Context
Firework is a song
by American recording artist Katy Perry. The song was written by Katy Perry,
Mikkel S. Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen, Sandy Wilhelm, Ester Dean, and produced
by Stargate and Sandy Vee for Perry's second studio album, Teenage Dream
(2010).
The song is a self-empowerment anthem with inspirational lyrics, and was considered by Perry as the most important song for her on the album Teenage Dream.
The song is a self-empowerment anthem with inspirational lyrics, and was considered by Perry as the most important song for her on the album Teenage Dream.
The song was released on October 16, 2010 by Capitol Records
as the third single from the album which falls into the category of pop.
The video was directed by Dave Meyers and shot in Budapest.
It best fits into Andrew Goodwin’s classification of music videos under the
category of illustration.
Content
Sirens sound and the city hums while aerial shots establish
the skyline of a city late at night. (The city is Budapest in Hungary but could be any city.)
A woman walks onto the balcony of a palace, dressed
expensively in a white gown with pearl rosaries and jewel-encrusted earrings,
her privilege demonstrated as she sings to the city below. However, not everything is as it seems, for when
the camera pushes back into an overhead shot, we see that this palace and this
woman are bathed in a dreamy blue light in harsh contrast with the real-world
yellow tones of the city below. And as
the wind rustles her skirt, it feels as though she is vulnerable, as if she
could fall, or scarier still, jump.
Perry’s status as American, coupled with her expensive
clothing and placement on the balcony, establish her Western privilege, as
though she has overcome things. She has embraced her independence, and as such, has
become a successful woman who can dress in extravagant garments and inhabit a
position above the city. She sings to
the city below, where teenagers struggle with their own personal crises.
But at the same time, Perry still seems vulnerable as she comes to the
end of the balcony, singing, “Do you ever feel, like a plastic bag, drifting
through the wind, wanting to start again?”
In so doing, Perry acknowledges that she has been where these teens are,
as the underdog, and that they should, like she does, believe that life will
get better even if you’re standing on the edge.
The video’s narrative is interlaced with sub-stories of
youth struggling with complicated issues of domestic violence, body shame, and
sexual orientation. It positions Perry
as a kind of narrator, meaning that she is a character within the realm of the
story; however, throughout the course of the narrative, several elements of
mise-en-scène suggest that, although Perry appears to be a part of the world in
which she sings, she is simultaneously apart from it.
Perry’s displacement (separateness) from the setting is first introduced when the overhead shot of her on the palace balcony at the beginning of the video juxtaposes two colour tonalities, that is, the blue light washing over Perry and the palace versus the yellow light washing over the city below.
The first story represented in the video shows a boy
cradling his younger sister who is upset by her fighting parents. The young boy turns to look over his shoulder
at the adults slapping and screaming at each other, while his younger sister
clasps her hands over her ears and shakes her head. “Do you ever feel, feel so
paper thin, like a house of cards, one blow from caving in?” Perry sings, as a
cut back to her reveals the look of worry in her eyes while she stares deep
into the camera and, therefore, the audience. This establishes a personal
connection.
Another young girl sits in a chair near the edge of a pool
cloaked in a heavy coat while her friends strip and jump into the water,
splashing one another and encouraging her to come in. She shakes her head timidly, embarrassed of
her overweight body and afraid to show who she is under her clothes.
Returning to a tighter shot of Perry’s face reveals a more encouraging look just before she sings, “Do you know that there’s still a chance for you?” This sends us into the hospital room of a young girl with leukaemia who looks longingly at the beautiful hair of the dancing woman on her television screen. On her wall is the massive image of a butterfly, which itself represents the hope of transition, from the sheltered confines of a cocoon to a limitless world where it can fly as the wind blows.
Returning to a tighter shot of Perry’s face reveals a more encouraging look just before she sings, “Do you know that there’s still a chance for you?” This sends us into the hospital room of a young girl with leukaemia who looks longingly at the beautiful hair of the dancing woman on her television screen. On her wall is the massive image of a butterfly, which itself represents the hope of transition, from the sheltered confines of a cocoon to a limitless world where it can fly as the wind blows.
As she sings, “There’s a spark in you. You just gotta ignite the light and let it
shine,” Perry leans her head back and closes her eyes as if she’s giving in and
allowing herself to let go – a visual articulation of the release of her inner
power. Firework sparks begin to burst
forth from her chest as she stretches out her arms, illuminating her once
blue-washed face in a beautiful prism of colours.
The firework is colorful, unique, and can light up the
darkened sky devoid of colour.
Encouraging the teens, and by extension the audience, to “own the night”
suggests that, no matter how much it is surrounded, the bursting firework will
defeat the darkness of the night, illuminating the sky as it explodes with
brilliant, individual colours – our true colours, which represent
characteristics that are unique to each of us.
