Research Music video Analysis 2: Taylor Swift- Love Story

I chose to analyse this music video due to the music being something I am interested in doing for my music video. I decided this one would be really good for looking at stereotypical views on a love story and how the costumes used are very traditional but modern at the same time.

This is the establishing shot of the music video. Its an long shot which shows off that the location of the music video is at a school. Due to using a school as the location suggests to the viewer that the music video is containing people that are school age. Also implying due to the school that the target audience for the video is people of school age so the video is meant to be relatable for them. Using a school building as an establishing shot is something we could use for our music video due to there being our sixth form that would no problem to use for our video if thats something we are wanting to include. After the establishing shot the camera cuts to the next sequence. 

The camera then cuts to this shot above. This is clarifying the original thoughts of the building being a school and that the music video is based around people of the age of going to school. This is a medium shot which is being used due to being able to see from her waist upwards. I believe this shot type has been used so that the viewer can see her facial expressions due to her reacting to a male sat on the grass. Also this is a pull focus shot due to the background being blurred and the main focus being on the girl in the centre of the camera. The costume worn by the female is very casual every day clothing, and the use of the books as a prop is implying that she is a student. Following Taylor walking down the path the camera cuts to this shot:

This is a longshot of a male who comes into shot as the camera pans round to him from Taylor. The male is looking directly into camera which connects with the viewer. He is also represented as being a stereotypical student by studying on the grass, this is a traditional old fashioned view as the stereotype of students nowadays is partying and getting drunk which is not being represented here. The costume which is being worn here is something we could create for our music video due to it being basic everyday clothing. The shot then cuts to the below shot. 

The shot then leaves the medium close up and quickly flashes from the top image onto the second image. This flashes quickly give a glimpse of what is to be expected from the rest of the music video and how the story of it is going to progress. Both of the images shown above are close ups, this is apparent due to the first one focusing on the male whispering to the female and then the second image is focused on the hands being touched. This is something we could create in our music video but it may be difficult to get two people who are willing to act for us and show a realistic connection which would be the difficult part. Following the hands this then cuts back to the medium shot of the female walking staring at the male on the grass. The video shows intertextuality due to showing a traditional fairytale relationship with insights to a normal relationship between two teenagers. 

As the camera goes back to the scene that is happening at the current point of the music video the camera has got close on both of the characters. This is then clear when the video cuts to another flash back showing the couples eyes and then them both stood opposite each other. The setting of the flashes is at a ball where everybody is dressed very traditionally in ball gowns and suits. After the second flash the speed in which everything is moving from one shot to another gets gradually faster until another location is introduced.

This location is introduced in the last couple of bars before the singing starts. This is a long shot of a location that is a castle, this implies that the earlier flashes maybe have been thoughts of the females and this is the true dream of the love story she is dreaming about. The use of the sepia effect over the photo makes it look like it is from a fairytale and makes it exciting. This is a location we would not be able to use for our music video due to not being near anything that looks like or is a castle.

As Taylor starts singing the camera pans in onto this balcony where she is singing into camera. The costume has changed from the last shot of her as she is now dressed in a ballgown and has her hair all put up and is dressed in a very old fashioned traditional way. This is the second costume change seen by the female in the video as she has gone from casual school clothes into princess ballgown.

During this part of the song there is a relationship obvious between the words and the video. The line says "The flashback starts i'm standing there" and during this part in the video she is shown standing and then a flashback into the same location as the earlier flashbacks shown. This is an over the shoulder shot and this is used so the beautiful back of her dress is shown to the camera so the true class of the dress can be revealed.

Once the song reaches the chorus all of the action that is happening in the video speeds up. The quickness between her singing on the balcony and the flashbacks rapidly increase. Also two of the earlier flashbacks from the beginning of the video are shown in the proper context. The music video is based on William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Julliet, due to making numerous references throughout the song and the lyrics describe the relationship between the male and the female and how they wish to be together but her father won't allow it.

Another location is then introduced in the flashback. This also has a relationship with the song as she sings "So I sneaked out to the garden to see you" which is what she is then videoed doing. One aspect of this music video that I really like that I would like to create in our music video is that the video has a clear story and a clear path is is going to follow to make the message clear to the viewer. Also that there is a relationship between the lyrics of the song and the action that is being shown. This is a long shot as the whole of her body is in shot and the sequence is very dark with the lanturn being the main attraction due to being lit up. For our music video it would not be easy for us to film at night due to in being to dark, whereas her the shot that is in the dark will have lots of equipment used on it so you can still see the female and everything you need to, however we would not be able to achieve this.

