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Music Video Storyboard - You Belong With Me

Our video is definitely is a more accurate reflection of teen life.  In Taylor Swift's music video "You Belong With Me", it portrays strong stereotypes that don't truly exist in real high-schools.  It includes huge football games with pretty cheerleaders and insinuates that every football player and cheerleader is popular.  It then shows the "band geeks" and implies that every single one of them is an unfortunate loser, an outcast who is isolated from high-school.  Our video shows the truth, of how the popular girl isn't necessarily the cheer-leader, the loser isn't necessarily the band geek, and the popular  boy isn't necessarily the football player.  The characters in Taylor Swift's music video drive around in expensive convertibles and have Cinderella-like high school ball-like dances where they show up in even more expensive gowns.  The characters walk around in designer clothes, and are perfectly made-up with not a single blemish on their face - even the loser.  In reality, none of this really happens.  High school students don't all own or drive convertibles - we show in our music video how inside of hanging out in a brilliant car, a typical teen casual hang-out is just a picnic-type bench.  We show how nobody is actually that perfect in appearance, and students do not show up to school looking air-brushed.  Lastly, we show that every single happy ending does not involve a fancy dance and fairy-tale like circumstances.  Some happy endings are normal and occur in ordinary settings like outside of the school lockers.  Our video shows typical teen actions, such as texting, studying, day-dreaming, etc.  Our video also shows the real hopes, desires and fears of what it's like to be a teenager.  It shows how teenagers really just hope to be happy and desire to feel a sense of belonging.  They fear isolation and being out-cast from their peers and society.

In the third story board panel, we see the "popular" girl surrounded by her friends, staring at a text from her boyfriend while the "loser" gazes longingly from the background.  We use the camera technique of shooting below a subject - in this case, the subject is the popular girl.  Shooting in this way makes it seems like we are below her and looking up to her.  It makes her seem superior to others, as well as appear more powerful and intimidating.  It also portrays the anger and intensity in her face, advancing the story and emphasizing the fact that she is clearly not happy with a text from her boyfriend.  We also shot from farther away, in order to capture more in the picture.  The background in this certain panel is essential.  We shot it so that you could see the "loser" in the background, gazing in desire at the popular girl.  This creates a relationship between the two people in the shot, showing the tension that is occurring between them.  As well, the girl is standing alone in order to enforce her loneliness and the popular girl's companionship.  Through all of this, the shot therefore portrays a mood.  In shooting up to the popular girl, we see the anger and intensity from her.  In including the loser in the background, we see the longing and desire that she feels.  All of this enforces that necessary relationship between the two.  This shot also shows characterization.  It expresses the true personality of the two girls: a snobby, intimidating, popular girl and the lonely, longing, inferior loser.

Pop Culture

Cell phones are definitely a pop product that contribute to the desires, fears, and hopes of teen culture today. First off, they really portray the desires of teenagers amongst present day society. They prove the fact that teens desire to have an amazing social life with lots of friends. Cell phones are used for communication, generally between you and your peers.  Cell phones can even be seen as a symbol for the link to a social life. With a cell phone, you can talk to people, talk to friends, socialize, and make plans between one another. Now a days, many friendships also begin through technology. In having a cell phone, you can meet new people and perhaps become a part of that social group that you’ve been dying to get into. All teenagers want to feel like they belong. The key to belonging is having friends and being “popular”. Cell phones provide a source for this popularity.  They create a link between you and your friends so that you make plans, boosting your social life as well as your social status.  They can fulfill the desire for teenagers to belong in society.

Cell phones also portray the fears of teenagers amongst present day society. Linked to the desire to belong, is the fear of exclusion. A teen is always afraid of being left out of the social circle, of not having a place in society or in their world. A cell phone may in fact fix their desperate need to fit in, to wash away any fears they may have of not having friends. If one didn’t have a cell phone, then perhaps they would have no way to get in touch with their friends out of school. Therefore, they would be left out of any plans that were coordinated through cell phones. Now a days, everyone talks through cell phones. In some cases, it is even how friends grow closer with one another, through talking all the time. In not having one, they would lose any chance they had to form a bond with people, thus strengthening their group on the social circle of high school. Without a cell phone, teenagers may fear that they will be excluded by their peers, isolated from society. Therefore, a cell phone may be seen to fulfill any fears of exclusion or isolation amongst teenagers.

Lastly, are the hopes. The hopes that cell phones provide are very closely linked to the desires. All teenagers desire the sense of belonging, but they also hope to belong. Nearly every teen in today’s popular culture has a cell phone. In having one, you may be considered “cool”; and vice versa, in not having one, you may be considered “un-cool”. Having the latest form of technology that everyone else has makes you feel like you belong, like you are on the same level of equality as everyone else. Teenagers simply just hope to be liked by their peers. This also links to the fears, in which teens fear being excluded or disliked. Some may believe and hold onto that strain of hope that having a cell phone will result in teens liking them. Maybe they see it as the key to their coolness. It’s a sad reality that the shallowness amongst society has led teens to believe that if you own more expensive and cool stuff, then there is the automatic assumption that this makes you cool. Cell phones make you on the “in” side of high school, which is probably something that every single teenager hopes for. Therefore, cell phones represent those hopes to be belong and be considered by all as “cool”.

