Story
Taylor Swift - You Belong With Me
At the beginning of the music video it fades in to two houses, the shot is quickly shown and then the next shot of the two main characters is transitioned through a fade. This is used to clearly show the transition between being outside the house to then being inside the house. Also it makes the different shots easier to understand and easier to blend in with each other. The speed of the cuts are average as there isn't much action going on the video, also it makes the story line come across more understandable and also it shows the storyline clearly. As well as fading in at the beginning of the music video, the shots that have different locations have been faded into each other to clearly show a new setting and to carry on the storyline further. This makes the video clear and its easy to understand, it also carries the story well which is what they need to be able to keep the viewer interested.
Swift plays two characters in this video, but they both have different stereotypes. This is done to show the similarities in the two characters but also to highlight the Main character which is the blonde female playing the geek. The different characters wear different types of clothes and they are seen using different types of props to highlight their stereotype.
Blonde Female | Taylor Swift (Geek) - In the first scene she is seen wearing a t-shirt that is multi-coloured round the collar and the sleeves, and its also been written on. The t-shirt is quite old school and also it shows she isn't very fashionable due to her choice of fashion. Later on in that scene she is seen changing her outfit to look like a Hippy (Pink t-shirt, grey cover-up, headband and necklace), a Goth (Black jacket, dark eyes and dark red t-shirt), a stereotypical geek which isn't too far from her actual outfit (Stripy top, checked jacket and glasses with her hair in bunches), and a gangster type character (hair up high on the head and a multi-coloured sketched jumper). These different outfit changes show that she has time to wear different outfits, but also it shows that they want the viewer to see that she wants to be perfect for him by trying out different outfits. In the second scene she is seen wearing a grey cardigan with a silky material underneath the cardigan. This clothing shows that Swift looks quite nerdy but also pretty at the same time which highlights her being the main character and being the positive person in the video. In the third scene she is seen as a stereotypical geek who is wearing clothing to show she is in the school band. The colours of her outfit are still quite vibrant and eye-catching against the dark lighting in the video to show that she is the character that everyone should be routing for in the video. In the fourth scene she is seen wearing jeans and a dark blue periodic table t-shirt to exaggerate her stereotypical geek character in the music video, also to highlight her being casual at her home. In the last scene she is seen in a spectacular white dress to show several things. Firstly it's to make them stand out against other people in the scene, secondly to make her look pretty and beautiful against the others, and lastly to make her look angelic.
Blonde Male | Lucas Till (Jock) - In the first scene the male character is seen wearing some type of sleepwear to show that he is at home in his comfy clothes. His t-shirt is a dark green colour which highlights the male gender, and his comfy trousers are blue checkers to show that he is quite stylish, but also to exaggerate that he is sat at home. In the second scene the male character is seen wearing jeans and a plain white top with some colour round the collar and the bottom of the sleeves. He's wearing this to show that he is casual and he is quite stylish as the outfit is quite plain but it still looks good. The males t-shirt could resemble the first t-shirt we see Swift wear, as they are both similar with the colour on the collar. However, there are some clear differences as Swift's t-shirt has more colour and it resembles more of a child-like character, which differs to the male's character. In the third scene the male character is seen wearing an American football outfit to show that he plays it as part of his school. The outfit also highlights the jock stereotype that is being placed onto the character through the bright colours and the stereotypical jock outfit. In the fourth and last scene he is seen wearing a tuxedo to show that he is going to a posh event, but also to exaggerate him being the handsome boy in the video. This leads the viewer to think that him and Swift are supposed to end up together which is what is intended in the music video. He is wearing a black and white tuxedo as well as a red flower on the jacket. This makes me think that that black in his outfit represents him, the white represents Swift, and the red represents the other female character due to her red outfit in the last scene. Swift and the male character look like they are meant to be together due to the match in outfits, and due to them looking like the perfect couple in the last scene.
Brunette Female | Taylor Swift (Jock) - In the second scene, which is the first time we see her, we notice that the brunette female is in fact Swift, but she has a brunette wig on. The character is wearing a pink top and pink sunglasses, as well as having some subtle pink lipstick on as well as other make-up. This suggests that the character is very girly and could be classed as a girly girl. This exaggerates the stereotype of her being popular and a jock, due to the pink being quite a girly colour. Also the car used is an open roof top car which shows her wealth, which then again highlights the popular stereotype. In the third scene the character is seen in a school cheerleading outfit which is a massive stereotype when referring to popular girls. The cheerleader outfit helps identify the stereotypical differences in her and Swifts characters. In the last scene, this character is seen wearing a red top with a few cut out holes in the top. This is to show that she is popular, and also the red highlights the suggestion that she is the bad character as red is usually referred to as a bad colour. Red is also well-known for the devil, whereas the white outfit Swift is wearing is well-known for an angelic type character. This highlights the differences between both characters and shows who the audience should be routing for in the video.
There is a lot of bright lighting in each of the scenes, and this is done to clearly show the storyline of the video. Also it's not complicated lighting which means that it isn't supposed to be considered as a performance type video, it is mainly a narrative type video. The bright lighting is also used to clearly show the differences between each characters, and show that Swift is that main character who should and does get the boy at the end of the video. As well as bright lighting, some slow motion is used to clearly introduce the male character in the video, and also to show the direction and speed of the relationship/feelings towards each other. The slow motion is used to exaggerate certain events in the music video such as; the brunette female kissing the male and then throwing him back down (this is to show that she's only dating the male to make Swift jealous), and when the school team wins the American football match (this is done to exaggerate the happiness of the win, and the change of emotions from positive to negative).
The settings in the video are mainly the two houses, outside on the bench, on the school field, and at the school dance. These settings are used to show that the characters in the video are still quite young as they go to school, which means that the storyline is showing a school romance. This could interest the audience as they are most probably at school and they will convince themselves that it will happen to them. It is interesting for the targeted audience (young teenage/child females) due tot eh vibrant colours, the settings, the clothes, and the story line. The story line is quite Cinderella based give or take a few things, which is why it attracts more young female girls than boys. The settings exaggerate that the characters are all very close, but also it highlights the stereotypes that are being shown in the video.
