Research into professionally made music videos: Taylor Swift - Bad Blood (Directed by Joseph Kahn)

 

Taylor Swift's music video for 'Bad Blood' is in the form of a continuous narrative that portrays Swift's character 'Catastrophe' and her friends preparing to battle with another group of girls, headed by ex-partner 'Arsyn' (played by Selena Gomez) who has evidently done something to create 'bad blood' between the groups. This narrative corresponds with the lyrics of the song throughout the video. Taylor Swift is 'singing' in some parts of the video which means that the video is a combination of both narrative and live performance, although the live performance is combined with the narrative rather and separate or set up as if it were a concert as can be seen in some music videos. The video also begins with a scene which singularly shows Catastrophe and Arsyn fighting together, which includes no music and shows the dominance of the narrative.



All of the segments of the music video in which Swift is singing appear to be lip synced, this is common in music videos - especially of the pop genre - due to the need to make the music video correspond with the single/album that fans of the artist will purchase rather than just viewing for free on Youtube. Because of this need for continuity, the music videos of pop songs are usually highly creative in order to attract people to them without varying the soundtrack too drastically. Usually, the only way in which a soundtrack is varied between a song and it's music video is through dialogue and sound effects that are vital to the video rather than to the song itself.

There are several key characters in the video, all of whom are introduced with on screen credits using their superhero/villain names. The characters are all played by celebrities that are Taylor Swift's personal friends in real life, such as: Kendrick Lamar, Lena Dunham, Cara Delevigne, Karlie Kloss, Zendaya, Ellie Goulding etc. This may be because the song 'Bad Blood' is written as an address to fellow popstar Katy Perry following an ongoing dispute and therefore Swift is displaying her friends who take her side. The use of many key characters may be the directors way of displaying strength in numbers.

There is no dialogue in the video, as any place where dialogue would be expected is filled by some of the other characters lip-syncing along to the song, suggesting that if the situation were real, there would be dialogue but because it is a music video it is replaced with parts of the song. This creates a sense of secrecy between Taylor's 'army'.

There are three main locations. The first is the office building where the fight scene at the beginning occurs. The office location is created  using neutral colours that suggest monotony, this is contrasted by use of costume where Taylor wears nude clothing making her stand out and Selena Gomez wears black, suggesting that she is trouble and cannot be trusted. The Second location is the 'training centre' where Swift's 'army' are preparing for battle. There are many different scenes within this main scene including a 'headquarters', a room that simulates a blizzard and a room containing lasers that one is supposed to avoid. These scenes suggest that the training centre is very high tech and expensive which connotes that the army training at it are of a high standard, implying that Taylor Swift is the strongest force. The final setting is the meeting point of the two armies. In this setting, famous landmarks are used as the backdrop, suggesting that the fight between the armies is worldwide and important. Swift's character is changed in this scene, with newly dyed red hair and bright red lipstick. This suggests passion, power and authority and is used to show a changed, powerful version of Swift.

The credits of the music video are shown throughout the video, firstly introducing the director of the video (Joseph Kahn) and the star (Taylor Swift). Credits are also used throughout the scenes where other members of Swift's army are introduced. However, these characters are introduced by their character's, not their name in real life, meaning that these characters are not accredited properly. The only other credits are at the end, where Swift's record company's copyright is displayed.