Taylor Swift

You Belong With Me

“You're on the phone with your girlfriend—she's upset,She's going off about something that you said'Cause she doesn't get your humour like I do.”

The start of this music video immediately establishes the setting of the video with an establishing

shot of two houses side by side, it then reveals two windows; one in which the male lead is on the

phone and one in which the female lead is in the window. The windows, unknown at the minute,

become the centre of the music video being the way in which the two characters can

communicate between each other via the notes that they write and then show each other. In

relation to the lyrics the male is on the phone and the female asks him if he is okay, which

suggests that she knows him well enough to understand him and know when he isn’t okay. The

focus on the gender in this sequence of shots is so far equal with focus being on both the male

and female roles.

“I'm in the room, it's a typical Tuesday night.I'm listening to the kind of music she doesn't like.And she'll never know your story like I do.”

The focus on gender within this section is again equal with both the male and

female roles being focused on equally. The shots again focus on the windows and

the characters communicating through the windows with each other. The lyrics say

“I’m in my room” which establishes the location which is reflective within the

setting of these shots- the bedroom of the two main characters. A point of view shot

reveals the female lead writing a sign which says “I Love you”- however, the male

doesn’t see this scene, but it does reveal to the viewers the love interest within the

video is the male, and highlights the switching point from equality of the genders to

the main focus being on the female trying to make herself known by the male. The

mise-en-scene within these shots of the bedrooms symbolise a high sense of

relatability between the characters and the audience, which is teenagers,

particularly teenage girls. The mise-en-scene focuses on relatability and has

recreated two typical bedrooms, a boys and a girls, with items in which everyone

has or can relate to such as make up, cloths, footballs etc. This enhances the

audiences experience when watching the video because it creates a sense of

relatability between them and the characters which will engage their attention to

continue to watch and fully appreciate the storyline.

“But she wears short skirtsI wear t-shirtsShe's cheer captainAnd I'm on the bleachersDreaming about the day when you wake up and findThat what you're looking for has been here the whole time.”

The next section of shots focuses on the female lead and uses a lot of older the should shots to reveal that the

female lead is changing herself in accordance with the lyrics about wearing t-shirts in particular. The female

changing her appearance is very reflective of society and girls feeling like they need to change their appearance

and themselves to ‘fit in’ and to impress the boy that they like. These shots reveal lots of different identities being

explored for example, hippy, emo, geek and then finally returning back to herself. This is symbolic of the teenage

generation and reflective on how they are all struggling with trying to find their identities.

“If you could seeThat I'm the oneWho understands you.Been here all along.So, why can't you see—You belong with me,You belong with me?”

The next section of lyrics reveal that the main female believes

that the male should be hers and that she is the one who

understands him and she is the only one who he should be

with. Wide shots and close ups are used to emphasise how

much ‘fun’ the female is having in her bedroom; dancing

around and singing into a hairbrush. These are both typical

things that teenage girls do, and have become a mainstream

stereotype associated with teenage girls, especially within

films. A close up of the male is then also seen, however, the

female doesn't see him looking at her and so carries on

dancing- this suggesting that she is embarrassed of doing that

in front of him, in case he doesn’t like her, which in society is

a big issue.

“Walk in the streets with you in your worn out jeansI can't help thinking this is how it ought to be.Laughing on a park bench thinking to myself,"Hey, isn't this easy?"

There is a location change within the next sequence of shots, and

the new location becomes the bench outside where the female is

sitting and then the male joins her. The initial master shot shows

the female, who is wearing the stereotypical geek clothing;

glasses, a long jumper and has books, sat on the bench by herself.

The male then joins her sitting on the bench and he is wearing a

more relaxed ‘cool’ white t-shirt. His jeans are also very

reflective of the lyrics as ‘worn our jeans’ are stated in the lyrics

and this is what he is wearing during this sequence of shots. This is the first time in the music video that facial expressions allow us to see the females

feelings for the male, as a close up shows her lovingly staring at the boy as if he is the best thing in the

world. Furthermore, a mid shot of them both reveals how, like in the lyrics, they are both enjoying

themselves and laughing on the bench.

“And you've got a smileThat could light up this whole town.I haven't seen it in awhileSince she brought you down.”

The introduction of the ‘popular’ girl and ultimately the main females enemy. She is

introduced as she pulls up in a red convertible wearing sunglasses and a pink top. The red

convertible symbolises danger, passion, love, lust and power as this is what the colour red is

very reflective off. The close up revealing her wearing sunglasses shows how this female is

one of the ‘popular’ girls as wearing sunglasses when it isn’t sunny is a symbol of popularity

and ‘coolness’. There is a role reversal in the typical conventions of the females in music

video. Stereotypically, the desired, popular girl has blonde hair, unlike in this video where

she has dark hair. This already establishes a video which is drawing up contrasts to

stereotypical block characters. A mid-shot reveals the boy leaving and looking unhappy as he

is going to meet his girlfriend in her car, which directly links to the lyrics where she states

that she hasn’t seen him happy since he got with his girlfriend.

“You say you're fine—I know you better than that.Hey, what you doing with a girl like that?”

This shows again the male getting into the car and the female lead looking upset at the fact he

has gone into the car with his girlfriend. The use of the red convertible emphasises how his

girlfriend is the ‘desired’ person within the main characters, because she is in a car which is

well known to be quite expensive; a convertible. A mid-shot of the female shows her sitting on

the bench alone and waving at the male, whilst staring at them two sat in the car. The shot then

shows the male and the female kissing, however, the focus of the kiss is on the female, showing how

she is practically forcing the male to kiss her, with her hands pushing his head- not in the typical

loving way. This suggests that the male doesn’t particularly want to kiss her, and supports the females

idea that he shouldn't be with ‘a girl like that’. A close up is then used of the female when she is kissing

the male which shows how she is also staring back at the

female waving- however the stare is one of hatred, this

suggesting that the girlfriend doesn’t like the female at

all, and so she kisses the male even more to make the

female jealous.

