I have chosen this song specifically because, although many of the songs from this album are very well known, 'Wonderland' has not yet been released as a music video so my idea will be entirely uninfluenced by an existing design.
Analyse 3 Music Videos, focusing on:
Blank Space-
What the song is about:
In this song, Taylor plays the role of a dramatic and 'love crazed' woman, discussing her current romance and theorising whether it will end up like her previous one.
It takes various tropes of 'crazy girlfriends' and plays them to the extreme, in order to give commentary on how the media tends to view her.
"Got a long list of ex lovers, they'll tell you I'm insane."
Locations:
The entirety of the Music Video is set in a old fashioned mansion and the surrounding gardens. The insides are decorated with antique furniture and large portraits to show how high class it is intended to be.
Costume:
Throughout the video, Taylor Swift switches between a very large amount of outfits, around 20, that all represent different kinds of characters. Some of her later outfits, such as the pink dress make her appear refined and classy, while the the long black dress, makes her seem mysterious and gives the impression of a villain. These all reflect the idea of the unpredictable nature of the girl in the song and show the different ways these types of women are portrayed
Makeup:
For a majority of the video, she wears dark eye makeup and red lipstick, with her hair tied back neatly, this shows a sense of pride and highlights the character's desire to appear attractive. The one exception to this is during the second chorus, in which she is shown with streaked makeup and unkempt hair, to show that, it the story-line, her character is becoming more aggressive and becoming the woman that she was rumoured to be.
Image:
The main imagery of this is to appear unique and create a specific character which appears influenced by fairy tale, seen in the main aesthetic of the video with the costume and set, as well as the white animals shown throughout. There is a clear plot line in the video that has her developing her character, and she pairs contrasting images with each other, such as the balcony and the burning clothing.
Genre of Music:
This song has been described as 'Electropop' and was one of the most well received songs on her newest album.
Bad Blood-
This song, with Kendrick Lamar, follows the plot of two friends who get into a fight over and break contact, with one talking about how betrayed they feel. The music video takes this idea and places it in a vaguely post apocalyptic spy setting in which these characters are previous partners that that now work for separate teams. Throughout the video, a large amount of the other characters are introduced in the style of a credit sequence, with their names appearing beside them. A large amount of these are played by other celebrities, such as Hayley Williams and Ellie Goulding.
"Band-aids don't fix bullet holes"
The main location for this video is a training center that is reminiscent of superhero films such as X-Men. The area is equipped with many sections for fighting and skill building, as Taylor moves through the area, going up against several of the other fighters. The finale scene shows the two teams walking towards each other in what appears to be London, with large amounts of fire covering the sky.
Costume:
This is also a video in which Taylor Swift has many costume changes. A large amount of them are a jumpsuit that has been altered to fit the current situation. The other characters all have individual costumes, which relate specifically to their role in the video. For example, the character of 'Knockout' is shown with boxing gloves. In the finale scene, all of the girls in the group are dressed similarly but with their own weapons and style. This is in contrast to the other side, where all the women are wearing the same outfit except for the lead role.
The main point of the costumes in this video is to appear feminine while still being practical and intimidating.
Makeup:
The makeup used is very dark, with lots of black lipstick and harsh eye shadow. Many of the women have this style, then have a uniqueness to their hair. The most well known look from this video is Taylor Swift's look from the end when she has red hair and detailed eyeliner.
Image:
The image of this video is to appear dark whilst still having a light and comical side to it, seen in the use of accessories as weapons and references to other action films such as Tron and Kingsman.
Genre of Music:
The album recording of the song was originally a much slower pop song with Taylor Swift singing the entirety, but the music video features a remixed version of the instrumental with Kendrick Lamar appearing on the verses, which overall made it more upbeat and aggressive.
Safe and Sound:
This song was created with 'The Civil Wars' for the Hunger Games movie as part of it's credits sequence. Lots of sections of the video reflect the styling of the film and features several references to it. The lyrics refer to two people stuck in the middle of a disaster, with one trying to convince the other that they're safe.
"The sun is going down, you'll be alright. No one can hurt you now."
Locations:
The main location of this is a misty forest, with an abandoned house in the middle of it. Taylor Swift walks through, looking round and gathering flowers. There are several closeup of thorns and floorboards to make the place seem eerie.
Costume:
In this video, Taylor Swift is barefoot in a flowing white dress. The style of it makes her appear young and the overall design make her appear ghostly, fitting in with the theme of the location and the story in which she is coming across a place where people used to live.
Makeup:
The makeup in this has been done in a way that makes Taylor appear younger and therefore more innocent using pale colours and having her hair long. This look is also reminiscent of the character 'Primrose Everdeen' in the films.
Image:
The main image of this is appears reminiscent of a ghost story, with an innocent person finding something destroyed. This links in with the setting and costume.
This song is much more influenced by country music than her other work, and has been described as a 'folk ballad'.
Overall, Taylor Swift's main aim in her videos is to create a character and tell a story about them, usually with elaborate costuming but minimal locations, usually only filming in one main area. Many of them feature scenes in which the video cuts between Taylor stood in different rooms in various costumes while the music continues in the background, and she is usually seen performing and lip syncing to her songs in it rather than just having it overlaid.
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