The music video then return to the chorus where we see the outcome of the flash back and how she wants the real situation to turn out. An aspect I really like from this music video is the use of the flash backs due to them helping the story flow and create a connection to the song which is easily understood through the flash backs. Perkins' representation theory can be applied here as 'stereotypes are not simple' during this music video the perfect fairytale relationship is being portrayed through the action with the whole princess and prince situation. However the lyrics for the video originally do not follow the same line due to them stating about how her father doesn't approve. The video here is making the stereotypical perfect relationship however does then revert to actually time implying that the majority of the narrative was a dream.

Finally the video ends by cutting back to the real life story and the outcome is exactly the same as the sequence we just saw from the flashback. The video ends on this close up of the couple back in their first costumes they were seen wearing back at the school location. The song also ends whilst being at this scene which makes the message and the story of the video very clear.

My influences from this video:

• Use of a grand location like Normanby Hall
• Having a major change in costume from everyday casual costume in to for example a prom dress
• Seeing a story progress throughout the music video
• Showing a love story shown in the video

Research Music video analysis 1:Ed Sheeran- 'Thinking Out Loud'

Ed Sheeran's 'Thinking Out Loud' is a pop song which was released in October of 2014. The music video show the relationship between a male and a female which is progressing through dance and demonstrates the physical attraction increasing.  The establishing shot is of a female figure creating different positions moving from right of centre across to the left side of the shot. The background used for this long shot is red which is a representation of love which suggests what is coming in the music video. The location for the establishing shot could be recreated for my music video as it is a coloured background and a dark figure. Once the music video cuts from the establishing location it remains in the posh ballroom.

The shot then changes to another location which is revealed from the sides of the lady with the left half of the screen showing the location and the right side of the screen being lit by a spotlight. From the location it is showing a place of wealth shown through the use of rich gold colours and cream. This is represented by gold being represented with wealth. The music begins whilst the actress is walking across the screen onto a dance floor, to which the actress is walking in time to the music which creates a relationship between the dancing and the song. The location used for this video would be not easily recreated due to being a large grand hall, whereas the costume worn by the lady would easily be replicated due to its simplicity. 

This is the second shot showing the ballroom and the beautiful location used for the video. At this point of the music video is where the male actor (Ed Sheeran) is first introduced. Even though this is Ed Sheeran's song during the music video he is not videoed singing at any point throughout the video. The two actors are being highlighted through the spotlights. This is is an extreme long shot and is also a two shot which shows the couple walking towards each other. This is not a location we could use for our music video due to being an ornate hall with very expensive looking trimmings.  

At this stage of the music video the couples costumes are first properly revealed. They stay in the same costume all the way through the music video due to it being set all at the same time so there was no need to have a change in costume. Ed Sheeran is wearing quite traditional dress due to wearing a shirt, trousers and a waistcoat but it is modernised by him having the sleeves rolled up which exposes his tattooed arms making his traditional dress more modern. I feel that the male costume fits the song perfectly as it looks right in the situation of the couple being in a ballroom. From the video i like the idea of using traditional dress costumes but making them more modern, however I feel this will only work for a certain type of song, for example Ed Sheerans 'Thinking out loud'. The females costume is of contrast to Ed's due to hers being a costume that is traditional of ballroom dancing but its more modern. This being due to the dress flowing whilst she dances but when the camera is focused on it it becomes clear that it is a bodice which is a younger representation. The dress goes well with the genre of the music video due to flowing when she dances making it look very feminine.

The use of the spotlight creates an atmosphere around the action. Due to the rest of the room being dark with the two spotlights on them dancing makes it the main focus of the person watching. This is effective as it creates a tense atmosphere that has the viewer focused on the dancers. This music video is a narrative music video as it shares the story of a couple dancing which shows representations of love e.g the body language portrayed and the use of the lights at the end of the music video creating a love heart shape around the couple.

This shot shows a different angle compared to the majority of other shots used in the music video. This medium close up shows the connection between the couple. This is an unusual representation to be shown as it is not stereotypical due to the female being the person to lead the dance and position the male into the correct position to dance. This modern representation has been used to show a connection between the couple due to they end of the sequence the female lifts up the males face showing a connection between the couple. For our music video we could create something like this but the hard part is finding people who would be willing to act for us so the connection looks believe and makes the viewer believe it is a true story.

The camera angle completely changes her from the rest of the music video due to the camera panning around a pillar allowing the viewer to watch the routine from another angle on the other side. The camera slowly pans from right to left around the post. Using this shot makes it interesting due to all the other shots being very similar so it breaks it up. During this shot we also loose sight of the couple and get a better image of the items around the pillar which is a table with chairs at it and also a lampshade. The use of panning around showing some of the features of the room makes it more interesting for the viewer as they can look at the location and really understand the grandness of the location used to shoot the video. The location used for the video is absolutely stunning however it is not something we could use for our music video due to not being anything like that around where we are and also the hiring price of a beautiful location like that would be extremely expensive.

