For my last post, I wanted to talk about a piece of media that implements all aspects of the arts that I am passionate about. Taylor Swift’s All Too Well: The Short Film is an important piece of media for me because it was the one work by Taylor Swift that made me go from a casual fan to a full on swiftie. When it first came out in November 2021, it changed my life.
Taylor is a magician when it comes to bringing her life black on white in ways that anyone can relate to, but this song is particularly special to her; it quite literally would not exist without the fans. When Swift released Red in 2012, one of the tracks was All Too Well. However, the singer casually admitted in an interview that the original version of the song that she had written was about ten minutes long. For years, the fans begged her to release that version of the song, and there was born All Too Well 10 Minute Version. With it, along came the short film.
The song and the film are both based on semi-real life events between Swift and Jake Gyllenhaal during their few months long relationship in the early 2010s, obviously exaggerated and dramatized for the sake of music.
The short film blends Taylor’s heart-wrenching lyricism and powerful highs and lows of the song’s majorly stripped music with a visual paradise of warmth and cool tones; Dylan O’Brien and Sadie Sink’s performances are so captivating that for a second it becomes impossible to remember these are, in fact, not Taylor and Jake themselves, and the layered sounds are so subtle yet so intentional that one may not even notice some of the added sounds or long pauses throughout the short film.
There are various parts of the film where the music is stripped away and the only thing that exists is the dialogue between the two actors; this mirrors the tension in the story as the two characters fight and make up, grow together and grow apart, love on each other and scream at each other. When it comes to the use of sound, there are various parts where the music is the primary form of sound but subtle additional sounds from the scene are present; these come up in the form of the sound of their feet walking on leaves and terrain in the forest, glasses clinking at the party, hands being held in the car, or blankets being shuffled around in bed. All these soft elements add to the story and create an immersive film that perfectly blends so many different elements within the arts. This was the moment that I knew there is genius to the madness of Taylor Swift, and that her dedication to create a perfect piece of art is unprecedented. Totally worth the watch!
For funsies, I also thought it would be fun to watch the behind the scenes of the making of these and see Taylor in action – her dedication, passion, intentionality, and creativity shine through as she directs this film.