Taylor swift – love story analysis

TAYLOR SWIFT – LOVE STORY ANALYSISAngelica Rackham-Beadle

Background • Released: 12th September 2008, by Big Machine

Records

• Written by: Taylor Swift

• Produced by: Nathan Chapman

• Directed by: Trey Fanjoy

• Awards: Country Music Association Award for Music Video of the Year

• Genre: Country pop

Taylor Swift

2008 2015Taylor Swift (born December 13, 1989) is a American singer-songwriter. At the age of 14 she pursued a career in country music and signed with an independent label called Big Machine Records. She then became the youngest songwriter ever employed by the Sony/ATV Music publishing house.

Taylor Swift's 2nd album, Fearless, was released in 2008. Fearless featured the pop the singles "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me," because of these two popular songs Fearless became the best-selling album of 2009 in the United States. Swift is known for narrative songs about her personal experiences, her music videos are mostly illustration or amplification as there are clear links to the song lyrics and in some videos there is also performance to create variation within the music video.

LyricsMusic videos can be narrative or performance, Love Story is mostly a narrative as it tells a story that links with the lyrics. In the lyrics, Taylor uses the famous Shakespeare play ‘Romeo and Juliet’ to compare her own love story with.

In Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet are two young people who are in love and their families have forbidden them to be together. In the end of the play, Romeo and Juliet are so willing to do anything to be together, they just end up dying together. In contrast, the video has a happy ending, unlike the tragic ending of the play. Taylor made her song have a happy ending as this is the ending every teenage girl is hoping for. If the ending was sad, it may have not been as popular.

LightingLighting is a key aspect in a music video as it helps create different moods and atmospheres. For example, throughout the video sunlight is used to focus on the characters, the bright sunlight creates a happy, blissful mood. In the night time scenes, Taylor is holding a tea light jar which creates a magical fairy-tale element within the video. The dimmed lighting also creates a romantic, mysterious atmosphere. The light could also been a symbol of hope.

Mise En SceneIn the first scene of the music video it is set at a high school where the audience is first introduced to two students who are the main characters of the music video. It was set in a high school so the audience can relate to the video as the majority of the audience would be teenagers.

There are a few more locations in the video, such as a castle, a ball room and a field. The castle and the field creates a fairy-tale element within the video, it also constructs a romantic, loving atmosphere. The whole music video is focussed on love and romance, reiterating the ‘Romeo and Juliet’ storyline. These locations relate to the Shakespeare film as the locations are similar to the ones in the play and the video is inspired by the medieval time period.

The first scene is set in the 21st century, whereas the rest are set in the 1800’s, when Romeo and Juliet was written. The women are wearing traditional 1800 ball gowns and the men are wearing waistcoats and coats with tails, in keeping with the time era. Taylor Swift is wearing a white dress, she is wearing her blonde hair up and natural makeup. This portrays her as innocent and pure. There are various props used such as candles, chandeliers and flowers, these all relate to the time period. In the last scene, they are both wearing white, this relates to weddings and romance.

Camera Shots

TWO SHOTThis two shot is shown in a mid shot, presenting the two characters in an affectionate, intimate way by the way her hands are positioned on his face, showing she loves him and she is glad that they’re now together.

BIRDS EYE VIEWThis birds eye view depicts the two characters dancing in a ball room, this shows how close they’re getting to each other and accentuates the romance and the time period.

TWO SHOTSimilar to the other two shot, it presents the two characters in an affectionate way by the way her finger is placed on his lips. However, in this two shot it is portrayed as a close up to show the happy facial expressions on their faces.

CLOSE UPThis shot presents us with a close up, showing their intimate, affectionate relationship. In this shot, the man is whispering in Taylors ear, the audience doesn’t know what he whispered creating a sense of mystery. It also emphasises the fact that they aren’t meant to be together, therefore no one else can hear.

Editing and camera workIn this music video a variety of editing techniques have been used. A lot of cross cutting is used to go back and fourth between scenes to show them dancing, meeting in the garden and there are a lot of close ups to show how intimate and in love they are.. Additionally, there is a lot of continuity editing used to used to maintain continuous and clear narrative action. This makes it easier for the audience to watch and to follow the story.

The camera moves at a steady pace for the majority of the video, giving the video a passionate, peaceful mood. This is to emphasise the fact that it is a love story and they wanted the audience to connect with the characters and watch their love story.

Editing and camera work

Here, an eye line match was used to show that he is looking at her. This tells the audience that he has taken an interest in her and something is going to happen between them. This is very romantic as he is looking at her intently, showing that he feels strongly towards her.

EYE LINE MATCH

Here, the camera zooms in towards Taylor as she is singing to inform that the audience that she is the artist, she is important and it is her music video.

ZOOMING

Editing and camera workIn this shot, the man is whispering in Taylors ear, this shot is very intimate and the audience doesn’t know what he whispered creating a sense of mystery. It then cuts to Taylor singing in the castle, she then sings the lyrics “so I sneak out to the garden to see you” and it then cuts scenes and she is in the garden with a light looking for him.

There is an eye line match to show that she has found him and they’re now together. In the garden, the camera is shaking as it is handheld, accentuating that they’re probably nervous and are shaking as they’re seeing each other in secret.

It then cuts to Taylor again and it is a close up so the audience can see her pleased/relieved facial expression. This positons the audience to feel happy for them both.

Editing and camera work

Here, the camera fades out, this links to the lyrics sings as it happens “my faith in you was fading”

This emphasises her love and heartache as she thinks her relationship has came to an end.

FADE OUT

LyricsIn this music video, the lyrics strongly relate to the video, they illustrate the visuals and they help tell her love story. The lyrics link in with the video very well as the visuals and the lyrics are both about her love interest and how it is forbidden love. It then goes on to tell the audience that they see each other in secret and they are together in the end.

“So I sneak out to the garden to see you”Taylor is secretly looking for her love interest in the garden. “This love is difficult, but it’s real”Taylor is using strong hand gestures, one in a tight fist and one on her chest, showing she feels strongly about this relationship and she really desperately wants it to work. “I love you and that’s all I really know”A close up has been used to show their close, affectionate relationship. It is shown through her hand on his face and their heads touching.