Task 7 - Taylor Swift Music Video Analysis

Mise-en-scene:

• Lighting is consistently dark in the background but light is focussed on Taylor and her friends' faces to give them a bigger star image appeal.
• Location is in various well known places such as Tower Bridge in London which references typical science-fiction locations in media texts (an urban city)

• The costumes and make up are all dark colours so it is as if they are trying to blend in with their environment; they match the vengeful elements of the song. Dark colours fit well with the image they are trying to create. The colours used are all bold making them stand out. They are trying to create an element of being bad, tough and strong.
• As well as this, (with the exception of one character), all of the characters' costumes look similar which indicates that they are all on the same team

• Despite their dark costumes, they all have feminine qualities, e.g. Taylor applying her lipstick at the beginning

• There is lots of emphasis on the sound of Taylor's heels clicking on the ground as she and her friends are training
• The characters all have a weapon of some sort which does not reflect the pop genre of the song but matches the narrative of the video

• At the beginning, one of the female characters has a cigar which is a prop commonly used by men in power. This makes Lena Dunham's character seem powerful and enforces the female empowerment message of the video.

Editing:

• Lots of Computer Generated Imagery is added to complete the music video and give it the effect of a Hollywood blockbuster film, e.g. explosions in the background 

• The use of slow motion has been skilfully deployed throughout and mainly on Taylor's screen time to prolong the amount of time she appears. It also succeeds in creating an action-adventure effect for the audience.
• Taylor is always in the shot, even when the focus is on someone else. For example, when she is kicked out of the window, the audience is able to see her face in the reflection of the glass. This puts emphasis on Taylor and her image. 

• The triumph of editing makes the characters vivid and realistic throughout, even though their screen time is relatively short. 

Camerawork

• Establishes a shot of a city to introduce the genre of the film as well as the location.

• Constant close ups of Taylor and the other characters' faces to introduce both their image and their characters
• Taylor is almost always in the shot as this promotes her artistry to her fans. It also puts emphasis on the fact that she is the undoubted star of this video.

• Tracking shots at the beginning of her body which objectifies her body under the 'male gaze'. This illustrates Godwin's theory of music videos as it comes under the category of voyeurism .

Genre

• Like action-adventure films, it is quite a glossy video with a big budget and is reliant upon high quality editing and special effects.
• The production is atypical for a music video since it closely resembles a film instead of a more traditional music video.
• However there are performance elements which bring it back to its pop genre such as lip sinking of the lyrics to the song.

• As well as this, there is a discreet emphasis on her costume and make up which is common for pop genre videos.
• Like with most pop genre videos, the artist herself gets the maximum amount of screen time which is apparent throughout the video with roughly 2 minutes and 50 seconds screen time, while her other characters have only up to 15 seconds each.

Audience effect

• The audience (especially teenage girls and young adults) will feel somewhat empowered after watching the girls be the superheroes for once.

• Also the audience is made to feel part of the team since they are introduced to everyone in the video. This enhances the communication between Taylor and her fans.
• There are moments of tension for the fans to see Taylor's new 'edgier' image that involved violence - something she's never been associated with previously.

• The audience enjoy it as a mini-movie, not just a music video.

Narrative

• The audience can see Taylor and her friends' faces so they know to trust them, whereas you do not see the faces of the opposition in the narrative emphasising that they are bad.