Music Video Analysis - Katy Perry, Wide Awake

According to Katy Perry herself, she explained that the music video displayed flashbacks of each of the 'Teenage Dream' album, with a chapter for each single. And the story of 'Wide Awake' was the final chapter.

Within the music video many elements of mise en scene are used in order to represent a story of Katy Perry's career, which is typically what the main objective of this video was. Katy Perry's music videos differ in the fact that a lot of fantasy elements are always involved. Within this music video it is represented through a giant labyrinth and her way of escaping it. Not only this, but her videos always have representations or some sort of iconography in order to signify certain emotions or events in her life. The title itself , 'Wide Awake', has a couple connotations, one of which could be that through her struggles and obstacles she finally woke up to reality. From the fantasy transition of her album that is shown as chapters in the music video.

The location: In the music video, the location is set in a labyrinth with different effects to give it a fantasy feel. During the video one of the scenes is her being trapped between the walls of the labyrinth. This could be to suggest the struggles she may have stumbled upon during the course of her career. Pushing her to fail, which she resisted in the end.
The props: The props within the music video also had key representations, such as a poisoned strawberry, a curious cat, prince charming, and a little girl. Perhaps they were representations of certain events in her life or even representations of her songs. For instance, the prince charming that got in the way of the exit of the labyrinth could perhaps be implying that her marriage was untrustworthy, and that the divorce led her on to a more happier life. The poisoned strawberry, could be a symbol to signify trickery to some extent, the strawberry seems innocent but in actual fact is poisonous, this could be a connotation of the many record labels that signed her and then cut her off. It represented a false opportunity to the music business. 

Lighting and Costume: Both the lighting, colours and the costumes showed a transition throughout the music video. It began with dark colours and lighting, perhaps to suggest the uneasiness, the fact that she was oppressed by others and the struggles she went through in the beginning. However, as the video progressed, it began changing to a more colourful and happier atmosphere. In the end of the music video, she finally finds the exit to the labyrinth which could be suggesting a break through, that Katy finally achieved her goals or successes, no matter the obstacles that came her way.