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