Media Coursework 2

1. Love Story Analysis

2. Lyrics and Sound
 The song love story sung by Taylor Swift is based upon a real life experience and the
lyric used in the song are used to relate to this experience. The first line sung in the
song suggests that Taylor Swift fell in love with someone at a young age as she sings
“we were both young when I first saw you.” Then goes on to sing “my daddy said ‘stay
away from Juliet...” which implies that the lyrics are mirroring the story of Romeo and
Juliet and that her parents did not like the relation ship she was in. The reason for this
was because at the time Taylor Swift wrote the song and the reason why she wrote the
song in the first place was because Taylor had an argument with her parents over a
boy who Taylors parents thought was a ‘creep’ and Taylor did not agree with them. The
line in the chorus when Taylor sings “you’ll be the prince and I'll be the princess”
suggests the idea of a fantasy and that when your young these are the types of
fantasy's you have but its not really going to happen. The song could have potentially
been written about Taylor’s relationship with Joe Jonas from the Jonas Brothers, and
because of their popularity with their fans it made it difficult to go out in public together
meaning most of their relationship was kept secret which is reflected in the song when
Taylor sings “so I sneak out in the garden to see you, we keep quiet cause were dead if
they knew, so close your eyes, escape this town for a little while...” In addition to this
the word ‘they’ is insinuating Taylors parents as they would not be happy if they knew
she was with her boyfriend who they disapprove of and the line ‘escape this town for a
little while’ suggests that they needed to get away so that Taylor and her boyfriend
could spend time together. And again ‘close your eyes’ implies a fantasy or dream.

3. Mise En Scene
 We first see Taylor swift at school in non-uniform suggesting she is a schoolgirl.
We then see her shortly after in the music video wearing an elegant ball gown
which makes the audience picture the idea of a princess. Not only that but the part
in the music video where Taylor wears the ball gown she seems to be at a ball
which links to the story of Romeo and Juliet when they are at the costume party
together. The locations used in the music video such as a castle suggest royalty
and richness which mirrors Juliet as she lived a life of wealth a luxury in a big
house. The forest represents the secret and private places that Taylor and her
boyfriend would of had to have gone to, to be together so that they weren’t
recognised by fans or caught by Taylors parents. Throughout the majority of the
music video Taylors costume is white the colour white suggests innocence and
purity which today is juxtaposed against her recent videos which show how she is
not so innocent and young anymore.

4. Cinematography
 At the very beginning of the music video an establishing shot is used to identify the
location of the school this is done to show that at the time Taylor was young and
had not long finished school. There is a slight high angle shot used when we are
looking down on Taylor when she is standing in the archway of the castle. The high
angle shot suggests that we are looking down at Taylor as if she were still a young
girl which implies her vulnerability to the audience. Two shots are used on and off
throughout the video showing Taylor and her ‘love,’ the two shot is able to show the
romance and closeness between the couple. A close up is also used showing the
couples hands intertwined which is showing the closeness between the coupe
physically.

5. Editing
 The intercutting used at the start of the music video which cut between the scenes
of Taylor at school and Taylor in a fantasy world shows the contrast between reality
and the dream of being Juliet. Slow motion is used during the music video, by
using this editing technique it is able to show how the couple want time to go slow
so that they are able to spend as much time with each other as possible and
shows that however much time they spend together is sacred which again reflects
Taylors real life relationship. There is also intercutting between Taylor and the other
male character near the end of the music video as they are running towards each
other. The fact that they are running shows their desperation to be with each other
which shows how much they love and care for each other.

6. Narrative
 As I have mentioned Taylor Swifts relationship at the time was the reason as to
why she wrote this song, the music video to this song tells the story of Romeo and
Juliet because Taylor thought that her situation at the time related to the story of
Romeo and Juliet and was inspired. However the only difference that this music
video has to the actual story of Romeo and Juliet is that it has slightly different
ending as instead of the couple dying instead they end up together . The music
video also gives the audience the feeling that the couple are living in a fantasy
world and are dreaming. And the last thing I will say in terms of narrative is that it
goes against the typical codes and conventions of a music video as nowadays
their is usually always an attempt to sexualise the stars through costumes etc and
not really have a proper storyline whereas this one does not do this and mirrors an
actual story.

7. Intertextuality
 The music video is able to express the idea of young love and the idea that when
your young you have many fantasy’s about things. When Taylor wrote this song
she had, had an argument with her parents over a boy who her parents thought
was a bit of a ‘creep’ in their words but Taylor disagreed with them at the time a
thought he was amazing. Taylor then was inspired by the story of Romeo and
Juliet and decided to base her song around that as she thought it was very
relatable at the time. It is almost as if Taylor wrote this song and made this music
video to rebel against her parents and show them how she felt about the situation.

8. Voyeurism
 Taylor Swift juxtaposes the idea of voyeurism in this music as there is nothing in
this video that people would gain erotic pleasure from, as there is no image in the
music video that would be seen in a sexual way. Instead Taylors costume brings
out the purity and innocence of herself as a young girl at them time. Which
contrasts to her appearance in music videos today. There is an attempt to attract
young school audience as it is telling the story of a young Taylor Swift and shows a
school shown at the beginning making a generalisation that similar situations
happen to young girls and boys at this kind of age. And again goes against the
typical codes and conventions of a music video and has a slightly different ending
from the story in which the music video is mirroring.