Taylor Swift – Look What You Made Me Do music video analysis

Video analysis of Taylor Swift's Look What You Made Me Do music video

1. Taylor Swift – “Look what you made me do” video analysis Laura Neale

2. Genre The genre is pop music. Conventions of a pop video shown include the use of bright colours/clothing, the use of makeup, the use of expensive objects such as cars and diamonds to show to artist’s wealth, and also the use of a lot of close ups on Taylor’s face.

3. Performance/Abstract Taylor’s video is mainly performace, as she does a lot of lip syncing and dancing. However there is also an element of abstract as she does do things that have no relevance to the song, like robbing a bank whilst wearing a cat mask, and so you could consider her video to be partly abstract. There isn’t any story line to Taylor’s video, and so it can’t be considered a narrative. Taylor likes to use her videos to convey who she is to her audience – she likes to come across as independent and strong as so will use her video to show this, however she also likes to use her videos to ‘throw shade’ (to publicly talk badly about someone, usually in a subtle way) at people she has recently fallen out with. For example, in this video, she caused controversy when she wore a t-shirt with her squad members written on it, but had purposly left off squad members she had recently argued with.

4. Music First, there is a sound effect of thunder, to set the graveyard scene. The music then brings in string instruments, again adding to the creepy effect. The beat of the music sounds a lot like a heartbeat, which contradicts what is happening on screen, due to the fact it is set in a graveyard, and a ‘Zombie Taylor’ is singing. The music builds during the pre-chorus and the tempo gets a little bit faster, which means the cuts also get quicker. During the bank scene, you can hear sirens in the music, which matches the action on screen as you would expect an alarm to be going off or for the police to be there. During the bridge the music slows down and the strings come back in, making the music sound sad. This could suggest that she is mourning the loss of the ‘old Taylors’ that she is stood on top of.

5. Lyrics Lots of Taylor’s lyrics match up to what is happening on scree, for example she sings the lyrics “Don’t like your tilted stage”, and as she sings it she pulls n a gravestone to straighten them all up. She later does this again, singing “You said the gun was mine”, whilst miming shooting a gun on-screen

6. Lyrics cont. Taylor’s lyrics also include lots of connotations. For example Taylor says that someone’s name is “In red underline”, the colour red connoting bad/danger, suggesting that this person has done something wrong and so they could be in danger. Later Taylor sings “Look what you made me do” when she crashes her car, despite the fact that there is no one else in the car with her, this could suggest that the person she is singing about causes her to do things she doesn’t want to because they are constantly on her mind.

7. Lyrics cont. Lastly, Taylor also has some lyrics that contradict what is happening on screen, in order to make her audience really think about what she means. For example, she sings “All I think about is Karma”, but does so whilst robbing a bank. Robbing a bank would give you bad Karma due to it being illegal, and so the audience is left questioning what this really means.

8. Mise en Scene When the clip starts the lighting is dark to match the creepy graveyard scene, and we see a gravestone on screen with the words “Here lies Taylor’s reputation” etched into it, which could represent how she has been portrayed quite negatively in the media lately. This is then emphasised by her dressed in a zombie costume with zombie makeup, as this is symbolic of the old, sweet, innocent Taylor being ‘dead’, and the new Taylor being cold-hearted.

9. Mise en Scene cont. We then see Taylor in a bath full of jewels, which could be symbolic of her still thinking that she is worth it despite the bad media, or could simply be being used to flaunt her wealth to her viewers which is typical of the pop genre, and a reoccurring theme in Taylor’s videos. However, due to Taylor’s on-going fued with Kanye West, it is also possible that this scene is supposed to refer to when Kim Kadashian was robbed in Paris, as she was robbed at gunpoint in a hotel bathroom over jewellery, which would also explain the lyrics and matching hand gesture about a gun, since Taylor and Kanye don’t get on well. Also visible in the bath among the jewels is a single dollar bill, which could be symbolic of the dollar bill she won in a court case against a DJ who groped her – she said that the single dollar bill was worth so much more than $1 to her, which could explain why it is in a bath full of valuble jewellery, which shows how Taylor often includes small details in her videos that refrence to her everyday life, in order to provide things for her fans to spot in her videos, to keep them interested.

