Textual Analysis of Taylor Swift’s Bad Blood

The Lyrics/ Music • The lyrics for the song creates a sense that Taylor had had an argument with

someone and can’t forgive them as in the song she says ‘I don’t think we can solve them’ and “band aids don’t fix bullet holes” which hints that she is holding a grudge against someone and can’t accept their apology.

• The lyrics of Taylor swifts bad blood music video does not correspond with the visual storyline we see happening in the music video. This goes against Carol Vernallis’s theory of narrative in a music video of how the video is a visual response to the music as what we hear in the song ‘now we got bad love’ does not match the actions in the music video which has a war concept. However the fact that the music and video do not match each other demonstrates Steve archer’s theory of disjuncture as in the music video a new set of meaning is created with the actions while ignoring the meaning of the lyrics.

• The tempo/beat of the song motivates the speed of the editing in the video as once the tempo gets faster so does the pace of which one shot is cut to another.

Mise en scene/Genre• In the music video Taylor is seen wearing dark clothing and heavy eye make-up, this

can be used as a visual for the target audience in order to clearly establish the mood the song creates which is an angry one. By wearing dark clothing we see Taylor create a new image for herself as normally we expect love songs from her and the stereotype for those music videos is her wearing bright clothing and acting happy. As she is wearing edgy, dark clothing in a new environment from what we expect would expect she is able to step away from her normal pop genre image.

• Taylor is widely known for creating songs with a pop genre and normally her music video use the stereotypes expected of a pop music video. However in the Bad blood video she goes against the typical stereotypes as although she is used featured in the video her famous friends also take up a lot of the shoots as well, with some of them being frequently featured throughout. Also the fact that there is no dancing at all in the video goes against the stereotypes of a pop music video as normally a dance routine is expected from the artist at some point in the video.

Camerawork• The different camera movements used within Taylor swifts music video can

demonstrate Steve archer’s study of how camera movements are motivated by the performers actions in the video as in the video we see Taylor swift and her famous friends walking towards each other so because they are walking left and right it determines that a pan camera movement will be used.

• The fact that Taylor had lots of famous friends in the music video means that she isn’t the sole focus of the video. So in order to keep the attention on her lot of close-ups and extreme close up shots of her face and her lip-syncing reminds the audience of her importance in the video and that it is all about her. As well as this the fact that close up shots and extreme close up shot are used so frequently in the video means that Carol Vernallis’s theory of how close up shots are commonly used within a music video can be proven to be true.

Editing• The fast pace/rapid editing used in the video matches the typical

stereotype expected in a pop music video of how the editing is normally fast to mirror the rhythm of the song.

• In the music video for bad blood through the use of a montage and motivated editing used on Taylor swifts along with the music proves Carols Vernallis’s concept of editing in a music video and how the editing will match the musical phrase or the beat. This can be proven as the camera follows Taylor swift through a series of different settings, a montage which is sequenced to go with the beat/rhythm of the song. For example each time when there is a loud part/beat in the song something happens in the video to emphasize it, whether it is her breaking through a wall or someone being hit.

• Steve archer’s technical theory of a music video can be proven through the editing use in the bad blood music video. The speed of the song for the music video is visualised by the use of camera movement and cutting in the video. The speed of the music is matched by the way in which the video is edited, for example at the start when the song has just started and a long note is heard, the pace of the editing matches that point of the song by turning the video into slow motion so that both the sound and visual match each other.

Intertextuality• The character that Taylor plays in her music video can be widely linked to

the character that Britney Spears portrays in her music video for Toxic. The costumes that both the women wear in their music videos are very similar as they both wear the same material and both have a consistency of black and red. However the reason behind their costumes are different as Britney uses it as a way of branding herself in a sexual way but Taylor wear the costume in order to go along with the theme/mood that the song creates. Also both the videos can be linked on the actions performed as they are both seen riding a motorbike.

• I think Taylor uses parts of Britney’s music video on purpose as Britney is known for being the princess of pop music so by using similar ideas Britney’s video in her own video people will compare them and Taylors image will be made bigger. Also I think that she uses parts of the Toxic video within her own because she wants to the Bad Blood video to create a new persona for herself and Toxic is widely known for Britney rebranding herself.

Intertextuality

Narrative/ Performance• The narrative for the music video is a fight between Taylor and

her enemy. This is portrayed through the use of all her famous friends pretending to be in a battle against one another. Also with the use of close up shots and battle weapons being used in the music video the narrative/meaning behind the song is clear.

Star image/The Brand• In the music video we see a number of Taylor swift’s famous friend, most of

which are famous supermodels. As she has used a lots of well-known people included in her music video it exhibits Steve archers study of music videos and how ‘the star image’ can help to sell the music to the audience and overcome the static that only one in ten acts in the industry makes money as by Taylor being featured in the video a lot as well as other famous people will make people want to watch the video as the video features people they want to see.

Voyeurism/Looking• The bad blood music video is an example of Voyeurism as in the video Taylor

and her friends are seen wearing tight clothing and dark lipstick which is associated with being erotic. Also the fact that they stare straight into the camera, like they are holding eye contact with you can be appealing to the male gaze as it is classed as being a sensual movement. As a lots of Taylor’s friends featured in the video are supermodels, well-known to being attractive this alone will appeal to the male gaze.