You Belong With Me
Taylor Swift
The video follows the narrative of the song. It shows an archetypal geeky girl, who appears to possess and unrequited love for the man of her dreams, despite that she thinks they are perfect for each other.
There is a somewhat comedic effect as Swift plays both the hero and the antagonist. Each is distinguishable via the colour of her hair and the amount of make up she has on. The antagonist is portrayed as having darker, brown hair (the dark shade having connotations of meanness). The hero is portrayed as having a light shade of blonde (which has connotations of innocence and purity), as well as having glasses. Both these costumes adhere to the stereotype of geeky girls who are innocent and naive, and of popular cheerleaders as being somewhat difficult people to be around.
Medium shots are used when the hero and her love communicate using paper and felt tip pens. I think that they communicated in this manner to carry on Swift's image of innocence - normal means of communication (such as texting or talking) would also have been to mundane for the viewer.
The edits in the beginning of the song are fast, which I believe reflects on the stress she feels from her unrequited love. However at the happy ending they noticeably slow down. The audience thus is able to focus more on the feelings and the happy ending, and so the target audience (young, teenage girls) will find it easier to relate, and in turn have a stronger liking for the video.
This video in particular stands out to me because it very much appeals to it's target audience. It also finds a way to address a wider audience with some of the comedic touches it uses - for example the exaggeration of the hero's geekiness, expressed through terrible dancing and the clothes she wore.
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