2. These are all different costumes that are
involved in the Shake It Off video by Taylor
Swift (2014). They are all vastly different
types of costume and they all relate to the
music video.
Through all the different costume changes
throughout the video, they all relate back
to the music video which is about shaking
negativity off. The costumes relate to
negative stereotypes and conventions
which society makes people feel they need
to stick too in order to be accepted.
She goes through different stereotypes
throughout the video with her other
dancers in the video matching what she is
wearing. Because a lot of the outfits are
meant for people to dance in, the backing
dancers are dancing to the convention of
what they should. For example the ballet
dancers dancing ballet, the ‘hip hop, R’n’B’
dancers doing street dancing with boom
boxes and the cheerleaders doing
cheerleader routines.
Taylor Swift takes on these roles and
attempts to dance how you are supposed
too when dressed in these costumes but
doesn’t dance very well when doing it. The
song then relates to her not dancing how
she should very well, making the video
about ‘shaking off’ the convention and
dancing however you want in whatever
you wear.
3. These print screens are shots of the music video where the
ballet dancing is involved. She is attempting to ballet dance
with other girls and they are all doing it properly and sticking
to the proper routines and conventions of how you have to
look while ballet dancing. At the beginning she tries to start
by attempting to dance to the proper standards of a ballet
dancer. But also from the beginning she tries to break out of
it. Taylor Swift has dressed herself and her dancers in show
ballet costumes which are detailed and iconic. She makes a
positive statement when dancing to the complete opposite of
ballet dancing.
The next print screens show Taylor Swift dressing up in ‘hip
hop and rap’ clothes. These clothes give off the stereotype of
break dancing, street dancing and rapping. She is holding a
boom box which is a representation of the device which this
type of music is played for people to dance too. There are a
group of dancers around her which are acting as a crowd
watching her dancing. These are all wearing a colour
schemed outfits which all connect them as one to the dance
and the music.
Again, these print screens are shots of the third costume
change throughout the music video. This costume looks like
professional dance wear which people use in shows or in
training. It is a abstract, but very professional form of
dancing. Taylor Swift again is trying and attempting to get
into it and trying to dance professionally. It isn’t going well
and she is messing up in some times with the dancing and
the flow of all the dancers together. She has tried to dress as
if she was in a professional dancing show, and mixed in the
lyrics of Shake It Off, not having to stick to the conventions of
any dress linked to a specific type of dance.
Taylor Swift has dressed up in clothes which have been used
stereotypically in other music videos by other artists.
4. Taylor Swift in these print screens has dressed
herself and her backing dancers up in a kind of
costume which is being used a lot in more modern
music videos. It is outfits which are short shorts or
pants, leopard print, and provocative dancing
involved. Musicians like Lily Allen, Nicki Minaj and
Miley Cyrus have used these type of clothes to
dress themselves and their backing dancers. But
Taylor Swift isn’t dressing herself or her dancers
seriously, she seems to be using the costume and
the dancing as a mick take. She definitely doesn't
usually dress that way, so she is using it to make
fun of it.
Lily Allen’s ‘Hard Out Here’ is an example of a
music video where the dancers are dressed in the
provocative, limited clothing. Lily Allen is dressed in
normal clothing for her artist image, but all of her
backing dancers are dressed in next to nothing. In
her music video, Lily Allen is making a statement
about how women are as much equal as men and
how it is to live as a women when men objectify
them. She has dressed the women in clothes which
could possibly make men objectify them, to relate it
to the lyrics of her song, but saying a different
message through the lyrics of the song.
Nicki Minaj has a lot of music videos which she and
her dancers are wearing minimal clothing. Nicki
Minaj makes a lot of money and attention from her
videos every time she makes a new video. Because
there are usually minimal clothing it can sometimes
be quite shocking or outrageous, which makes
people want to watch the video. ‘Anaconda’ has had
439, 485, 838 views on YouTube.
Rappers and R’n’B artists tend to dress up in a different style of
clothing. Gold chains, big jackets and sunglasses are a stereotypical
view of rap artists. They like to show that they have a lot of money
and women around them in their music videos and it boosts up their
image.
