Individual Analysis 3 - Taylor Swift - Shake It Off

The first shot is of a group of dancers seemingly stretching on a pole. Taylor Swift, the artist, stands upright and proceeds to sing. It is a medium shot. The editing promptly becomes fast paced.

The singer turns to face the camera and begins to sing. The manner of which she is singing and the loud nature of the song seem inappropriate for the setting, which appears to be a high brow ballet class. This gives the video a rather humorous aspect. The following shots are of her trying to look at the camera whilst singing. The other characters appear oblivious to this.

This is a medium close up. Goodwin's theory suggests this is the request of the producer, to promote the star. There are many shots of this nature, revealing her. This show specifically has her motif - the red lipstick. 

As I previously mentioned the pacing of the editing in the video matches the fast and energetic nature of the song. In this long shot the star is doing what appears to be the main dance of the video, a silly improvised dance. Once again, this make the video funny as she is standing next to a group of hip hp dancers. Her dance is out of context, once again. This is a theme that remains similar throughout the video. Additionally this is the perfect example of the relationship between the lyrics and visuals - the lyrics are about the singer being different, a non conformist. Throughout the video she is seen with a variety of different groups not fitting in.

This is one of many long shots of various dancers. In each of these shots the dancer does something impressive, which is then replicated poorly by Swift. Throughout the video the background remains plain, to draw attention to the dancers.

 As far as conventions go, this video generally mocks the genre conventions of most other genres. In this scene it is looking at a more artistic crowd. The dull grey clothes and the placid expressions on the motionless background characters gives off an almost Nick Cave vibe. Taylor reaches her arm out in a dramatic fashion stating the irony of the situation. The music remains the same as always. However, some conventions can be spotted, such as the male gaze. All the people in this video are young, physically fit and wearing tight clothing with the women showing a lot of leg, and the men mainly shirtless.

This is reinforces the silly nature of the video. Interestingly, the artist is always in the centre of the frame, in every shot.

This is an intertextual reference to Lady Gaga. The more eccentric style of dress and the sunglasses.

In this medium two shot the artist is dressed in her usual style, with the glasses and sweater. Another motif of hers.

This is another intertextual reference to Nikki Minaj, specifically the video anaconda, with the twerking and short shorts. This continues with the mocking and ironic theme of the video. 

 This is the performance aspect of the video, with the extreme long shot, this shows you what it would be like to see the artist live.

This is a shot, once again, selling the artist. This is a medium close-up as to reveal both her movements, the microphone and her face.