“She wears high heels,I wear sneakers.She's cheer captain,And I'm on the bleachers.Dreaming about the day when you wake up and findThat what you're looking for has been here the whole time.”

Although this selection of shots still focuses on the moment when

the male is greeted by his girlfriend in her car, cross-cutting has also

been used to show the contrast between the girlfriend and the female

within the high school popularity hierarchy. Close ups are used on both

the female and the girlfriend to really emphasise their roles in the

football match and their emotions towards it- which creates a direct link

to the lyrics. The lyrics state that “She’s cheer captain and I’m on the

bleachers”- which are very stereotypical American high school roles whichtherefore creates a sense of a reality for the audience. To link with the lyrics the close ups then show

the female and the girlfriend in their roles- with the girlfriend enjoying herself as the cheer captain and

the female not enjoying herself on

the bleachers. This selection of shots

then finishes with the male and girlfriend

sitting in the car, the male making no eye

contact with the female and the girlfriend

staring directly at the female as if she is

making it known that the male is hers only.

“If you could seeThat I'm the oneWho understands you,Been here all along.So, why can't you see—You belong with me?”

With the next section of the video, it focuses on the football game and on the 3 main characters; the

female, male and the girlfriend. The male adopts the typical role of football team member which is a

stereotype of most American high school love stories, again create this reality for the audience. There is

focus on him playing the game and looking at both the female and the girlfriend- who again are in their

contrasting roles; the bleachers and the cheer leading squad.

“Standing by and waiting at your backdoor.All this time how could you not know, baby?You belong with me,You belong with me.”

These selection of shots again are at the game, and the focus is again on the 3 main characters.

The male is seen as some sort of sporting hero within these shots, with a long shot of him being

carried by other team members whilst cheering is used. There is contrast on the attention focuses of

the female and the girlfriend; the female is shown to be fading into the background of all of the other

members of the bleachers, which is metaphorical for her fading into the background when it comes to

trying to be noticed by the male, and therefore

emphasises the lyrics “how could you not know”- because

if he can’t see, he won’t know. The girlfriend on

the other hand, is centre of attention within the

squad and is seen doing cartwheels and cheering

the male on.

[Instrumental]

The shots which are shown during the instrumental highlight the changing point within relationships

in the music video. The varied use of close up shots to highlight emotions reveals that the girlfriend

is with another boy and that she doesn’t want to be with the male anymore. Overseeing all of this

is the female, whose close up reveals shock at what she has just seen, but then the end close up

shows facial expressions which reflect that of upset for the male. This is all still taking place at

an American high school football game, which suggests that relationships are full of drama just like

high school. This is a similar structure to ‘A Cinderella Story’ (2004) which is an American high school

film, which also highlights the contrast in popularity hierarchy like this video does.

“Oh, I remember you driving to my houseIn the middle of the night.I'm the one who makes you laughWhen you know you're 'bout to cry.I know your favourite songs,And you tell me about your dreams.Think I know where you belong,Think I know it's with me.”

Within the next selection of shots we see the return to the window

and the mid-shots. These shots focus on the conversation between

the female and the male via the use of notepads through opposite

windows where they can see each other. The mid-shots reveal that

the male asks the female if she is going to the dance, to which the

female replies that she is studying and so isn’t going. The male then says

that he wishes she was going, which signifies the changing point of the

relationships because the male is now seeing the female and opening up to her because he is now not deluded with his

girlfriend. There is also a point of view shot which

shows the piece of paper that the female has

written something on, and reveals that she

has wrote ‘I love you’ on the paper, but not

actually shown the male how she feels about

him.

“Can't you seeThat I'm the oneWho understands you?Been here all along.So, why can't you see—You belong with me?”

The next location is the dance, which again is a typical location within high school love story films.

A wide shot is used to show the arrival of the female character, who has made a transformation from

her usual ‘geeky’ self to someone who is turning heads at the dance. She is wearing white, which is the

colour of purity and hope, suggesting she has hope for the relationship with the male. The female then

catches the males attention and the male is seen through the use of close ups to stare at the female as

she walks towards him at the dance. This showing that he can now ‘see’ her.

“Standing by and waiting at your backdoor.All this time how could you not know, baby?You belong with me,You belong with me.…You belong with me”

The next shots see the return of the girlfriend, who is in a harsher red/orange dress

symbolising aggression, which is then seen when it is shown that the male wants nothing

to do with her and shrugs her off to walk towards the female leads. Point of view shots

are then used to show what the male and female see when the reach each other, with

the main item of attraction being the notes that they both have written for each other

and brought with them, both saying ‘I love you’- this showing the moment of realisation.

“Have you ever thought just maybeYou belong with me?”

The change of emotions is something which is emphasised in this selection of shots via

the use of close ups. Towards the beginning of the video the girlfriend was the happy

one, where as now the close up shows that the female is happy and the girlfriend is

unhappy. The female and male look happy together, and this highlights the fact that

they ‘belong together’ like stated in the lyrics.

“You belong with me.”

The end two shots show the female and the male kissing, and effectively becoming this

relationship which the female desired from the beginning. The final lyrics are “You belong with

me”- and this is reflective within the shots because they are both kissing, therefore suggesting

that happiness has been found.