This is my second music video analysis, created as part of my A2 Media Coursework.

1. Music Video Analysis #2 – “You Belong with Me” by Taylor Swift
“You Belong with Me” is a song performed by Taylor Swift; the song if of the pop GENRE or
more notably the ‘teen pop’ GENRE
The music video suggests several CONNOTATIONS to the pop GENRE. In terms of technical
factors, the music video makes use of light. Even during the night SEQUENCES, the FRAME is
very bright, which suggests that there is an excessive amount of LIGHTING EQUIPMENT
utilized by the PRODUCTION CREW. It is suggested that excessive light is used to show that
this music video has a very light TONE; the video is about a girl trying to with the affection of
a boy, and this sort of STORY is STEREOTYPICALLY – in other MEDIA TEXTS – affiliated
towards a younger girls TARGET AUDIENCE, and thus it suggests a light TONE, which suggest
that this AUDIENCE would be ATTRACTED.
The STORY itself is portrayed as a simple one, a girl, who is portrayed as a STEREOTYPICAL
‘nerd’ CHARACTER (Swift) is suggested to have a ‘crush’ on a boy (Lucas Till), who is show to
be in a relationship with another girl (also played by Swift), but inevitably – at the end of the
video – the nerdy girl and the boy reveal their love for each other and start dating. The
PLOT suggests that the video is aimed at ATTRACTING a younger AUDIENCE.
Swift’s costumes in the music video may further CONNOTE that this music video was
developed for a younger AUDIENCE. Swift does not wear any revealing clothes for sexual
appeal, which may emphasize that her video does not hope to attract a male following for
this reason. In Swift’s supposed ‘nerd’ girl persona, her clothing is fully covered until the
final SEQUENCE (the school dance SCENCE), Swift is wearing a prom dress and saunters
towards Till’s character; however, the prom dress may not be used to portray sexual
REPRESENTATION because Swift wears a standard prom dress that is often seen in other
MEDIA. Even Swift, in her supposed ‘popular’ girl persona may not be portrayed to dress in
any sexually explicit fashion (in the sequence where Swift’s two characters meet for the first
time, she is fully covered in a pink shirt) so this music video may be a representation of the
early teen pop genre, whose CONVENTIONS usually involved light TONED and simple
STORIES, and the clothing was appropriate. This makes implications to Andrew Goodwin’s
Dancing in the Distraction Factory theory one (all music videos have a certain genre
characteristic).
Taylor Swift’s ‘nerd’
persona and look.

2. Swift’s ‘nerd
persona’ in her
prom dress in the
final SCENE
Taylor Swift’s
‘popular’ persona
look.
It can be argued that the music video makes several references to TEXTUAL “CLICHÉS”. As
mentioned before, the ‘nerdy’ girl is DENOTED to have affections towards a popular guy
(who may also feel the same way but just does not know yet); it is suggested that she is
jealous of the ‘popular’ girl, who dates the guy and the ‘nerdy’ girl wants him to understand
that she belongs with the popular guy (through the lyrics of the song).
The suggested CLICHÉS may involve: the use of the American football game SETTING, which
suggests that the guy is very popular in the school and he ends up making the final
touchdown, to perhaps show the extent of his popularity and to maybe show the AUDIENCE
why the ‘nerd’ girl has affections towards him. The use of sport to show the extent of
popularity has often been used in MEDIUMS other than the music video (e.g. High School
Musical) prior to the release of “You Belong with Me”.

3. The American
Football
SCENE where
Till is being
hailed a hero.
Another supposed use of a CLICHÉ is the ending school dance scene, where the girl makes
the transformation from the ‘nerd’ to the ‘princess’, where the PRODUCERS and STYLISTS
suggest that Swift’s ‘nerd’ character is the most ‘dazzling’ girl in the dance (because of the
way the people look at her when she first enters) and then, she is seen to ‘make the walk’
towards the boy of her dreams, where they confess their love for each other, again SCENES
like this have often been used in other MEDIUMS. This may be also an example of a ‘feel
good’ SCENE, to maybe show that every girl has a beauty within them and that they can
express, if they stay true to themselves – this message would often be TARGETED at young
girls, and thus this confirms that this video is TARGETED towards a younger female
AUDIENCE. This also makes suggested links to Andrew Goodwin’s Dancing in the Distraction
Factory theory, more notably: theory seven (INTERTEXTUAL references), as the use of the
CLICHÉS may be linked back to several other MEDIUMS. The dance scene, where the ‘nerd’
persona of Swift and Lucas Till kindle their love and where Till breaks up with the ‘popular’
persona of Swift may be a reference from the Disney classic “Cinderella” – in “Cinderella”,
the titular character does not understand her true beauty until she goes to a ball with a
dress and ‘dazzles’ the Prince charming, where they share a dance, much to the dismay of
Cinderella’s step-family (possible reference to ‘popular’ Swift, who is shown to be in dismay
after ‘nerd’ Swift and Till’s character kindle their love).