10. Mise en Scene cont. In the next scene Taylor is wearing red, which has the connotations of being dangerous, and so could again emphasise how the old Taylor is gone, and the new Taylor is dangerous. There are also lots of snakes in this scene, which could represent how Taylor feels about the people around her. If someone is thought to be ‘two-faced’ or ‘fake’ then they are often referred to as ‘snakes’.

11. Mise en Scene cont. In the next scene, Taylor is again flaunting her wealth using an expensive looking gold car, with an expensive watch clearly seen flying around when the car crashes. This is reinforced however, when she immediately starts to pose for the paparazzi, despite just crashing her car, showing that she doesn’t care because she can just buy another one, and therefore representing her wealth outside of the video.

12. Mise en Scene cont. Taylor is then seen on a swing inside a giant golden bird cage. This could be representative of how she feels trapped due to the bad media she gets, however as she still has expensive food and drink like lobster and champagne, as well as the bird cage itself being gold, it again could be her flaunting her wealth and showing that despite the bad media she is still really well off. The swing in the bird cage could also be a pop culture reference to Harley Quinn in the film ‘Suicide Squad’. Harley Quinn is a villain in an asylum, and so could be saying that the person Taylor is singing about has driven her as mad as Harley Quinn, or could simply be trying to draw in views and publicity by referencing it, due to the success of the film.

13. Mise en Scene cont. Taylor and the people around her are then seen wearing brightly coloured clothes and cat masks whilst robbing a bank. These bright colours and the quirky masks are typical of a pop video, and it also helps to appeal to Taylor’s primary audience of young/teenage girls. Taylor is also seen burning money, which again could be her showing how much money she has, as she can burn it without being bothered.

14. Mise en Scene cont. During the next pre chorus, Taylor is seen at the front of the room, seemingly commanding an army of women. Each are dressed in the same clothing and look very similar, the look very plastic-looking and almost fake, making them appear like dolls. They look like societies idea of the ‘perfect woman’. This, paired with the word ‘Squad’ flashing on big screens, represents how Taylor only wants the perfect people in her squad. The lighting is also very pink, which could represent how Taylor wants her squad to be primarily female due to her being big on ‘girl power’, as the colour pink is often connected with girls.

15. Mise en Scene cont. In the next scene, Taylor is seen dancing with a group of men, and there is a close up of them revealing that they are wearing ‘I heart TS’ t-shirts. This could be representative of how despite all of the bad media she gets, Taylor still has fans, and she still wants people to like her. However the eight men in the video could also represent the eight high profile relationships Taylor has had, and the t-shirt is something that her latest ex Tom Hiddlestone was seen wearing, and so again shows how Taylor uses little details to refrence things that happen in her everyday life. During the bridge she is then seen standing on a pile of ‘other’ Taylor Swifts. This could represent how she used to be like them, as many are recognisable from previous videos, like the one from “Shake it off”, however she is now a new, better Taylor Swift. Meanwhile, all the ‘old’ Taylors are trying to make it to the top of the pile, which could represent her struggle to become who she is now. Shake it off video Look what you made me do video

16. Mise en Scene cont. / Voyeurism Lastly, Taylor is seen throughout the video wearing several different black costumes. As the colour black is often associated with darkness and badness, this could be a possible reflection of the bad media she gets, and the act that she is embracing it. This is particularly emphasised by one of the black costumes having the word ‘REP’ written on it, suggesting her reputation has been blackened by the bad media. This is sometimes paired by dark lighting as well to add extra emphasis, as seen in the bridge. Taylor’s costumes are also often quite revealing and sexy, in order to gain views from sex appeal, and gain publicity as nudity often causes outrage in the media, particularly with female artists.

17. Camera Work/Editing The video opens with an aerial shot over the graveyard, so that it can set the scene. It then fades into the next shot using clouds to cover the camera, in order to give a spooky effect for the graveyard scene. The camera then zooms in on the gravestone hat reads ‘Here lies Taylor Swift’s reputation’ in order to draw focus to the words and emphasise them. Lots of the shots in this scene are very long with straight cuts in between which add to the creepy atmosphere as it almost builds up a bit of tension.

