Analysis Of Christina Perri's 'Human'

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Top selling, and currently in top ten for adult pop hits, Christina Perri’s song “Human” released in November of 2013. Her premise is we are all just simply physical being’s, enduring, and handling only so much. Her music video strives to embody humanistic qualities yet throw an ironic twist by using parts of her, appearing to be bionic. She struggles with moving, feeling and experiencing her “world” while evident to be made of machine parts, but overcomes as she becomes human and must endure all that comes with humanity whether that be pain or joy. Utilizing severe lighting shifts, camera angles, and strategic props, Christina Perri in her music video “Human” conveys that being simply physically human, despite all the heartache and conflict, …show more content…

These close-up shots reinforce the stillness and perfection of her posture that force us to question the integrity of her humanity. The quick camera shifts to specific machinery that mirror real human organs reveal a correlation that these robotic organs are actually inside Perri (Figure 3). Later, Perri steps off the platform, insinuating she is slowly breaking free of her prison as the camera blinks from all around her showing the same movement of her simply walking. The shots from the camera and her physical movement both display supreme simplicity that can be traced back to the mechanics of a machine. This reiterates her robotic like nature, nevertheless, she continues learning how to be truly human and attempting to break free. As the chorus picks up, the camera angle shots do as well. The shots complement the crescendo’s and musicality woven in the song and this brings an analogous sense to the video despite the growing tension and conflict within Perri. The constant switching of angles near the end give a sense of confusion, hinting that being human means dealing with conflict which can be puzzling at times, but being truly human ultimately offers freedom and

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