Taylor Swift-Blank Space Music Video Analysis

Taylor Swift-Blank Space Music Video AnalysisBy Lucy CollingsIve chosen to analyse this video due to its popularity and the song is about how the media have portrayed the artist due to her writing a lot of songs about her ex boyfriends. In this specific video she plays a role of a crazy girlfriend who has lots of short relationships. Displaying how the media make her look.IntroductionShot 1

This establishing shot displays a fancy car entering a large house. This appears to be shot from in a bush due to the leaves in the top right hand corner. Possibly creating the image of the girl watching him as he approaches her house. The font is smaller on the name on the artist is smaller than the font in the song, giving the illusion of a larger surface. This reminds me of a blank piece of paper, its almost as if there is a book representing her life with one blank page, and she uses men to try and fill the empty gap.Shot 2

This landscape long shot represents her wealth, from expensive lighting to horses in her bedroom. Everything in this room is symmetrical and white, the colour of the room could also be connected to the title of the song blank space as the colour is very plain and empty. This draws attention and focus to Taylor who is in the centre of the shot dressed in black, she is also holding a cat, showing she must always have a companion around her and she doesnt like being alone. Shot 3

This shot conveys her obsession and craving for the man. We see a mid shot of her painting an in-depth portrait of him, in which we later see hung up in the video. The colour scheme in this shot is very dark and sinister. She then uses the lyrics I can make the bad guys good for a weekend. This tells us she likes men who are players and wants them to chase her, shes infatuated with being a part of the whole game they play. Due to her obvious state of clinginess her relationships dont last more than a few days.

Here is the painting hung up, judging from the hallway of portraits we can assume she had many past relationships where she has done the same thing.Shot 4

This shot could be interpreted in my opinion as a recreation of Romeo and Juliet. The overhead shoulder shot, looking down on him shows her power over the man at this point in their relationship, the shot also makes him appear rather small due to the large garden and the use of straight symmetric lines. Taylor is dressed in white in comparison to the man in black, possibly presenting they are opposites and have differences.Shot 5

The anger is shown in her face as the camera draws focus onto her and blurs out the background and man. By doing this the audience drawn to her face and we can see her irritation and annoyance and him. Here he is texting during their picnic date, this being the point where he starts to become bored and Taylor begins to show us how the media display her as crazy and obsessed.Shot 6

In this mid-shot the focus is again drawn onto Taylor but also the man. Judging by the shot she is having a go at him, from her facial expression we can see she is more than angry and he is trying to calm her down. The colour of their clothing is very sinister, the dark red signifies love and the black death. This could be relating to the love and hate within the relationship. She also uses the line Rose garden filled with thorns, telling us how their relationship may be beautiful to others but Inside there is pain and hate.Shot 7

Here we see a long shot of her wrecking her boyfriends car with a golf stick whilst screaming and crying. The focus is on her and the car as she repeatedly hits it. The camera angle is set straight ahead, showing neither of them have authority over each other. The way she is placed in front of him in this shot, in my opinion shows how she has pushed him away due to her fanatical way of dealing with him. His hands are raised in the air as if he is fed up and almost asking her why she is bothering.Shot 8

This long shot shows her wealth and power. A woman standing on a white horse in a large estate is quite out of the ordinary. There is a symmetrical hedge on either side of her, drawing focus and attention to her and the horse. The way in which she is standing on top of it shows her power and authority over it, this could be symbolising her power over the men she dates.Shot 9

This shot is very similar to the establishing shot. Both being shot in the same area and angle however the car is different after the previous man left. The camera shows a new man entering the estate, this also tells us that she has a repetitive flow of men entering her house whenever one leaves, so it becomes a cycle. The shot shows this is an ongoing thing by doing the same angle and place in which the first shot was taken. By changing the car colour we see that this is a repetitive thing.The plot of the music video tells us about how Taylor is seeing a man and they are both infatuated with each other until she becomes obsessed and he gets bored, throughout the music video we see how he starts off by chasing her, then the tables are turned as the singer conveys another side of herself. The shots below shoe how the man has gone from chasing her to giving up.

Plot

Goodwin- The lyrics do tell a story and the lyrics have a meaning of how she is displayed by the media, the video follows the lyrics in a story.

Carlsson:Commercial Exhibitionist- The concept of the video is not promoting Taylor Swift as an artist, but she is telling her side of a story. There are no products being advertised throughout the video.

Shore-Taylor is a part of the video as she is almost playing what is described by the media as herself.TheoriesScreaming, crying, perfect stormsI can make all the tables turnRose garden filled with thornsKeep you second guessing like"Oh my God, who is she?"I get drunk on jealousyBut you'll come back each time you leave'Cause, darling, I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream

So it's gonna be foreverOr it's gonna go down in flamesYou can tell me when it's overIf the high was worth the painGot a long list of ex-loversThey'll tell you I'm insane'Cause you know I love the playersAnd you love the game

LyricsThe lyrics are very controlling, the line Im a nightmare dressed like a daydream tells us she appears to be beautiful and perfect, however inside shes everything you hate and fear. The chorus describes young love and how the media display her of having lots of ex-lovers and how she is insane. However she falls for the wrong people because she loves the feeling.