Music Video Analysis: Taylor Swift's "I Knew You Were Trouble"

Samuel Pilsworth 6SF6

The video begins with a hand-held medium shot that raises as Taylor Swift's character raises her head. The angle of the shot with her character laying day makes her look almost fetal or baby like with her hands under her head. The slightly loose frame is tight enough to show her character but wide enough to give an indication to her surroundings.

At this point, her character stands and is looking around as if she is unaware of her surroundings. Her sleeveless shirt, dyed hair and make-up (including eye shadow and lipstick) indicate that this is the morning after the party and that she fell asleep at the end of the party. The wider shot establishes her surroundings to be an exterior desert-like location. The shot is hazy with quite a soft focus and the lighting is natural from the sun's horizon behind her. During this period, there is ominous 'horn' effects in the background combined with a lighter 'mysterious music'.

There is very rapid cuts to and from a party/rave yet the sound remains the same with the party imagery muted.Taylor Swift's character then begins to speak. Her voice-over is intercut with an extremely rapid cut between 21 different shots over the course of about 6 seconds showing the events of the music video that include them at a bar as well as many other locations.

The voice-over continues until about the 2 minute mark where the music begins playing. The majority of shots are wide to medium shots of Taylor Swift's character and the male that she is in a relationship with. During this music video there are many cuts between her singing about the events (in the exterior location and in what appears to be a bathroom) and then the events of the relationship on screen.

Not only is Taylor Swift the musician of the song, but she also stars in the video that is focused around her. The 'stage' as it were, is the exterior party location where Taylor Swift's character is able to sing in a half-character in the narrative and half-musician performing the song.

The narrative of their relationship changes from them: playing on train tracks on an open road, sitting at a table in a restaurant, driving in a car (whilst leaning and standing in and out of the car), standing on a fire escape outside a building, being inside an apartment (dancing and kissing), going to a party/rave (that leads back to the beginning of the music video), getting a tattoo, kissing in a car and having a police officer pass them, going to a bar and getting involved in a fight with some pool players after the male antagonizes them.

During this period when the song reaches its chorus, the volume increases and there appears to be a techno sound effect in the background that ties in with the party scene and the violence in the bar.It should also be noted the sharp contrast in lighting and color effects between the party shots and the other shots where the party shots also appear to have a sharper focus but do contain warped effects at times.

The lyrics of the song also tie in with the narrative as it shows that Taylor Swift's character knew that he would cause trouble by creating fights, committing (inferred) adultery and forcing her to suffer a mental breakdown.The genre of the song is Electropop/dubstep/pop rock which ties into the party scenes that would likely play this music.

The audience are most likely teenagers and young adults that are female. This is shown by the female focus of the relationship and Taylor Swift's young age that allows audiences to be able to relate to her.The tone of this music video is a combination of positive emotions regarding a fun and exciting relationship and then the reality of his destructive actions and her realization of this that is far more sorrowful.