Katy Perry - Firework (Official Music Video) !FULL!
An accompanying music video, directed by Dave Meyers, was released on October 28, 2010. It portrays Perry singing and dancing around Budapest, with interspersed scenes of young people becoming confident in themselves. An open casting call for the music video drew an unprecedented 38,000 applicants. On MuchMusic's top 50 videos of 2010, "Firework" reached the top position. The music video was said to be a more upbeat take on Christina Aguilera's message in "Beautiful". It was nominated for three awards at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, eventually winning one of those, the Video of the Year, the main and final award. "Firework" was nominated for Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance at the 54th Grammy Awards. On January 5, 2012, "Firework" was elected the fifth most played single on US radio during 2011 by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems, with 509,000 plays.[1]
Katy Perry - Firework (Official Music Video)
MTV praised Perry's vocals, though felt the lyrics were "clunky".[9] Slant Magazine stated that the song is "not an actively painful listen. Sure, the would-be inspirational lyrics ('Baby you're a firework/Come on show them what you're worth') are nonsensical, ... but the chorus gains some momentum and the song would work well enough in a club setting that you could forgive its otherwise glaring weaknesses."[10] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic chose "Firework" among the top tracks on the album,[11] Nick Levine of Digital Spy gave the song five out of five stars, calling it "a straight up self-empowerment anthem wrapped in a Coldplay-on-poppers club banger from the Stargate team. "[12] PopMatters wrote that "Firework" is "the record's last hurrah; though nothing particularly memorable.....'Firework' has at least a bit of staying power".[13] The Washington Post described the song as "too mushy".[14] Al Fox of BBC Music said that the song "displays a breezy maturity and serious set of pipes, a true demonstration of Perry's musicianship without contradicting the kittenish mischief of the bigger picture."[15] The song was nominated for Grammy Award for Record of the Year at the 54th Grammy Awards but lost to Adele's "Rolling in the Deep".[citation needed]
The video is part of a cross-promotional deal with European telecommunications group Deutsche Telekom. Deutsche Telekom hosted a series of activities and competitions from which fans around Europe would be recruited to be in the video.[38] MTV reported that Perry started filming the video on September 28, 2010.[3] The video was directed by Dave Meyers, choreographed by Natricia Bernard, and shot in Budapest.[39] The official teaser trailer of the music video was released on October 15, 2010.[40] An open casting call for the music video drew an unprecedented 38,000 applicants.[41] Perry dedicated it to the It Gets Better Project.[42] The video was released on TwitVid, DirectLyrics, and Youku on October 28, 2010. It premiered on October 28, 2010, on YouTube, and as of November 2022, has amassed more than 1.2 billion views.[43] It was presented in the anamorphic widescreen 2.35:1 aspect ratio.
Perry opens the video gazing down upon the city from a balcony. As she sings into the night, fireworks burst from her soul[44] and soon inspire young people throughout the city to overcome their fears and insecurities, in the process igniting their own fireworks. A boy confronts his parents, who are in a heated argument and upsetting his little sister, and pushes them apart. A shy overweight girl, playing the role of wallflower at a pool party, finds the courage to shed her clothes and jump in the pool with her friends. A leukemia patient at a children's hospital proves to herself that she can show herself out on the street and in public despite her loss of hair. A closeted teenage boy approaches his male friend in a club and kisses him. A struggling young performer walking home in a dark alley uses tricks from his magic act to win over a group of street toughs who were trying to rob him. Soon the youth of the city are converging upon the courtyard of Buda Castle, dancing and lighting up the night with their fireworks, as the camera pans up to the sky for their popping sounds, ending the video.
In summary, Firework and its accompanying music video are meant to be applicable to many demographics simultaneously, and Katy Perry and the director of her music video succeed in doing this. The song and music video appeal to audience members from many different walks of life who possess many different points of view, allowing the text to persuade a larger number of listeners/viewers.
The video, posted on KatyPerry.com, opens with the camera panning a European city before Perry emerges in a lavender gown, standing on a balcony singing. But this isn't just some glamorous music video. Perry is sending a message: empower yourself and embrace your inner firework.
Soon, the video is intercut with stories of people who need to find their inner firework. One story is about a boy who is upset to see his parents fighting. Another follows a young woman at a party where everyone is in their underwear, and she doesn't feel comfortable. The third story follows a cancer-stricken youth who dreamily watches television.
By the time the chorus comes in, Perry's own inner firework is erupting from her chest, and with that, everyone else begins to also find theirs. The video's first protagonist pushes his father away from his mother to protect her. We are also introduced to another set of
The filming of "Firework" the video began on September 28, 2010 in Europe. The video is part of a huge cross-promotional deal with European telecommunications group Deutsche Telekom. Deutsche Telekom hosted a series of activities and competitions from which fans around Europe will be recruited to be in the video. On October 8, 2010 Katy Perry posted a lyric video for the song using stills from the video shoot. On October 15, 2010 Perry posted a 51-second teaser on her Facebook. The video was released on TwitVid, DirectLyrics and Youku on October 28, 2010. It premiered on October 28, 2010 on VEVO YouTube. It was presented in the anamorphic widescreen 2.35:1 aspect ratio. On full-screen prints, the music video was presented in 4:3 open matte. The video was directed by Dave Meyers.
The video begins with Perry gazing down at the city from a balcony. Other scenes show two parents quarreling with their son comforting their crying daughter, an overweight, shy girl observing a pool party and a cancer patient in a hospital room. Fireworks begin sparkling from Perry's chest and they shoot out into the city. Later, two teenage boys are shown sharing a kiss in the middle of a party and fireworks ignite. Fireworks begin igniting from the chests of the shy girl (who is now enjoying the pool party), fireworks ignite from the boy's chest and he turns and pushes his father away (who was hurting his mother) The cancer patient sees a woman having a baby, fireworks ignite on the woman's stomach and the cancer patient run's out of the hospital. Perry dances along with other people in a square, and fireworks burst in the sky. Then a magician was walking home then three teenagers were going to rob him then birds flew out of him then he showed them a trick and the fireworks burst out from her chest.
On November 5, 2010, The British media and entertainment website, Digital Spy, reported that the video had been partially censored for British Television; the kiss between the two men, despite only being about a second long and the video being used as part of the 'It Gets Better' campaign, was said to be pixelated out. However, British music channel audiences have reported this information to be incorrect.
This is one of a series of articles wherein I examine a music video as a short film, focusing on the story rather than the music, trying to identify the story arcs and characters motivations, and consider the larger implication of events.
Upon return from Budapest, there were approximately three weeks to edit, finish and deliver the video. The final look of the fireworks was achieved using custom Houdini plug-ins, written by 3D effects artist Anthony Chappina. The solution generated the dynamic fireworks, which were combination with 2nd Unit plates of practical fireworks in Inferno.
Five-year-old Addy, who was diagnosed with stage IV kidney cancer last year, got to fulfill her dream of becoming a pop star with her own Katy Perry-inspired music video. Now in remission, Addy would spend time during her hospital visits practicing her singing and dancing, according to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, who helped put the video together. 041b061a72