The music video tells a love story between Taylor Swift and a teenage boy through various settings that resemble Romeo and Juliet, including a high school, castle, ballroom, and park. It follows the narrative of forbidden love between two people from different backgrounds. Throughout the video, the costumes, hairstyles, and settings are used to depict different time periods, particularly Pride and Prejudice and 18th century England. The video draws from multiple genres including modern pop conventions as well as Shakespearean and 18th century influences to portray the romantic theme of the song.

1. Music videoanalysis– Love story by Taylor Swift
Two charactersare focussedonmainlythroughoutthismusicvideo.TaylorSwiftisone of these,as
well asanotheryoungteenage boy.There isaclear theme of love whichrunsthroughoutthe video
betweenthe twocharacters. The costumesthatthe characters are wearingare quite significantto
the videoasit helpstotell the storybehindthe song.
The videoissetin variousdifferentlocations.
The firstsettingthatis occurs inthe videoisa
highschool.Itthenprogressestoshowthe
characters situatedinacastle,a ballroom, the
woodsandthe park.The scenesandsettingsin
the videoverymuchresemble the
Shakespeareanplayof ‘RomeoandJuliet’as
manyof themare similar.The videodoes
followthe mainconventionsof apopvideoasit still consistentlycutstoshow
TaylorSwiftsingingdirectlytothe cameraalthoughthere isaclear narrative
alsorunningthroughoutit. The costumeschange to show whichtime periods
are presentinthe video.Atthe beginningof the video,TaylorSwiftis wearing
quite casual clothingthatyouwouldsee a youngteenage girl wearingtoschool
and isalsowearingquite lightmakeup. Onthe otherhand,duringthe scenes
where she isdancingwiththe “prince”andsinginginside the castle,she isseen
witha dresswhichwouldhave beenwornbywomenthroughoutthe 18th
century.The male character of the prince isalsodressedinthe 18th
centurystyle ashe is wearinga
suitand a cravat whichis veryoldfashioned.The stylethatTaylorSwifthasherhair isalso
significanttothe videoasshe hasit inan up do and looksa lotlike how
womenusedtohave theirs,especiallywhenattendingaball. The
scene inPride andPrejudice whereMrDarcy isrunningthroughthe
fieldtoElizabethismirroredinthe musicvideowhenthe male
character isseendoingthe same thing.Thishas beenincludeddue to
the romanticstoryline whichrunsthroughoutPride andPrejudice and
fitswell withthe lyricsinthe song“love story”.
There are a range of differentshotsusedthroughoutthisvideorangingfromclose upsof Taylor
Swiftandmediumshots.Thisissothat the singerisfocussedon and attentionisimmediatelyputon
her.Mid shotsand longshotsare usedso thatthe locationismadclear to the audience.
The lightinginthe musicvideochangesdependingonthe moodandthe settingwhichisan
importantfeature.WhenTaylorSwiftandthe “prince”ae dancinginthe ballroom, the lightingis
quite dull whichaddstothe romanticfeel of the scene andmakesit muchmore intimate.Italso
makesthemoutto be quite mischievous,asRomeoandJulietwere inthe playastheywere
forbiddentosee one another.
From the beginningtothe endof the video,the narrative describesanunrequitedlovebetweentwo
people whoare forbiddentobe togetherbutgoagainstthe rulesbecause theyare inlove.The video
mirrorsthe story of Romeoand Juliet.The musicvideoincludesbothnarrative andperformance

2. style asit tellsaclear story,althoughTaylorisstill seenfollowingthe general popconventionsof an
innocentgirl singingtothe camera. The ball isan iconicelementwhichisincludedinPride and
Prejudice whichhasclearlybeenaninfluence inthe music video.A ball isatraditional place fortwo
people tofall inlove asitis veryromanticdue to the
dancing.
There isa close upshotof the two characters’hands
beingclaspedtogetherlike whathappensatthe
beginningof atraditional dance.Thisisiconictothe time
periodof the 18th
century.The castle is alsoam
importantsignificantlocationastheyhave connotations
of romance andfairytale.Thisis iconicto the love theme runningthroughoutthe videoandthe song
as castlesare generallyromantic. Thismusicvideoisanexampleof postmodernismasitincludesa
bricolage of differentgenresincludingmodernday,18th
century(Pride andPrejudice) and15th
century(RomeoandJuliet).The lyrics“I’mstandingthere,onabalconyinsummerair” representsan
iconicscene inRomeoandJulietwhenRomeoislookingupat Julietonthe balcony,itisclearthat
the videohasbeeninfluencedbythis. The factthattheyare gazingintoeach otherseyeswhilethey
are dancingisalsoempathisesthe genre andshowsthattheyare in love.