Goodwin AnalysisTaylor Swift – Love Story

Andrew Goodwin states that all music videos contain some or all of 6 points. I am going to analyse the music video for Taylor Swift’s – Love Story in order to test his theory.

• “There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics.”

“I’m standing there, on a balcony in summer air”

“I sneak out to the garden to see you”

“see the party, the ball gowns”

“we were both young when I first saw you”

• “There is a relationship between the music and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the music.”

Cuts are used to emphasise the beat and rhythm of the song. This is to create a correlation between the music and footage so it is focused primarily on the music.

There is a dance scene within the video which although is old fashioned, has been timed and edited to fit in with the song. This counts as a performance from the artist herself, even though it is unconventional for a pop music video.

• “Genres are complex and diverse in terms of music video style and iconography”

Conventionally, pop artists base their videos around themselves in order to promote themselves as an artist. Their videos often include narratives and large, over the top performances. In this video, a performance is shown along with a narrative. However, the song is about a “love story” which is then reflected in the music video. Conventional pop videos focus mostly on the artist’s performance whereas the main focus of Taylor Swift’s video is the narrative.

• “Record companies will demand a lot of close-ups of the main artist or vocalist.”

The artist plays both the performer and the main character in the narrative. This therefore allows for many close-ups and screen time to be focused on her. This is selling the artist as a product as well as the song which is conventional for this genre of pop.

• “Voyeurism is present in many music videos, especially in the treatment of females, but also in terms of systems of looking.”

As the couple are trying to keep their relationship secret, the camera work uses close-ups of the couple. This shows that there is a closeness between them and also involves the audience in the secret. Hand held camera-work is also used at a long shot to show that the couple have snuck out to add the element of danger that they could be caught.

• “There are likely to be intertextual references, either to other music videos or to films and TV texts, these provide further gratification and pleasure for the viewers/fans.”

There is reference to Romeo and Juliet within the lyrics: “’cause you were Romeo, I was a scarlet letter and my Daddy said “stay away from Juliet”” This is also referenced within the video as the artist is shown on a balcony.

The time period is also shown to be in an earlier date (possibly Shakespearian) through the clothing and scenery.

I also think that there are intertextual references to “Pride and Prejudice” within the video. The clothing worn is extremely similar and the story line within the narrative of the music video has many similarities. The dance scene within the music video also mimics the dance scene within the film.