4. This dismay felt by
Swift’s ‘popular’
persona.
The final
“Cinderella”
moment.
This music video suggests several links to Andrew Goodwin’s Dancing in the Distraction
Factory theory, notably: theory two (more often than not, there is a relationship between
the music video and the lyrics). In the music video, there is a scene, where Swift sings: “she
wears short skirts, I wear t-shirts” – Swift (in her ‘nerdy’ persona) is seen trying out different
outfits of the different school STEREOTYPES that is often portrayed in MEDIA TEXTS. (‘goth’,
‘hipster’ and ‘retro’), it can be argued from the STEREOTYPICAL MEDIA that Swift’s clothing
is not typical of a popular girl would wear and thus, this is portrayed – along with Swift
singing – in the music video. Swift claims that her ‘nerd’ persona does not wear ‘short
skirts’, may infer that she can wear anything, but not short skirts because that sort of
clothing may connote that she may become something that she is not; this may further
imply that Swift’s ‘nerd’ persona does not identify herself as popular and thus through the

5. song, it can be argued that Swift is trying to tell the boy that she can be anyone but not the
type of girl, who wears ‘short skirts’.
“She wears short
skirts, I wear t-
shirts.”
Swift trying out
the
STEREOTYPICAL
goth look.
The lyric – “she wears short skirts, I wear t-shirts” – may also serve as a method to
distinguish Swift’s ‘nerd’ persona and Swift’s antagonistic ‘popular’ character. It could be
suggested, that the DIRECTOR brings the two personas of Swift to iterate a VISUAL (rather
than lyrical) difference to the two personas. When the audience is introduced to ‘popular’
Swift, she is seen with brunette hair, eye make-up, lipstick and a pink shirt, while ‘nerd’
Swift is wearing large lensed glasses, jeans and a sweatshirt. This already suggests a
difference of STEREOTYPES. It is often portrayed in media, that the ‘popular girl’ would
almost always wear make-up and care about her aesthetic – this is portrayed in the video,
but another thing that the STYLISTS implement in ‘popular’ Swift’s look is that she has dark
features: her brunette hair and her eye make-up (mascara), it may be argued that the

6. STYLIST implemented this to imply the ‘antagonistic attributes’ of Swift’s ‘popular’ persona
to the AUDIENCE; again in STEREOTYPICAL media the ‘popular girl’ is often portrayed as an
antagonist character and a bully, who would usually bully the girl ‘without confidence’ and it
can be suggested that these ‘dark features’ can further imply that Swift is an antagonist
because the dark and dull colours are stereotypically connoted – in media – to portray
‘antagonistic’ qualities
The ‘antagonist’
Swift’s dark features.
Later in the same SEQUENCE, ‘popular’ Swift kisses the boy in front of ‘nerd’ Swift; this can
be argued to be a mechanism to connote that ‘nerd’ Swift is jealous of this action.
Furthermore, following the kiss between ‘popular’ Swift and Lucas Till, there is a close-up
shot of ‘nerd Swift’ singing the lyric “you belong with me” and it can be inferred that since
her face shows a sorrowful emotion, which could be argued to further infer that she is
jealous of the relationship between ‘popular’ Swift and Lucas Till and that she belongs with
Till’s character.
The kiss between
‘popular’ Swift and
Till’s character.

7. It could be suggested that the DIRECTOR brings the two personas of Swift to show the
AUDIENCE the differences between what the ‘nerdy’ girl is, and what she wants to be
(popular), but cannot be, which may further connote the line “she wears short skirts, I wear
t-shirts” – to show their differences. Then Swift uses the lyric “she’s cheer captain and I am
on the bleachers,” which is again visualized by the DIRECTOR, which may further emphasize
the ‘nerd’ persona of Swift’s desire to be popular, which shows a connection between the
lyrics and the music video. Also in the music video, it may be inferred that the song serves as
the ‘thoughts’ of nerdy Swift, whatever we hear in the song is what nerdy Swift is thinking
to herself, mainly because the song serves as NON-DIEGETIC SOUND, this can be inferred
because the other characters cannot hear Swift singing, the scene with Swift’s ‘nerd’
persona talking to Lucas Till outside their house on the benches is the perfect indication to
support this point. The song cannot be heard to Till and is reiterating Swift’s thoughts.
Two Swifts in the
same FRAME.
What is imperative to pick up from this music video is that it makes strong CONNOTATIONS
to the PROMOTION of its content to its chosen TARGET AUDIENCE. The PRODUCERS may
have had an understanding that this song – being a love song – would be acclaimed by
mainly teenaged girls and so they may have envisioned this music video with the possible
ROMANTIC GENRE CLICHÈS to maybe imply that every girl has the chance to find their
‘prince charming’. It can be suggested that Swift and the PRODUCERS may have casted
Lucas Till based on his looks to maybe please the predominant girl AUDIENCE and to
perhaps further replicate the idea that a ‘love interest’ would always exude a charm through
his look and personality.
What I would utilize from this music video, is making sure that my own music video
PROMOTES content that my TARGET AUDIENCE would want to see.