Love Story Music

1. TAYLOR SWIFT – LOVE
STORY ANALYSIS
Angelica Rackham-Beadle

2. 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

3. Taylor Swift
Taylor 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.

4. Lyrics
Music 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.

5. Lighting
Lighting 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.

6. Mise En Scene
In 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.

7. Camera Shots
This 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.
This 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.
Similar 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.
This 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.

8. Editing and camera work
In 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.

9. 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.
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.

10. Editing and camera work
In 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.

11. 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.

12. Lyrics
In 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.