Taylor Swift-Love Story

Applying Theorists- Tzvetan Todorov

Bulgarian literary theorist (http://www.slideshare.net/cfgstania/todorovs-theory-7100632) Todorov suggested that most narratives started with an equilibrium (everything is ‘normal’) and then this changes to the disequilibrium which is where this state of normality has been disrupted. It then sorts itself out and returns to the equilibrium.

In Taylor Swift’s ‘Love Story’ music video the narrative does follow this structure:

Equilibrium= Taylor Swift’s character meets a boy at the ball/high school and everything is happyDisequilibrium= Taylor’s character’s dad says that the two young lovers can’t be together. Equilibrium= Happy ending- the dad says they can get married and everyone is happy again.

Taylor Swift-Love Story

Applying Theorists- Claude Levi-Strauss Claude Levi Strauss was a social anthropologist that developed a theory which

focused on binary opposites. (http://www.slideshare.net/Raj1992/claude-levi-strauss1)

In Taylor Swift’s ‘Love Story’ there are quite a few different binary opposites which are involved such as:

-Good vs Bad -Relationship vs Alone -Permission vs Forbidden-Happiness vs Sad-Right vs Wrong -Parent vs Child -Young vs Old -Authority vs powerless

Pace= Slow vs Fast

Taylor Swift-Love Story

Vladimir Propp, a Russian Critic, said that for each narrative video that there was the main characters defined in specific character categories (http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/alevkeyconcepts/alevelkeycon.php?pageID=prop) In Taylor Swift’s narrative Love Story video this theory can be applied, however, one of the characters is not applicable for this specific video.

These characters are: -The Villain (struggles against the hero trying to disrupt the hero’s path)-The Donor (Prepares the hero, or gives the hero some magical object to help) -The helper (Helps the hero in their quest to achieve what they want)-The Princess (Marries the hero- is often the sought after character during the narrative) -The False Hero (Initially perceived as a good character, however, they emerge as being evil)-The Dispatcher (This character sends the hero off) -The Hero (reacts to the donor, saves/marries the princess, victim, overall winner)

On the next slide I will discuss the characters that Propp said could be applied and then apply them to the Love Story video.

Applying Theorists-Vladimir Propp

Taylor Swift-Love Story

Applying Theorists-Vladimir ProppCharacter Type Who is this in the music video?

1. The villain (struggles against the hero) In this video the villain is Taylor Swift’s character’s father who won’t let the two lovers, the main lead female and male, be together after meeting and instantly falling in love.

2. The donor (prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object) The father becomes the donor towards the end as he tells the daughter to go and pick out a white dress to get married. Meaning that he has finally accepted that his daughter is going to get married to this boy.

3. The (magical) helper (helps the hero in the quest) The horse is the magical helper because it brings the female and male together again. Furthermore, the people at the dance are the initial helpers because they introduce the male and female and as a result are responsible for them meeting.

4. The princess (person the hero marries, often sought for during the narrative)

The love interest in the music video that is sought after is the main male lead role who is desired to be ‘The Prince’.

5. The false hero (perceived as good character in beginning but emerges as evil)

N/A

6. The dispatcher (character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off)

The father is also the dispatcher as he tells the daughter to go on her way and get married, therefore sending the hero off. 

7. The hero [AKA victim/seeker/paladin/winner, reacts to the donor, weds the princess

Taylor Swift’s main lead role character is the hero in this music video because she is the character who is fighting for what she wants.

Taylor Swift-Love Story

Applying Theorists- Andrew Goodwin Andrew Goodwin believes that music videos follow the following conventions:

-Conventions depend on the genre of the music -Star persona is important and companies use close ups to sell them to the audience -Voyeuristic images are used to attract an audience -They often contain intertextual references to other media -There is a link between the lyrics and the visuals -There is a link between the visuals and the music/pace etc.

I have created a table to compare Goodwin’s theory against Taylor Swift’s love story and apply his theory to the music video.

Taylor Swift-Love Story

Applying Theorists- Andrew GoodwinMusic Video Genre Theory Examples of this in the narrative video; Love Story- Taylor Swift

Conventions depend on the genre of the music Love Story has the conventions of the love genre- with the plot of beginning, middle and end. The song itself is a love song, and this has determined the love conventions in the Love Story music video because the video has to link with the lyrics and thus the storyline.

Star persona is important and companies use close ups to sell them to the audience Lots of the shots used are close ups of Taylor Swift playing her narrative character and singing. As she is the main character it is highlighting how her management considers star persona very important and wants to promote Taylor as much as possible, and as a result has her playing the main character rather than a female actress which would take the attention away from Taylor Swift.

Voyeuristic images are used to attract an audience A lot of voyeuristic images are used throughout the video. We ‘follow’ Taylor Swift around the castle, gardens and ball, and it makes the audience feel like they’re involved in the music video and like they are ‘there’. This creates a more enjoyable experience for the audience when they are watching the video because they can connect more to the video..

They often contain intertextual references to other media In this particular music video, elements from the films and books Romeo and Juliet and Pride and Prejudice have been used. The two main recognisable moments in Love Story are; Taylor Swift’s character standing on the balcony waiting for her ‘man’ to come for her- taken from Romeo and Juliet with the iconic moment of Juliet being on the balcony waiting for Romeo to come for her. And the male lead role running across the fields to Taylor Swift’s character which was taken from the iconic moment in Pride and Prejudice where Mr Darcy is running across the fields. These two films/novels are typical ‘love stories’ and because of this feature heavy elements of love and passion in their films . This gives great potential to take ideas from the films and use them in the music video because the music video is also based upon love and using iconic moments from the most famous love stories will make this extremely recognisable.

There is a link between the lyrics and the visuals Lots of the lyrics in Love Story are linked very closely to the visuals. Some examples include; “We were both young when I first saw you”- at this moment it shows the characters as their younger selves, “I’m standing there on a balcony in summer air”- at this moment Taylor Swift’s character is standing on a balcony and it is evident that is summer because of the loose light clothing she is wearing and the weather seems calm and warm. “See the ball gowns, see you make your way through the crowd”- at this moment it shows the ball and clearly the females wearing ball gowns and then it shows the male lead walk through the crowd. “I sneak out to the garden to see you”- a whole section of the music video focuses on Taylor Swift’s character sneaking out into the garden to meet the male lead.

There is a link between the visuals and the music/pace etc The music video on a whole is at a slow pace which links to the pace of the song. It does however, speed up in places when the pace of song also speeds up. The visuals coincide with this for example, at 2:46 the music goes slow and the dancing stops, then at 3:00 she sees the male lead and the music starts building up to a climax which is accompanied by the music video which shows both of the characters running towards each other; clearly the climax of the video.