18. Camera Work/Editing cont. There is then a mid shot of ‘Zombie Taylor’ climbing out of the grave, so that you can see what she is doing, but also still see her Zombie makeup which again, adds to the scary feeling the graveyard is giving off. We then see an aerial shot of Taylor in the grave, with a match cut to her lying in the same position in a bath full of jewels, possibly to emphasis the different views people have of her – the media give her a hard time, and so are represented by the grave shot, whilst her fans remain loyal and nice to her, and so are represented by the bath shot. There is also a side shot of Taylor in the bath, with a focus change where you first see her reflection and then you see her, and so the mirrors almost trick you so you don’t know if your looking at Taylor or a reflection which makes it confusing, but interesting to watch.

19. Camera Work/Editing cont. The screen then splits down the middle and parts, almost like doors, and then we see Taylor sat in chair at the top of the staircase, and so the edit makes it seem like the audience is literally walking out of one scene and opening double doors into the next. There is also a change in the depth of field, first the ‘doors’ are in focus, and then Taylor comes into focus as the transition continues, which helps to effortlessly move into the next scene.

20. Camera Work/Editing cont. There is then a long, low angle shot of Taylor on a throne surrounded by snakes, and the camera slowly zooms in on her, which could represent how people look up to/ she feels as if she should be looked up to, or that she feels like she is better than everyone else. There is also a close up of her jewellery that matches the snakes on screen, an helps to emphasise the point about her being surrounded by untrustworthy people, buy could also suggest that she is untrustworthy too.

21. Camera Work/Editing cont. There is then slow motion of the car crashing into the post, and slow motion of everything flying around inside, however with a close up inside of the car, we can see that Taylor’s lip syncing is still in time with the music, so the audience can see the slow motion effect without it ruining the performance aspect of the video. This again makes the video quite confusing to watch, but also helps to put a lot of focus on the lyrics that she is singing.

22. Camera Work/Editing cont. When Taylor is in the cage, you first see a close up of her on the swing, and then the camera zooms out to a long shot to reveal that she is in the cage. This helps to put emphasis on the fact that she is trapped as you don’t realise until the camera is fully zoomed out and so it makes the audience focus on the fact that she is in a giant bird cage. The zoom out is then followed by several zoom ins. Which emphasise how Taylor wants to be the centre of attention in her video and wants people to focus on just her.

23. Camera Work/Editing cont. When Taylor is in the room with the male dancers, there is a tracking shot that follows here through the room, showing that despite the dancers being there, she is the most important and the person everyone should be looking at. During the bridge, we then see the camera zoom out to emphasise how she is stood on top of a pile of ‘old Taylors’, and the slow zoom helps to shock the audience as you wouldn’t expect her to be stood on top of a pile of ‘other Taylors’.

24. Camera Work/Editing cont. We then see an extreme close up of Taylor’s mouth, while on the phone saying “I’m sorry, the old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now. Why? Oh! ‘Coz she’d dead!”. This extreme close up helps to put a lot of emphasis on the words she is saying, in order to draw the audiences attention to it. During the first part of the sentence, the focus is on her hand and the phone, which matches the lyrics when she talks about the phone, and the snake jewellery also links back to the last scene when she was saying that no-one trusts her. The extreme close ups however, are intercut with shots of the ‘old Taylors’ falling off of the pile, which could suggest that the shots are flashbacks to when the ‘old Taylors’ died.

25. Camera Work/Editing cont. During the second half of the sentence the focus is on Taylor, not on the phone or her hand any more, which again is to draw the viewers attention to what she is saying, even more so when she says the word ‘dead’, as you cant even see the phone anymore, just her mouth. Finally, the word ‘dead’ is followed by a quick cut and a fast shot of ‘zombie Taylor’ with lights flashing in the background. The shot only lasts for less than a second, but the zombie helps to put a lot of emphasise on the word ‘dead’, and almost seems like it is there to make the viewer jump, and so helps to convey the severity of the word and the message Taylor is trying to get across – that she has changed and there’s nothing you can do about it because the old Taylors are gone.

26. Camera Work/Editing cont. Throughout the video there are several close ups of Taylor lip syncing, to emphasise the performance aspect of her video, as well as give a detailed picture of her different makeup, which is a common convention for female sin pop videos.