Textual Analysis one for A2 Media Studies.

1. Blank Space is sang by Taylor Swift and directed by Joseph Kahn, it
was filmed in only 3 days and has reached over 1 billion views on
YouTube. This song is a pop song and it has many characteristics
associated with this genre pop. This video includes conventions
of music videos. One convention it includes is the excessive
use of costume and location change, in this video Taylor
changes costumes around 20 times and they range from
formal wear to casual wear, this allows the audience to have a
versatile view of their relationship. The story/narrative of this
video is a love story which is common of music videos,
however this video does challenge normal conventions as it is
very graphic in the way that it shows the breakdown of their
relationship. Another convention that is typical of pop music videos is the lip syncing
performance, this is used alongside the narrative as this allows there to be a storyline
created but also enables the audience to see the artists performing.
Taylor Swift – Blank Space

2. There is a relationship between the use of narrative and lyrics in the video. For example the
lyrics ‘because were young and were reckless’ is reinforced by her carving their names into
the tree as this has connotations of being young as this is something thought to be done
only by children yet it also has direct reference to the lyrics ‘and I’ll
right your name’ as she is writing his name next to hers on the tree.
The lyrics ‘screaming, crying, perfect storm’ is supported through
use of the medium close ups to show them arguing, this is cleverly
done as the use of lip syncing performance and the characters
acting shows the lyrics being involved in their actual argument in
the video, almost as if using the lyrics are being used as a form of
diegetic sound. The lyrics ‘they’ll tell you in insane’ is emphasised
by the mise-en-scene, the props including a knife, axe and a t-shirt
which is on fire all reinforce the fact the she’s ‘insane’ as acting this
way in a relationship is something we would only associate with
insanity, the low angle shot in when she is throwing the shirt down
clarifies to the audience her power over the man in this video.
However you could criticise this video as the narrative glamorises
mental health issues and domestic violence to a young audience who
are watching.

3. There is also a relationship between the music and the visuals. The
video is cut to the beat and as the music gets slightly faster and
deeper the video changes pace and direction. At the beginning the
video is nice, the two characters are getting to know each other
and are doing ‘lovey’ things like picnics, horse riding, dancing,
painting and carving their names in the tree however as the song
goes on the music gets slightly louder and deeper which is when
things start to go wrong for the two characters.
When using costume and location changes, it doesn’t always cut to
another shot, for instance at 0.26 into the video it uses a medium
close up to show her extending her arm, the next scene she is in,
she is also making this gesture. This allows continuity in the video
and could give the idea that before the drama there was stability in
their relationship.
In this video Taylor’s character is juxtaposed and is portrayed as
both sweet and likeable and evil and insane. The company and
director are trying to sell her as a spoilt rich girl but they are also
trying to sell the ‘love story’ that goes wrong in this video; this has
been used as it is a common storyline used in pop music videos.
However, this video may appeal to women as usually in pop
music videos, the man has all the power and it ‘controlling’ the
women but in this it’s the other way around. This video relates to
her previous videos such as Wildest Dreams and I Knew You
Were Trouble as they both have a storyline of love and losing it.

4. Although there isn’t much there is intertextual reference used in this video, in the
sequence of close up shots it uses straight cuts to cute between Taylors character
and the male character, the use of mise-en-scene through props and acting
creates almost a reference to the fairy-tale character ‘evil
queen/wicked witch’. As in the films she is an antagonistic
character it could portray how at first their relationship was
a fairy tale but her jealously has taken over and allowed
her to spoil everything, on the other hand it could be
illustrating her domination and control over the man, which
is deviating from other media texts (not just music videos)
as usually women are objectified and shown as a piece of
a game, whereas in this music video the female character in this video is the
stronger, more dominant character.
The video for Blank Space conforms to the structural aspects of typical pop videos
as it uses a common story line of the love story however it also deviates as many,
even the videos about break-ups, tend to miss out the arguments whereas this is a
key focus for many parts of this music video.