Track title: Dark horse
Artist: Katy Perry ft Juicy J
Music album: Prism
Released: December 17, 2013
Track Length: 3:35 minutes
Genre: Trap, Hip Hop
Producer: Dr.Luke, Max Martin, Henry Walter
Music video director: Mathew Cullen
Record label: Capitol
Song writers: Katy Perry, Jordan Houston, Lukasz Gottwald, Sarah Hudson, Max Martin, Henry Walter.
Format: CD single, digital download
Country: U.S.A
Music video type: Concept and performance based
Actors: Katy Perry (as Cleo Petra).
Concept: This music video is inspired by the historical concepts. It is all about the Egyptian queen "Cleo Petra" of ancient times. This music video revolves around the history of egypt, ancient egyptian culture, and the life of Cleo Petra (her power, character, glamour, personality, life style, kingdom etc). This music video provides homages to Cleo Petra and acknowledges her powerful personality.
Music video characteristics: This music video is a mixture of Parody, pastiche, homage, and calque. Intertextual references are taken from the egyptian history throughout the music video, so it is basically a post modern media product.
Ideology: Power of woman, Woman as rulers can do a lot-sometimes more than men, power of women in the ancient times, successful women can rule over men.
Themes: Power, wealth, glamour, beauty, cruelty, selfishness, pride, women, kingdom and rulers, ancient times, history, egyptian culture.
Narrative: Cleo Petra was a very powerful, unpredictable, beautiful and cruel ruler. She was more powerful than anyone/men. Women in ancient times were more successful and powerful than women these days.
Target audience: People who are interested in history, fashion, art, architecture, and visual arts editing. People who like intertextual references and post modern media products. People who are interested in egyptian history and culture. People who are Cleo Petra and Katy Perry fans. People who want to know about royals and ancient times' lifestyle. This music video is for the audiences from all the social groups of the society, including kids and adults of both urban and rural areas.
Representation: This music video represents ruling class, glamorous and powerful women, egyptian people, rulers and working class people of egyptian history.
Theories applied to the music video
Freud's "visual pleasure" and Andrew Goodwin's "emphasis on looking" theory.
Extra diegetic gaze
Spectator's gaze
Andrew Goodwin's theory
Genre Characteristics: The music genre is "Trap". Trap music videos are usually concept based. They have a non-linear narrative and have a lot of intertextual references. They are unsual and contain hyper-reality (they are usually bigger than life, and beyond they reality or conventional aspects of life).
Seven E Carlson's theory
Binary Opposites: This music video has binary opposites. Powerful, proud, and cruel ruling class (Cleo Petra) and poor working class (less powerful people from laity, who serve/bound to obey the ruling class).
Andrew Goodwin and John Stewart
Intertextuality
Intertextual references from egyptian culture and Cleo Petra's life.
Katy Perry as Cleopatra in the music video
Katy Perry copied theKaty Perry copied the look (make up, costumes-styling) of Cleopatra. look (make up, costumes-styling) of Cleopatra.
Egyptian queen Cleopatra
Took Cleopatra's slaves and boats reference from an old painting of Cleopatra's era.
Travelling and sitting in a fancy sail boat with the slaves like Cleopatra used to do. Took reference from a statute showing the real Cleopatra's life.
It is famous about Cleopatra that she loved the snakes and used to keep them as her pets, so Katy Perry also showed this thing in her music video.
Cleopatra sitting on her thrown in the middle of her slaves (male and female) who are dressed in fancy costumes that also indicate beastiality and
supernatural. There are slave girls, slave man wearing a wolf head mask, slave boys who look like strong and tough men etc.
Mese-en-scene/Codes and Conventions
Symbolic Codes
Colours: Too much of "Gold" and "Black" colour is used-as it represents the life of Cleopatra.
Dress code: Royal, Egyptian, Ancient, Glamorous.
Setting: Egypt, Ancient time, Desert, Palace, Royal setting, Sean and Land.
Expressions: Sarcastic, Proud, Over confident, Seductive, Eye contact-looking into the camera, Cruel (of the main character Cleopatra).
Styling: Cleopatra inspired makeup (Egyptian eye liner and dark shades), Egyptian accessories and dresses.
Lights: High key lights in some of the scenes, and Warm lights in the others. Black and white lights in one scene.
Technical codes
High key lights
Warm lights
Black and White
Camera shots and angles
Locked down low angle shot
Long Shot
Low angle pan shot
Medium Close, eye level shot
Zoom in close up, eye level
Summary Plot
As the video starts, we come to know about that is the about the old times of Egypt. For the opening verses, Perry's character Katy Cleopatra, the queen, is shown wearing a white dress and white and blue wig while floating on a large canal boat at sunset, with pyramids and palm trees in the background. The video changes to a different scene where Cleo, now wearing a longer dress and a black wig, sits in a huge throne while pharaohs gather to bring her expensive gifts (such as a large diamonds) in an attempt to "win her heart."
After redeeming the first suitor's gift, she hits the man with a magical arrow of lightning from her hand, turning him into a pile of sand, and takes his jewels to wear on her teeth. Another suitor brings her candies, cup cakes, twinkies, and spicy cheese puffs. After burning her mouth with the spicy cheese puffs, she turns the suitor into a large
cup of water, which she drinks. Cleopatra is also shown as a grey statue in a scene where golden pythons and grey guardian statues surround her, and in a scene with a blue background where she wears a golden dress and several golden hieroglyphs float around her.
During Juicy J's verse, the rapper appears from a gold sarcophagus while Cleopatra accepts an Egyptian chariot with hydraulics (she turns the affiliated suitor into giant dice set) and dismisses a suitor who turns out to have the crocodile face by turning him into a wallet. During the final chorus of the song, the last suitor brings Cleopatra a large gold pyramid with a pink capstone, which she ascends. At the top of the pyramid, Cleo dressed as Isis, and uses her abilities to conjure up a magical "perfect storm" with pink, purple, and violet clouds. Although it seems like Cleo has finally found a gift she likes, the final frame of the music video reveals that she has turned the last suitor into a dog with a human head.