1. Taylor Swift – I Knew You Were Trouble (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNoKguSdy4Y)
This music video has aspects of both performance and narrative videos. Throughout the video, there
are various shots of the artist performing the song, in a few different locations. There are also many
shots of memories that the artist and a man shared, which is presumably what this song is about.
There are many icons of love throughout this video, which is one of the main narratives within a pop
music video, making this video conventional of the genre, and exactly what the audience would
expect to see in a pop music video.
The video begins with a two minute introduction of the artist talking about the narrative and this
gives a brief summary of the song, and what the video is going to be about. It starts with a shot of
the artist lying on a dirty floor, surrounded by rubble and waste. She looks very isolated and lonely at
this point, as she is in the middle of nowhere. As the artist begins to talk, there various shots that are
edited together, like a montage, and move at a very fast pace. The shots seem to be memories that
the female artist and a man had, that eventually caused her to end up alone. These shots are
featured in the remainder of the video, and are explored in more detail throughout the video.
Once the music begins, there is
a medium shot of the artist and
the man holding hands, looking
happy, as they are smiling and
laughing. There are also various shots of the couple having fun, as shown in the shot of them
jumping on the train tracks. This starts off at the beginning of the narrative, and is beginning to put
the introduction into perspective. The lighting in both of these shots is quite high key, which is
usually used to give off a happy mood, which is why it has been used at the beginning of this video;
to show they were in love and happy.
There is then a medium shot of the artist performing the song, in the same, deserted, setting as she
was in the beginning. This suggests that she is singing the song when her relationship has ended, and

2. she is lonely and isolated, implying she has just been dumped there by her lover. This shot has quite
a bit of natural light, which suggests happiness, however this is not the case, as the artist has been
through a terrible time. This is an unconventional feature of a pop video, as sadness is not usually
shown through high key lighting. The artist is also wearing white, which is representing innocence
and purity, highlighting the fact that she is very vulnerable at this point. The artists facial expression
in the close up shot of her performing looks quite upset and lost, helping the audience understand
how she is feeling. There are frequent cuts between the memory flashbacks of her with a man, and
the performance she is doing in the deserted setting. The flashbacks are illustrating what she is
singing about, and how the story begins. There are three medium shots that show the artist and man
kissing, highlighting the theme of love, which is often shown in pop videos.
The setting where the artist is performing then changes to a dirty, old, of what it look like bathroom
with tiles walls. There is graffiti on the door, and dirty all over the walls, suggesting that she is
suffering from the heartbreak and doesn’t have anywhere to go. She is also wearing a black top,
which is associated with sadness and anger. There are cuts before and after this of the couple in a
bedroom, smiling and laughing, highlighting the theme of love. The lighting within the room is quite
low key which the audience doesn’t usually associate with happiness, therefore breaking the
conventional features of a pop video. This could inform the audience that the happiness isn’t going
to last throughout the song.
The video then cuts to the couple walking into some sort of musical gig with each other, and the
man kisses another woman in front of the artist. There is a close up to show the reaction of the girl,
who appears to look upset and angry at the man as her boyfriend does not respect her. This is a
stereotypical narrative within a pop video. There are a series of shots in this gig sequence that are
editing in a fast pace to show the intensity of the situation, and this could also reflect the females
emotions; all over the place. There are also a few performance shots within this sequence too,
showing that this is what the artist is singing about.
As the second verse begins, there are various shots of the couple in a bedroom, however they do not
seem happy, as the female is sat scrunched up in a chair, looking uncomfortable and upset. There is

3. then a shot of the artist walking up to the man lay on the bed with his hand on his face, and he
appears to put his hand up, signalling her to leave him alone. This begins to put the lyrics of the song
into perspective, and allows the audience to understand how both characters are feeling. This is a
sign that their relationship is falling apart, which is usually
what happens within the narrative of a pop music video. The
lighting in this shot is similar to before; dull and gloomy,
which brings back the idea that the love will not last. It then
cuts to this shot of the man getting a tattoo which reads ‘love’, enhancing this theme of love once
again, which is one of the ‘grand narratives’.
The narrative then moves on to the couple walking into an old, dirty bar, holding hands. The bar
looks quite rough and masculine, not usually somewhere a girl would go. It is full of grown men, who
appear to be quite tough and biker like. There is then a close up of the male love interest knocking
the snooker ball, causing the masculine men to approach him. It then cuts to a long shot of a police
car, with flashing lights, driving past, suggesting some sort of event or violent act. It then cuts to a
close up of the artists face looking around, horrified at her boyfriend. Once it cuts to a shot back in
the bar, the audience see that the female is trying to stop a fight; however she gets pushed away in
order for the trouble to begin, relating back to the title of the song ‘I Knew You Were Trouble’. There
are then fast paced cuts of the fight in the bar, with the female trying to break it up but being
helpless and having to watch the men hurt her boyfriend. This is a stereotype of the characters, as
the men are portrayed as masculine, wearing dark colours
and fighting, whereas the female is wearing white and is very
weak in the situation. The female’s facial expression in the
medium shot of her being restricted by a man is quite
depressing, as she looks as though she is in pain and upset.
Throughout this fight scene, there are a few shots of the
couple alone, in which they look happy. This contrasts with
the situation, and it puts the song title into context, as her
boyfriend is just trouble and doesn’t care about anything. There are also a few long shots of the
artist performing parts of the chorus of the song.
There are then three shots of the artist performing the build up to the climax of the song, which are
a mixture of a long shot, a medium shot and a close up shot of the artist singing, but looking
unhappy and miserable. She is realising, as suggested by the lyrics and facial expressions, that her
lover is not true and that he doesn’t love her. This is a conventional narrative in a pop video, as there
is usually a couple that have problems, and the girl is singing about her feelings towards the man.

4. It then cuts to another musical gig scene, and there are a number of medium close ups and long
shots of the female dancing and enjoying herself, under the blue ultra violet light. This scene is quite
hectic, which is created by the flashing UV lighting and the fast paced editing. There are extremely
fast edited close up shots added in this sequence of the artists lover kissing various other girls. There
is then a medium reaction shot to show that the female has notices her lover kissing other people,
relating back to the song, as all he has done throughout the video is cause trouble. Her facial
expression looks very upset and shocked. There are then other fast paced cuts of her performing
snippets of the song on the battleground-like setting, and also in the bedroom in which they were in
earlier in the video. Towards the very end of the song, there is a close up shot of the artist lying on
the floor, surrounded by dirty sand, whilst the low key lighting highlights her face and clothing,
suggesting she is hurting and that her emotions are very mixed at that moment in time.
The ending shot is of the artist’s hand holding a key necklace that the male character gave to her
earlier in the video, in which she eventually drops, suggesting that she has let go of him. This is
restoring the equilibrium, and letting the audience know that they are no longer a couple, and that
she knew he was trouble the whole time. This is a common love story within this genre, which is
what the audience would have expected to see even before they saw the video. It is quite a
predictable narrative, which is very conventional when it comes to the pop genre. However this
video does break the conventions and surprise the audience, as the use of lighting throws the
audience slightly, and the flashbacks could also confuse the spectator.