Taylor Swift-Bad Blood

Question 1

Product Context 1:

Answer 1

> The music video accompanied the Taylor Swift
single which was released on 17th May 2015.
It was the fourth single to be released from
the album 1989. The single was remixed and
featured the artist Kendrick Lamar. It was
released on the label Republic Records.

Question 2

Product Context 2:

Answer 2

The video was directed by Korean
American, Joseph Kahn who has created
music videos for artists such as Britney
Spears, Eminem and Katy Perry.

Question 3

Product Context 3:

Answer 3

The video won a Grammy Award for best
music video and features a range of icons
from popular culture such as Jessica Alba,
Cara Delavigne and Cindy Crawford.

Question 4

Industry Context:

Answer 4

Taylor Swift is a pop phenomenon worth
upwards of $250 million. Forbes included her
in their list of the 100 Most Influential Women.
A recipient of 10 Grammys and an Emmy,

Question 5

Direct Mode of Adress:

Answer 5

> Focuses on the performance of
the artist, direct mode of address and the
clear representation of Swift’s star image.

Question 6

Close-up Shot:

Answer 6

Heavy use of a close up of Swift’s direct
gaze alongside voyeuristic pans and tilts of
the female body creates a male gaze.

Question 7

Goodwin’s Theory:

Answer 7

The video fits Goodwin’s ‘illustrative’ format
where the visuals illustrate the lyrics of the song.

Question 8

Mise-en-scene:

Answer 8

The mise-en-scène of
the mundane office in the opening sequence
juxtaposes the action as Swift and Selena
Gomez fight anonymous henchmen for a silver
‘McGuffin’ brief case. This intertextually
references many action film narratives.

Question 9

Iconography:

Answer 9

Iconography of the action genre includes
the object codes of various weaponry, the
boxing ring and the CGI explosions.

Question 10

Enigma Code:

Answer 10

An enigma code is introduced early on in
the video where the audience question why
Gomez betrays Swift. The tension is built
up with a POV shot of Gomez viewing
Swift in a compact.

Question 11

Cultural Codes:

Answer 11

There are many cultural codes in the music
video. The use of intertextual references to
popular culture targets a wide demographic.
Examples include: Sci-Fi costumes from
Tron (2.49) and The Fifth Element (1.01),

Question 12

Todorov’s Narrative:

Answer 12

Todorov can be applied easily to the
mini narrative. The disruption to the
equilibrium occurs when Gomez kicks
Swift from the window. The narrative then
builds to a restoration but the audience is
prevented from viewing the resolution.

Question 13

Social Context:

Answer 13

Female artists are continually
hypersexualised in their videos, to the point
where it has become normalised. There are
countless examples of passive, scantily clad
females in the music industry. Laura Mulvey’s
concept of the ‘Male Gaze’ dominates videos
featuring both female and male artists.

Question 14

Dress Codes:

Answer 14

Swift’s representation changes during the video.
Her dress code in the opening sequence could be
considered to fit the ‘sexy secretary’ stereotype,
whilst Gomez wears tight leather. Both represent
femme fatale, male fantasy figures.

Question 15

Language and Gesture codes:

Answer 15

Their body language and gesture codes show power as
they dispatch the anonymous male henchmen.
The power is reinforced through the diegetic
audio codes of amplified kicks and punches.

Question 16

David Gauntlett’s theory of identity

Answer 16

The video could be considered to be an
expression of ‘Girl power’. Gauntlett
recognised that female pop stars promote
financial and emotional independence. Swift
has created a video that presents males as
inconsequential. The ideology of the video
could be considered ‘popular feminism’.

Question 17

Marketing of Bad Blood:

Answer 17

The audience would be media savvy as the marketing for the
video was largely conducted online from Swift’s
various social media accounts using the hashtag
#BadBloodMusicVideo.

Question 18

Target Audience:

Answer 18

The age demographic of the celebrities varied from
18 to 51 to appeal to a wide demographic.

Question 19

Controversy:

Answer 19

> Rumours also circulated that the song was
written about Swift’s relationship with fellow
pop artist Katy Perry. This was unconfirmed
but did prompt Perry to comment on her

> Twitter account. This added to the video’s
appeal for audiences who enjoyed the
voyeuristic nature of the controversy.

Question 20

Intertextual references

Answer 20

The intertextual references create pleasure
for the audience. Additionally, the video
uses many tropes from the Superhero/
Sci-Fi genres which would appeal to fans
of those genres. The repetition of familiar
conventions engages the audience.

Question 21

High production values:

Answer 21

The video has high production values
which influences audience expectations
through use of CGI and visual effects.

Question 22

One view of Taylor Swift

Answer 22

The preferred reading of the video would be
for the audience to accept the representation
of Swift’s star persona. That she is a strong
independent female and an influential
popular culture icon.

Question 23

Another view of Taylor Swift:

Answer 23

A more oppositional
viewpoint might be that the representations
of females are overly sexualised.

Question 24

Positive Representation:

Answer 24

The ideology that Swift wants to present is one
of girl power, shown through the dominance
of the female characters and their physicality.

Question 25

Criticism of Representation:

Answer 25

However, the video has been criticised for its
superficial understanding of feminism. It still
supports the body image ideology that beautiful
must equal slim, white and full chested. It
distorts the image of emancipated femininity
and creates something that is unachievable.

Question 26

Body Image:

Answer 26

The portrayal of body image reinforces
unrealistic stereotypes, with the majority
of the characters being hyper-sexualised.