Style by Taylor Swift: Video Stills




When researching the work of Hannes Caspar, I was reminded of the music video for Taylor Swift's "Style". Director, Kyle Newman, similarly uses shadows and silhouettes to produce visually stunning scenography. 

The video tells the story of a red lipped girl who loved a guy who can't stay, with the dramatic imagery revealing the emotions behind her whirlwind romance. The video features a series of dynamic,  abstracted portraits, using projectors to create surreal imagery.

One of my favourite images, is the last one in which Taylor's "lover" is projected onto her hand, which she has placed over half her face. It's such a striking image and reminds me of the surrealist portraits by Tigran Tsitoghdzyan.

In other scenes, Newman uses Taylor's silhouette, filling the space with artistic shots of nature (i.e. forests) to create an ethereal, haunting outcome. Earthy tones are used throughout the video, adding tot he haunting atmosphere. 

The shattered mirror scenes are particularly chilling and signify Taylor's broken heart/shattered relationship. Again Newman uses projectors to create artistic reflections. In every scene, Taylor's image is somehow distorted and we never really see a clear shot of her. I find it to be very enigmatic and overall it's an incredibly effective video. 

Image stills are taken from the official video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CmadmM5cOk



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