As the shots cut further away from Perry so that ultimately
only the imagery of her fireworks can be seen by the patient from the inside
the hospital, we encounter the only moment in the video in which Perry assumes
the role of a character in the story.
But even while the sparks from Perry’s chest are visible from the
patient’s hospital window, Perry’s body is not.
So while she does assume an influential role inside the realm of the
narrative, particularly for the patient addressing her, she is still able to
maintain her own personal separation from the story.
Shortly after Perry’s firework erupts, the boy, looking over
his shoulder once again, takes on a new kind of motivation, as his firework
itself begins to spark empowering him with the strength to protect his
sister. He rushes over to his parents
and pushes them apart, as the chorus continues, “Baby you’re a firework. Come on let your colours bust. Make ‘em go, ‘Oh! Oh! Oh!’” In a darkened dance club, bathed in red
light, a shy youth sits alone watching sadly as the people around him dance and
celebrate. While Perry’s fireworks shoot
across the night sky, the girl at the pool, still with a nervous, uncomfortable
look in her eyes, stands and begins to remove her jacket.
Suddenly dressed in a more casual outfit, Perry exits the
palace onto the thriving street, walking through the crowds of people, but
going unaddressed by any of them, still devoted to the camera as she
sings. The lighting on her face, though
no longer tinted blue, continues to be different from the other groups of
people on the street.
In the club, a youth turns to look at a straight couple sitting next to him, kissing and comfortable with the public display of their sexuality. He looks forward, stands up and starts walking toward the bar. The girl at the pool now removes some of her clothes so that she stands dressed only in her bra and underwear, for the first time displaying her overweight body. Another teen walking down an alleyway is thrown against a brick wall while a group of “thugs” attempt to mug him. When one of them reaches into his pocket, he starts pulling out mutli-coloured handkerchiefs tied unendingly together, and when another opens his coat, two white doves fly out, startling them and revealing him as a street magician.
In the club, a youth turns to look at a straight couple sitting next to him, kissing and comfortable with the public display of their sexuality. He looks forward, stands up and starts walking toward the bar. The girl at the pool now removes some of her clothes so that she stands dressed only in her bra and underwear, for the first time displaying her overweight body. Another teen walking down an alleyway is thrown against a brick wall while a group of “thugs” attempt to mug him. When one of them reaches into his pocket, he starts pulling out mutli-coloured handkerchiefs tied unendingly together, and when another opens his coat, two white doves fly out, startling them and revealing him as a street magician.
The cancer patient walks through the corridors of the
hospital, looking into a room where a woman is giving birth, screaming as her
chest shimmers with the vigour of her firework.
The camera cuts to a shot of the patient through the colourful sparks,
showing the change on her face as she realizes the beauty and power of what
happens before her. Just then, the youth
reaches the bar where another boy turns to look at him. The two gaze into each other’s eyes and,
after a moment of brief intensity, lean into to kiss while a dance of colourful
embers explode around them.
The patient steps outside the doors of the hospital still
dressed in her hospital gown and looks up into the night sky. The teen magician continues to impress the
“thugs” on the street with tricks as his firework brightens the darkened alley. Breathing out a sigh, the girl at the pool
runs and cannonballs, jumping up from the water and reaching toward the sky as
her firework ignites. And finally, with
her eyes closed, and a smile on her face, the cancer patient throws back her
bald head and shoots her fireworks high into the evening sky as the wind whips
her hospital gown and Perry sings, “You’re gonna leave ‘em all in awe awe awe.”
As the song continues, “Boom boom boom, even brighter than
the moon moon moon,” hundreds of teens in a colourful array of outfits run
excitedly through the city of Budapest toward Buda Castle, where huge bursts of
fireworks flare above the castle’s dome.
Perry walks alongside them, still brightly lit as she sings, “It’s
always been inside of you-ou-ou, and now it’s time to let it through-ough-ough.”
As the teens skip into the courtyard of the castle, Perry has already arrived in the centre of the square. The youths circle around her and an aerial shot shows them appearing to burst outward like a firework in coordinated movement. As the teens jump and dance around Perry, their fireworks begin to blaze, now more powerful than sparks, shooting up into the sky and exploding above the castle. Aerial shots continue to alternate with close-ups of Perry and the kids – the strength of their unity now represented as they are all together and protected by the strong stone walls of the castle.
As the teens skip into the courtyard of the castle, Perry has already arrived in the centre of the square. The youths circle around her and an aerial shot shows them appearing to burst outward like a firework in coordinated movement. As the teens jump and dance around Perry, their fireworks begin to blaze, now more powerful than sparks, shooting up into the sky and exploding above the castle. Aerial shots continue to alternate with close-ups of Perry and the kids – the strength of their unity now represented as they are all together and protected by the strong stone walls of the castle.
The video ends with a display of dozens of simultaneous
firework explosions, each unique and beautiful of its own accord, but through
their collective illuminations, shining even brighter and more beautifully than
the moon.