4 Key Concepts

KEY CONCEPT #1

This ad clearly portrays how the media constructs reality.  This overall ad is promoting against every negative stereotype that women face today.  The magazine on the left, however, IS promoting those negative stereotypes.  It is endorsing body image and that a great body image is everything.  In this ad, we can see how they took an already naturally beautiful woman and using technology, morphed her into what our idea of “beauty” is today.  The focus of the changes made to the woman is certainly on her weight, as they reduced the excess fat on her to make her appear skinnier.  This magazine cover gives the impression that beauty = thinness and that in order to be attractive, you must be slim.  The magazine furthermore reinforces this idea by having on the cover, in large letters, “SKINNY PILLS”.  This ad is encouraging every woman out there to become as skinny as this woman, a goal that they will strive for but never reach because the weight of this woman is not real.  As well, the ad promotes the idea that beauty = happiness.  On the front cover, they circled the bold words “love your life”, giving off the impression that you can love you life and live in happiness IF you are as artificially beautiful as this woman.    

However, the kind of reality that is created is one that is not real.  They’re creating a false reality that this beauty is reachable and accessible when it is not.  The truth is that this woman does not really look like that, yet the media affects the meaning of the ad by making it appear that she is.  They reduced the fat on her, cleared all her blemishes, fixed her hair and her cheekbones and her chest area so that after dozens of transformations, she is finally “perfect”.  All women will then strive for this look that the media has created as it has morphed into a false reality.

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KEY CONCEPT #2

Depending on who you are, chances are that you will interpret this ad in a very different way from another person.  I think that there are two main audiences that would take two completely different meanings away from this ad.  This ad shows a woman, in her forties, with two boxes next to her to check: either 44 and hot or 44 and not.  I believe that if you were a young girl, say in your twenties, and looked at this ad, you would say 44 and not.  Still being very young, only half the age of this woman, you have a completely different view on what true beauty is.  You would look at this woman and only see her age and the wrinkles in her eyes.  You wouldn’t necessarily call her beautiful, you’d just think of her as old.  This ad wouldn’t really have a major affect on you because you’d glance at it and only see an old woman, not even a possibility for beauty.  However, if you were an older woman, say also in her forties or even older, you would look at this ad completely different.  You would see a woman, much like herself, and understand and sympathize with her of how she too used to be a gorgeous, young girl like you and is now old.  You would understand that her age does not mean lack of beauty, if anything it represents the years she’s lived and the accomplishments she’s achieved, which are true signs of real beauty.  You would look at this woman and see yourself in her eyes and mentally check the box that says 44 and hot, because you can communicate with her through empathy and understanding.  You would take a lot away from this ad because you would truly understand it, seeing as it seems to be particularly aimed at you.

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KEY CONCEPT #3

There are various commercial implications and examples of product placement in the TV show, American Idol, which has been named the number one show with regards to product placement.

First off, every single episode, the host Ryan Seacrest encourages viewers at home to download the songs sang that night by contestants onto their Apple I-pods, advertising the company “Apple”.  He then advertises AT&T Wireless every episode while telling viewers to vote for their favourite contestant.  As well, all of the judges are always drinking from red Coca-Cola cups throughout the show.  Furthermore advertising Coca Cola, while they wait to hear the votes every week, contestants wait in the red “Coca-Cola” lounge, sitting on the red “Coca-Cola” couch.  Next, each week, there are music videos that the contestants participate in and film.  Every music video displays the newest and latest Ford, this clearly advertising the Ford Company.  American Idol also uses product placement in things such as props and background placements throughout the show.  Coca-Cola, Ford, and AT&T must all have contracts with American Idol, paying them to advertise their product in their show.  Therefore American Idol is only making money off of this strategic product placement.

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KEY CONCEPT #4

This ad contains many value statements, all of them negative.  The main focus of this ad is a woman, nearly naked, lying down while a man stands atop of her holding alcohol and two glasses.  This ad gives off the impression that if you drink that brand of alcohol, you too can get beautiful girls like the one here, portraying that a major value in life is not only having beautiful women but also being in charge of them, which is clearly shown here.  The main value in this ad is that men are in power, this being portrayed by the man standing over the woman, insinuating that he is the one in power and superior to her.  As well, the background of the ad is a beautiful beach paradise, showing that this alcohol is related to this beautiful setting, portraying that it can bring you to a paradise much like that one.  In this ad, the man is also wearing a suit, giving off the impression that the alcohol is a special one, only for the wealthiest, giving off the value that money and wealth is everything and represents success in every which way.  This ad, therefore, is giving off the values that men are in power, wealth is important, and that drinking this alcohol will result in you having success, a beautiful girl, and a paradise much like the one in this ad.