Katy Perry – The One That Got Away, music video deconstruction.

Jessie Niven

The establishing shot is Modernistic, and contrasts later against the retro themes (e.x the Polaroid camera)

Idea of flashbacks by using Katy Perry as a, and a narrator/protagonist as an elderly woman sets the scene.

Mise- en-scene is conotes through the use of colours – black/white/grey shows her misery in old age.

Her house is minimalistic – everything she wanted is gone.

Two shot of Katy Perry and the male figure – shows voyeurism and sexualises her.

Sepia tone represents how long ago it was in comparison to her life now, and also shows nostalgia through the easy-going colours.

This shot goes back to the present time, and shows her looking sad, helps remind the audience of her dismay as she reflects on the past.

“In another life, I would be your girl.” Lyrics link to the mourning of her former-life. Loneliness represented through her sitting alone on a huge bed. Still a dull colour scheme.

The jump cut to this shot, highlights her immaturity and naivety, contrasts how she has grown into a more mature woman.

The fact that she’s painting on a moustache also shows it’s not stereotypical of a woman, and she’s unafraid of crossing typical boundaries.

Her outfit in the flashbacks are more masculine compared to the shots of her older where she’s wearing a classy dress.

This scene emphasises her youthfulness ,lack of care and responsibility and shows us how impulsive she is.

The camera is freehand is most of these montage scenes which gives the idea of how free spirited it is and gives it a raw quality.

Using the wardrobe scene mirrors the original one where it is kept tidy and organised, whereas this one is unruly and messy, showing how erratic her life decisions are.

Her costume is scruffy and ripped juxtaposing how orderly she looks in the future.

Her clothes are light coloured, and it’s dark all around her. Sense of forboding. The small space makes it seem claustrophobic and deadly.

Tattoos connote how her experience with him, has left a permanent mark on her, and has helped shaped her to be who she is in the future.

The two close-ups of the arm clearly shows the audience the change in her skin also, and how the mark has stayed the same despite her physical appearance. The colour contrast shows her happier time as opposed to a darker one.