.

Domestic are original UK films, Inward Investment are international films that come to work in Britain to use our studios or equipment such as Harry Potter and co-production is when UK films get money from another company to help produce their film such as Slumdog Millionaire who had to co-operate to get more money so they could film in India and a domestic film is when all the money for the film is solely from Britain.

3. Is there any evidence that there are problems with the UK film industry ?

From the article we can tell that most money being made is coming in from the Inward Investment, this could be a problem as the UK film industry isn't being recognised for their work but for letting other companies come and use their facilities. We can see that between 2003-2010 inward investments brought in £4952 which is a big £3501.4 more than domestic films in 7years.

4. According to Tim Cagney what problems does the UK film industry face ?

The UK film industry faces difficulty in rasing finances for more indepedent films.

5.Do you agree that the UK relies on Hollywood to remain 'healthy' ?

In some ways I do agree with the statement, but not because the UK isn't good at film production but because Hollywood are more dominating and are they're wealthier and can bring in more money for the UK which does make it look like BFI relies on them. However BFI can also go to other companies to co-produce and other companies worldwide would come to BFI to use their equiptment. In some ways the UK film industry does fully rely on Hollywood to remain healthy as a lot of the budget comes from inward investments and without those inward investments the UK may not have had the means to produce high grossing films such as Slumdog Millionaire.