Taylor Swift - You Belong With Me - Deconstruction

This music Video of Taylor swift's 'You Belong with me' meets the typical codes and conventions of a typical romance story. For audience theory it can be seen that the video is aimed towards teenage girls. The main protagonist is a teenage female who seems to be struggling with an everyday teenage girl problem of wanting something they seemingly cannot have, or not being noticed in a way they desire. So in this sense the character created is identifiable and teenage girls will be able to relate to her.  To be compliant with genre theory the video uses stereotypical codes and conventions to highlight the romance genre, for example he writing on notebooks that has 'I Love You' written on it and the kiss at the end. 

The video starts with  the protagonist, a girl (Taylor Swift) in a house looking through the window at a boy in a house directly opposite to hers. The shots at this point are of medium length, each shot is held for a reasonably long amount of time, the music at this point is at a slow pace which means the length of shot fits in with the music. The shots are mostly compliant with the 180 degree rule, from her to him and back again. is wearing glasses and a big t-shirt with her hair loosely tied up, this shows the audience that she is  the down to earth girl  that is not perhaps the 'popular girl' and more of the geek. this portrayal shows the image of innocence, and the effortless look. As the song progresses the beat gets faster and the length of shot decreases to more quick, snappy jump cut shot editing on the beat.

Throughout the video the actions of Taylor swift highlights and follows the lyric's meaning, for example when she sings 'I wear T-shirts' she is wearing a baggy T-shirt which then grabs at.  All the way through the video, sometimes she is singing along to what the audience can hear and sometimes she is just acting, although when she is singing along the other characters do not react to this. This illustrates Steve Archer’s theory that music videos cut between narrative and performance.

In the final scene Taylor turns up at the dance but has completely transformed her look to wearing a long dress, There is a mid-long shot to emphasise on her outfit and that it has changed. at the end Taylor and the Boy who lives opposite her start to kiss and at this point there is a close up on their faces then an extreme close up on their lips to emphasise the significance, emotion and also highlight the codes and conventions of the genre which is Romance. This emphasises the fact that in the end she got what she wanted from the start.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuNIsY6JdUw 

Above is a link to the music video. ^

Steve Archer's Narrative and Performance theory

Steve Archer's Narrative and performance theory states that it is normal for the artist to be a part of the narrative as well as the performance, however extra emphasis will always be given on the artist carrying out their craft of music making to reinforce the idea that these guys or girls have a really close relation to their music. This kind of theory is mostly found in country and indie songs, as there is a strong emphasis on the lyrics and their meanings. 

Our video will be compliant with Steve Archer's theory as we will be having a story line narrative being acted out by our protagonist but then in certain scenes he will be playing his guitar to show, as Archer's theory states, that there is a close relation between the protagonist and the song.

Top tips to use on set.

- Hold tightly onto the camera and find the record button

- Elbows tucked in tight for camera stability

-Make sure shots are always practiced before you film

- Someone behind you holding you for support and stability

- Direct the actors and make sure they know there marks in order to save film, eg. markings on the floor, learn the song well

- Always film more footage than you need as you can always edit and cut away film

- Count down- "filming in 5,4,3,2,1.."

- Use sentences like "Quiet on set" or "Camera Rolling"

- "Camera Turning 3,2,1"

-ALWAYS film more footage than needed to help editing

Equipment

• Video Camera
• Filming Car
• Guitar
• Natural lighting 
• Computer-editing

Our Video will require a fairly small amount of equipment, just the camera and the car for tracking shots. No lighting equipment will be required as we will be using natural lighting.

Risk Assessment

After visiting shot locations for the video, I assessed potential hazards and risks that could occur when filming.

Beach- With the stony/ uneven surface at Sidmouth beach, it could be hard to keep balance and may result in an actor falling over or something similar. To avoid this the actors will be briefed on making sure they stay in control of their actions and to make sure they are aware of what they are doing.

Roundball Hill- With Autumn / winter approaching, it is likely to be wet or damp on the hill which could again result in slips and falls from the actors. To avoid this the actors will again be briefed on exactly what they are to do and make sure they behave sensibly. Also if it is rather slippery, safer and more appropriate footwear will be used for extra grip.

Filming car- As a car will be used as a way of shooting tracking shots ect, there is always an element of risk as accidents could occur. To ensure this does not happen the driver will be told to drive slowly, safely and responsibly.

West Hill woods- Much like the hill and the beach, there is a possibility of the actors tripping over, with things like tree roots and uneven ground. To make it as safe as possible, we will walk slowly, carefully and once again brief the actors and make sure they know what the possible risks are and that they behave responsibly. Also we will make sure when filming the path the actors will be taking is clear of things such as fallen branches.

Props/Costume

Props

• 'I <3 You' Picture frame - Representative of love- also matches the first lyric. 

• Mobile Phone

• Guitar- Important for the song- Also looks symbol of sadness in Music videos- singing on own. 

• Picnic equipment 

Costume

• Ruggy- Modern Casual wear- Jeans, Red T-shirt (in memories), Black T-shirt (present day) ,leather jacket, trainers
• Chloe-  Modern Casual wear- Jeans/ joggers, casual shoes
• Jonny- Jeans and Red T-shirt- Symbol of new love

Reasons for the casual, relaxed costumes are that it makes it more relatable for our main target age range of Teenagers around 15-18. It also gives it the more everyday feel which makes our story more believable. The red T-shirt is Important as it is a representation of "Love". Dan Rugg Switches from a red T-shirt to a Black one because when they break up the black represents his sadness.

Original Sleeping With the Light on Video by Busted

Busted - Sleeping With The Light On on MUZU.TV.

Story Board

This is our Story board that we will be using as a template of shots for our film. this is just the rough copy and we will be developing this as we go along. From this we can create our shot list so we know which shots to shoot during the filming process of our film.