Thinking of You

Katy Perry’s Thinking of you video is an example of a narrative form of media. There are examples of close-ups, canted imagery and flash backs.

The narrative is quite clear by the lyrics and images. Perry describes the relationship she had with her husband. We see an intimate scene between Perry and a new lover and understand through her body language and what she says, that she regrets the situation. Her new lover is married. The audience learns this when the new lover takes off his wedding ring.

The video goes on to explain why Perry is with her new lover. There are flashbacks of Perry’s husband that include good times and bad. Several flashbacks are of her husband fighting in war. These are in black and white to give the audience a sense of time. Perry’s husband dies in war. The video continues and leads up to the funeral.

One interesting concept the video used was lighting. The first flashback is introduced with Perry looking out of a window. The sun beams in and we see our first glimpse into Perry’s past. She is actually watching or reliving memories of her husband. The emotions are felt much more because the audience sees Perry watching her own life.

There are a variety of camera angles in this video as well. There are several close ups of Perry. One striking image in particular, is the one of Perry putting on red lipstick right before the funeral. There is a canted scene when the audience sees Perry’s husband die. His body falls to the ground and the camera goes back to Perry’s bedroom, where we see her fall into bed with her new lover. The same canted angle is used in the two scenes as if to say, part of Perry has died as well.

Overall, there is a lot of discontinuity in the video, but it all flows quite nicely.