1. Taylor Swift – You Belong With Me
L.I.I.A.R. Analysis

2. Language
This music video is a pure narrative video as there is no
performance or abstract element in it. The narrative of this video
is about two high school teenagers who are talking to each
other as friends through the use of writing on paper and
showing this to each other through their bedroom windows, but
they both actually love each other. However, the male character
has a girlfriend, stopping them from being together but at an
American football game he catches his girlfriend cheating. Then
at the prom both the male and female protagonists join together
with a sheet of paper each which reads ‘I Love You’.
The lyrics tell the female protagonists feelings and hopes of
being with this boy and I think that this has been done in order
to appeal to the target audience as they can relate to the
storyline and the lyrics because most young girls dream of
meeting the right guy, falling in love and having a happily ever
after. Plus, despite the video being a pure narrative one Taylor
Swift still lip syncs in this video to make it seem more like the
lyrics are just what she is thinking of to make it more clear to the
audience that the lyrics are direct to this character and it shows

3. Ideology
The main ideology of this music video is about love, happiness
and heartbreak. Most music videos tend to be aimed in one of
these areas and this music video tells a typical story of how two
people fall in love and become boyfriend and girlfriend. One of
the messages of this music video could be that sometimes the
people who are always there for you and care for you, perhaps
even a close friend, could be the person you was looking for all
along. In my opinion this message is good to have in a music
video because it makes the audience feel happy and they can
perhaps relate to this, think about this or perhaps hope for this.
Another message of this music video is to never give up
because Taylor Swift wasn’t going to go to the prom but the
male protagonist said that he wishes she was and during the
prom Taylor turns up and ends up with the two characters
kissing and having the fairytale ending. A final message that is
contained in this music video is that looks aren’t everything and
that you should look for someone with a beautiful heart, not a
beautiful face, body or popularity. This is very empowering for

4. Institution
This song was co-written by Taylor Swift and Liz Rose
and was produced by Nathan Chapman, with the help of
Taylor Swift. This song was off her second album titled
‘Fearless’ (2008) and the song was released on April 18
2009 by her independent record label, Big Machine
Records. Big Machine Records specialise in country
music and other artists that are signed to this record label
consist of: Danielle Bradbery; Laura Bell Brundy, Rascal
Flatts and Tim McGraw. This song won Favourite Song at
the 2010 Kids’ Choice Awards and received nominations
for the Grammy Awards for Song of the Year, Record of
the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. It
became very successful as it got into the top 10 in
Austrailia, Canada, New Zealand and USA. The single
was certified 6× Platinum by the Recording Industry
Association of America. The song is one the best-selling

5. Audience
I would say that the target audience for this music video
is young girls aged 13-19 because it is a typical
fairytale/love story to appeal to ‘girly’ girls. Also this music
video is set around school life (i.e. prom and American
football games) which would target this age group more
because they can relate to these events and feel more
involved in the video as these are situations which could
occur to them or has happened to them. Also you see
Taylor Swift trying on many different outfits which
represent different social groups/stereotypes that are
held within a school, in order to appeal to a wider
audience within this age range.

6. Representation
In this music video Taylor Swift is represented as a typical
school girl that is one of the ‘unpopular’ girls of the school. I
know this due to her mise-en-scene which consists of glasses,
jumpers, high-neck tops, floral patterns and naturally curly hair,
which shows that she isn’t making much of an effort whereas if
she had straight hair she wouldn’t look ‘unpopular’ because it
would look as if she has made an effort and looks tidier. This is
backed up because the ‘popular’ girl has got straight hair to
show her effort towards getting ready and that she has to try
and look more presentable due to her status. At the end of the
film Taylor Swift turns up at the prom and has curled her hair to
make them look controlled and this now shows that she has
made an effort for the prom but she hasn’t straightened her hair
as she doesn’t want to be seen as one of the ‘popular’ girls.
Also she is reading a book, alone, on an empty bench which
reinforces who she is representing in this music video. The
‘popular’ Taylor Swift is represented with this image due to the
fact that she drives a convertible car, is a cheerleader and flirts
with lots of different boys. Plus, the colour of her car, dress at