This is the opening shot for the music video ‘Love Story’ it sets the scene in this wide establishing shot of an American high school, we presume this is where the video will be set.

The video tells the story of Taylor’s character imagining a series of fantasies with the boy she has seen at high school, we know she is at a high school from the opening establishing shot, who we see at the beginning he is looking at Taylor. This particular scene is a medium shot of a relatively attractive young man. He is the only one in the frame, wearing a simple black t-shirt to draw the audience’s attention to only him and not something else going on around him.

It then moves on to show short flashbacks of shots of them two together at a Victorian style ball then back to the boy squinting as the camera focuses on him, suggesting he is aware he knows this girl but is unsure where he has seen her before, then the audience are shown how he knows her with the camera cutting to clips of them both, which fits into the lyrics of ‘and the flashbacks start’ as she is stood looking over a balcony ‘I’m standing there, on a balcony in summer air’.

This is a second establishing shot, but instead is varies from the first. It appears to be a castle, which could be a signifier for the narrative the audience should expect from the music video, and already from the name itself it indicates a ‘love story’. The dim lighting, and low angle could suggest that the castle has significant power over whoever is in the tower and that the time of day/lighting also signifies the negative mood that someone (a princess) may need rescuing.

Progressing, we are now inside a hall filled with lots of people in ball gowns and suits, ‘See the party, the ball gownsI see you make your way through the crowd’See the party, the ball gowns’ this has direct link to the narrative of the music video and the lyrics. This shot is when the audience can make the link between the boy at the beginning and the relationship they have. The shot is a pull focus, further drawing the attention to this boy, showing the significance he is towards Taylor and the music video despite the amount of people in the hall, they are not relevant or in her eyes they are not because we assume this is the view from Taylor.

The video then begins to show their relationship progress, the begin dancing and more intimate, ‘That you were Romeo, you were throwing pebbles’ the audience are now aware of the character and love story between Romeo and Juliet before it even begins as it is predetermined what Is going to happen if it fits with the story people know from William Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’

The lyrics next at this point are ‘And my daddy said stay away from Juliet’ which counters what is going on in the clip, they’re getting closer as we are being told Romeo is supposed to stay away, which shows to the audience he cares a lot for Juliet, who we are now fully aware is ‘Taylor’ as when she says ‘from Juliet’ we are shown a close up of Taylor singing. During these clips, it cuts from high angles looking down on the group of people dancing, to close ups and medium shots of Taylor singing, back to long/medium shots of the dance and the two together.

Later on in the music video, she says ‘Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone’ whilst in the video they are passing through a dark looking environment, as she is holding up a lantern to light up the way and they appear to be alone like the lyrics suggest. This medium close up shot of their upper body shows they are dressed like a fairytale ‘princess and prince’ with the long elegant dress and the smart suit which she refers to a number of times in her chorus ‘you’ll be the prince and il be the princess’ which therefore does link into the story in the music video visuals itself.

‘Marry me, Juliet, you’ll never have to be alone’ they are reunited at the end when Juliet thinks that he is not going to return to her, which is a contrast and alternative different ending a more ‘happily ever after’ than the story most are familiar with. The bright setting sets the happy tone and mood for this particular moment, the sun shining behind them as they are close to one another having a intimate romantic moment in this medium shot.