4th July 2012 - 'You Belong With Me' analysis

TODOROV

Equilibrium is shown when Taylor and the man are talking through the windows. This shows the beginning of the relationship of the two characters, and also the 'calm before the storm', as they have just met and it shows the calm moment in the video.

A force then appears when Taylor and the guy are sitting on a park bench; the guy's girlfriend appears, and she is shown to be 'the enemy', as she is keeping Taylor from being with the guy and she is shown to be quite nasty by how she looks at taylor in an intimidating manner. Her car is also coloured red, which could be connotated as 'danger'.

Disequilibrium appears in the storyline when the guy's girlfriend treats him badly. This is shown by her flirting with a football player and her showing no remorse, and when he confronts her she suddenly starts shouting at him. This could show the realisation by the guy that something is wrong and this needs to change.

Resolution is shown near the end of the video; the guy wants Taylor to come to a party/prom, but she can't. When he says he wishes she were, she takes off her glasses and the scene cuts to her wearing a beautiful dress. This is showing that apparently if you 'take off your glasses', you'll suddenly become popular and everyone will think you're beautiful. Her dress is pure white, and this could be connotated as taylor's purity or innocence compared to the guy's girlfriend.

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Karma is also shown in the video; the girl had been treating her boyfriend badly, however she gets what was coming to her in the end, as the guy leaves her and goes off with Taylor. This could show the final realisation by the guy and he realises he cannot take her evil any more. The girl's dress is coloured red like her car, which again could show she is dangerous to be around.

PROPP

The hero in this story is Taylor Swift. She is shown as quite a geeky girl who is always there for the guy who gets treated badly by his girlfriend. After waiting for a while, she finally gets her 'reward'; the guy turning down his girlfriend and going off with Taylor.

The villain in this storyline is the guy's girlfriend. She appears as disequilibrium and brings the guy down every time he is happy. She appears and tries to drag Taylor and the guy's friendship (or whatever was going on before they were going out) apart by appearing and intimidating Taylor, however the evil force does not prevail in the end. She is shown to like the colour red (with could represent danger), as she is heavily based around the colour red in the story.

The princess isn't a girl in this story; the guy is the 'princess' in the music video. He is shown to be going through torment with his girlfriend, but in the end after the evil has been 'defeated', he is shown as an award of sorts to Taylor's character, and the story has a 'happily-ever-after' kind of effect.

LEVI-STRAUSS

Boy/girl: the main boy/girl conflict is between the guy and his girlfriend, as they are fighting for majority of the video and he always looks unhappy around her. The girl is keeping Taylor and the girl apart, which makes them both unhappy.

Good/evil: Taylor is presented as good, as she is caring and considerate towards the guy, and the girlfriend is shown as evil, as she is always coming in between the two characters with her meddling ways. However, in the end, it shown that good always prevails over evil.

Cheerleader/geek: Taylor Swift is shown to be the more geeky character in the storyline, while the guy's girlfriend is shown as a cheerleader. Cheerleaders are generally more popular than geeks, so this could show a contest of popularity between the two characters.

BARTHES

The video shows many stereotypes of an American high school; it shows the cheerleader to be a bit nasty, while it shows the geek to be quite and clever. It also shows the cheerleaders as promiscuous and quite flirty.

The guy is shown talking on his mobile phone to someone, but you instantly assume it is his girlfriend, as he is arguing and the whole storyline seems based around a stereotypical love story (boy meets girl, boy has a girlfriend who is nasty, boy realises he's better off with the other girl, so leaves his the evil girlfriend).

During the prom/party scene, Taylor Swift is shown to be wearing a white dress, symbolizing she is a good character. However, when you see the guy's girlfriend, you notice she is wearing a red dress. This could show a clash between good and evil, however because the guy is choosing Taylor over her, it shows that good is winning the fight.

Likes & Dislikes
I enjoyed the contrast of colours and what they meant in this music video the most. For example, when the antagonist of the music video is introduced, she is always associated with the colour red (a red car, red dress etc). I liked this because you get a clear link of what the character is like and how they may act.
There wasn't much I didn't enjoy in the music video. The only thing I didn't really enjoy (that I could explain properly) was he house setting at the beginning, as I didn't understand what relevance that had in the music video.

What I learnt in relevance towards my own production is the use of colours. I've learnt that specific colours can represent specific emotions and characteristics and that it can show what a character can be like, so I will bear this in mind while choosing the costume for my characters in my music video.