Research Music video 4:Mise en Scene: Taylor Swift- Shake It Off

To analyse the costume of a music video I decided Taylor Swift would be the perfect music video with her 'Shake It Off'. This being due to in the music video her exploring all the different styles of dance and there costumes.

 The music video first starts with Taylor in a ballet class at a ballet bar, as all the other ladies are bending over she appears a few people back and starts to sing. Her costume her at the stat is ballet tights, a leotard and a sweatshirt over the top. The costume is typical clothing to wear to a ballet rehearsal.

 The scene then changes to another ballet section but this time the group is preforming a dance routine. There is no props used in this scene like in the previous but still obviously ballet due to the outfits and the pointe shoes. The costume here shares links with the popular ballet 'Swan lake' due to the white feathered tutu's and the feathered head dresses. And again the stereotypical ballet tights and shoes.

 The song then changes to a different style of dance. Now it is contemporary dancing. This is clear to dancers due to the costumes worn. The costumes shown above are typical of this genre of dance. Also it is noticeable how the costumes differ on gender and there was no males in the previous two shots but in this contemporary one males are present. Another feature about this shot that is interesting is the use of the positioning of people. In this shot they are spread out around the stage but looks a lot more naturally spaced whereas in the previous two shots for the ballet the positioning has been neat and accurate reflecting the genre.

The fourth change we get is into gymnastic attire. The gymnastic/ribbon twirling genre is apparent due to the use of the prop that Taylor is using. This costume is completely different to the other two also due to being of a different style and a lot more colourful. Throughout this video Barthes theory of symbols and semiotics can be applied, this is due to every scene which has a change of costume is obvious to the viewer of the genre that the section is just from the costumes, props and moves that are being shown. I think using symbols that are obvious to the viewer what they are and it makes it
easy for the viewer to understand the narrative and what is happening.

 The song then continues and Taylor changes into the disco genre. This genre appeals to older fans of Taylor due to disco music not being a popular genre nowadays. Blumler and Katz in their theory talk about personal identity and about people own identity. Especially in this music video of Taylor Swift it is evident that even if people have a clear identity can vary greater. For example people have Taylor's identity as being a pop star, but here in this video she demonstrates her doing numerous others skill in the form of dance and being a performer. So it's evident that people's identity's are varied and flexible.

This costume is different to all the others which are worn throughout the music video. For this section of the video there is no exact music style due to the dancers in the back ground just 'twerking' and Taylor at the front just moving her arms about. I feel this section of the video is targeted at a large target audience due to 'twerking' nowadays being seen all over the television and everywhere so it covers a large target audience. However the costume I feel is targeted at a teenage audience due to it being to revealing for a younger and adult audience so I feel its targeted at a teenage audience.

This section in the video is unusual due to being unlike any of the other sections in the video. For example all of the other shots used in the video are relevant to dance and the different genres of dance, whereas here the shot is of Taylor singer with a band which is how the stage would be positioned if she was doing a concert for example. Also the costume here is all black which is a feature that is unusual for the video due to the rest of the costumes being bright and out going. However this is adhering to conventions due to being the artist shown singing with the band.

The last costume we see Taylor wearing is a cheerleading outfit where we see her attempting to do a cheerleading routine. The costumes that are worn her are very obviously female and are targeted at the teenage audience due to the difficulty of the routine they are performing.  This is a contrasting outfit to others that are so in the video for example compared to the denim short and leopard print jacket. This are contrasting due to the cheerleading outfits being very feminine and girly whereas the other being clearly feminine but not very girly to the chains and excessive jewellery. After this costume the shots change between all of the previous costumes where Taylor is seen performing that genre dance but in her own style, so it doesn't look strictly correct but is in the music video to make it entertaining to the viewer which this music video certainly is.

As you can see in all of her camera shots, she is stood in a studio with a different couloured background. We can do this by either using the drama studio in our college as we can put different couloured sheets on the walls and it has a lot of room so our models can perform a dance routine. I feel that the music videos backgrounds have been manipulated as I feel that a slight gradient has been used on them, which is something that we could do with our music video as it makes the models body and head stand out to the camera/viewer.

How this has influenced my planning:

• I like the idea of using numerous costumes throughout the video as it will keep the viewer entertained 
• Having dance in the music video is an interesting idea which i like, but I fee would not fit in with our chosen song
• I Like the idea of having plain backgrounds as it makes the artist and the action of the video the focus of attention at all time