Bad Blood - Taylor Swift - Music Video Analysis

Bad Blood - Taylor Swift

There is lots of close ups on each of the super heroes to express their angry emotion as the music video is about bad blood, but to also show Taylor Swift sining the lyrics and attract the audience through her looks, as well as the other females looks. During most close ups she is singing the lyrics or sometimes doing something else, e.g. applying lipstick to further attract an audience. Where as there are less extreme close ups used on the male rapper, who also features in the music video as he doesn't need to sell his self through his looks like the record label would do with the women artists.

Throughout the music video there is not much of a relationship between lyrics and visuals, as the visuals convey a storyline. But in some points of the music videos there is a relationship between the lyrics and visuals, as when there is a fight the chorus about bad blood plays. However there is a slight relationship between music and visuals because as the camera moves onto different super heroes you see them miming the lyrics to the song or you see the artists- Taylor Swift, miming the words to her song to match the lyrics. Also a relationship between the music and visuals is emphasised through the movements of the characters, as they walk and gesture to the beat of the music.

In addition, there is a particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body through the close ups on the females faces and panning of their body. For example, the camera pans across the artists body when she is wearing minimal clothes to appeal to a male audience as well. The main theme of the costumes are either black or white, as well as tight fitting with leather parts to it, to emphasis the females figures. Also the main artists Taylor Swift, has several costume changes throughout the music video. Eye makeup is also used to accentuate their eyes as most of the females look directly at the camera.

In this video, there are several intertextual references to action films. The opening part of the music video is similar to James Bond through the action scene and the night time setting in London. The opening text that says 'Bad Blood' is like Sin City. Then the bike scene is similar to Tron and Expendables is the blowing up scene at the end. 

In this music video it is primarily narrative based as its about bad blood between two armies of super heroes who are fighting against each other, as each female team wants to be more superior than each other. It represents an action/thriller film but in 4 minutes.