The dancing and movement used throughout the music video is of a very high standard, this makes the video even more appealing to the viewer due to Ed Sheeran not being a dancer showing the commitment he has made for this music video.

During the video this beautiful shot is created. The spotlights over lapping to make a love heart really fits the genre and the words of the music. This aspect is used again later on in the video as repetition, which is a really nice reinforcement due to it being a cleverly added feature. This aspect we could not use in our music video due to it being technical and not easily created. This use of spotlights creates a great relationship between the words.

The repetition of the love heart made of spotlights is the ending shot of the music video. This is a long shot which is used to end and then pans outwards. The ending of the routine is very calm and the couple in the final shot are laid still which is the first time they are still throughout the video which is a nice way for the video to end due to it being different from the rest of it. Dyer's representation theory can be applied here "A star is an image, not a person" for this video I believe this to be true due to this video showing a completely different image to Ed Sheeran. Ed is usually presented as very chilled and casual male who is usually holding a guitar and singing adhering to conventions in his music video's, whereas here is presented as a smart, sophisticated male who ballroom dances, however in the video he doesn't follow conventions as at no point during the video does he sing into camera. Barthes can also be applied to this video due to the symbol's of the love-heart at the end of the video being a symbol of love which the two characters in the video clearly are in love in the narrative.  

How this has influenced my planning:

• The creative use of light makes the video very interesting and create the right atmosphere for the video. 
• Using simple costumes making the action of the video more noticeable
• The effective way one location has been used throughout, yet the music video is still highly interesting.

Initial response to the brief

My initial thoughts?
After viewing the brief for the first time i am excited about the upcoming project. My original thought was that I had so many ideas and just could not wait to get them down onto paper and start creating the music video. On reflection I realised that my original ideas majority would not be possible and was just ideas in the excitement of the task ahead.  Which skills do you need to develop?
Throughout the creation of my music magazine the part I struggled with the most was gathering my original ideas on what to put on my magazine and how to create synergy throughout my pages. The skills I need to develop most for the creation of our music video is creating ideas that are useful and also achievable. However I believe creating ideas for the music video will be easier then it was for the music magazine even though we need more ideas but due to working in a group of three we have each other to bounce off and can share ideas with each other and expand them together as a group which will be very useful if we get stuck. Others skills that we be used a lot during the process of creating this coursework is time management. Due to having to create a whole music video time and use of time is going to be key, although I believe that I don't need to worry as much on time management due to being quite and organised person so I can make sure the rest of the group are sticking to timings that we shall predetermine before production begins. 

What are you looking forward to the most?
The part of creating my music video that i am most looking forward to it actually creating/ filming the video. I feel this will be a great experience and will be really interesting to understand the actual stages throughout the production.

What worries you the most?
My biggest worry is about creating enough ideas for the video so that it is interesting and attracts the target audience. Another worry i have is that the music video will look to much like the official music video as I have seen what they have done and sometimes when you have something like a song in your head the only thing you can picture with it is the official music video and photography used for that, which worries me as our music video has to be entirely our work with only the use of somebody else's song.  Is there a particular genre or type of music that you like? 
The genre of music that I am particularly interested in is pop music by artists such as Ed Sheeran and Adele. I prefer the slower songs as I feel the message behind the song is understood more clearly due to being slower making it easier to understand. I have a particular interest in music by Ed Sheeran as I think his music is inspirational as the songs he writes are based on things and events which he has experienced during his life so he performs them with lots of genuine emotion. Similarly with Adele she explains her own life experiences through her music which she does so by portraying her true thoughts and feeling into her music which really allows her audience to understand her situations. I am very keen to use one of these amazing artists for my music video as I think their music is inspirational and would be very easy to create a storyline to fit around the lyrics without copying the official music video by portraying it in our own way using my own experiences.  Who are you going to work with? How well do you think you will work together? 
For the music video I am going to work with Amy Jacklin and Morgan Bullock. I believe we will work well together due to being good friends. Also all three of us in the group have a similar target grades which helps as we all have similar skills to offer. Although all three of us have strengths in different area's which will be useful throughout the production of our music video.

Amy Jacklin can bring to the group her artistic skills as she studied and achieved a very high grade at GCSE for her art and has a very creative mind. Her creativity will be very useful for the planning stage.Morgan Bullock has a very crucial role in our group as he has an eye for perfection, he likes everything to be perfect which will be very useful for making sure that everything is in time throughout the making of the video and during the editing stage. My role in the team is to drive to the other two members and to make sure that everyone is sharing the work load equally and to make sure that everything is done to the best of our abilities to achieve the best possible grade for our music video. 

A2 brief

Brief 1.
A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music video promo video, together with two of the following three options:

• a website homepage for the band
• a digipak for the album's release
• a magazine advertisement for the digipak