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Research into a Music director and their previous work: 

 

The music video director I have been researching is Joseph Jun – hee Kahn who was born on October 12, 1972 in South Korea. In 1999, Joseph Kahn started his own production company alongside Chris Lee called Super Mega Media, which is housed under HSI Productions. Now Kahn is an American film and music director who has worked with many artists.

 

 

These diverse artists include such as Shakira, Lady Gaga, Dr. Dre, Backstreet boys, Snoop Dog, Jordin Sparks, 50 Cent, Christina Aguilera, Destiny’s child, Taylor Swift, Kelly Clarckson, Muse, Chris Brown, The Black Eyed Peas, Janet Jackson, Gwen Stefani, Pussycat Dolls, Kylie Minogue, Katy Perry, Maroon 5 and many more.

Over the years Kahn has won many Music video Production awards.

He has won several MTV Video Music Awards with nominations for best music video of the year:

Brandy and Monica “The Boy is Mine.”

Britney Spears “Toxic” and “Womanizer”

Chris Brown “Forever”

Pussy cat dolls “When I grow up”

Eminem “We made you” and “Love the way you lie”

In 2002 Kahn won his first Grammy for Eminem's "Without Me" video which also won the MTV VMA's Best Video of the Year, as well as Best Direction.

His video for Katy Perry "Waking Up In Vegas" won the MVPA 2009 Best Video of the Year. Then in 2015, Kahn directed MTV's choices for Video of the Year, Best Pop Video, Best Female Video, and Best Pop Collaboration, all by Taylor Swift.

Kahn's usage of Japanese pop culture in music videos first began with Janet Jackson's "Doesn't Really Matter" video. The video was also the most expensive video Kahn has directed and is among the most expensive of all time, costing over $2.5 million

Taylor Swift - Blank Space:

Taylor Swift’s song “Blank Space” for her fifth studio album 1989 and released November 10, 2014.

 

It was written by Taylor Swift, Max Martin and Shellback.

 

ElectroPop

 

The lyrics that satirize the media’s perception of Taylor and her relationships.  It makes fun of Taylor Swift’s exposure in the media about her dating life, portraying herself as "an overly attached man-eater who dates for song writing material".

“Blank Space” reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Taylor became the first women in Hot 100’a 56- year history to succeed at the top spot. As well as this, the song had also reached top in the charts in Canada, South Africa and Australia. It also charted in the top 10 in numerous countries, such as Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, New Zealand, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

 

As of November 2015, the video is one of eleven music videos with over 1 billion views on YouTube. With over 1.26 billion views, it is the second most viewed YouTube video of all time and has the most views for a female artist. On July 3rd, 2015, it became the fourth and fastest music video to reach 1 billion views on VEVO. On October 20, 2015, it became the most watched music video on VEVO. In July 2015, "Blank Space" was nominated for two VMAs at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, Best Pop Video and Best Female Video; the video won both its nominations during the ceremony on August 30, 2015.

The Music Video for “Blank Space” was directed by Joseph Kahn which shot over three days in two different Long Island locations. This reached over one billion views on VEVO which makes it the fourth fastest to accomplish this. Alongside being the most viewed music video by a female artist on YouTube and the second most viewed video overall.

"Some of the things I write about on a song like "Blank Space" are satire. You take your creative license and create things that are larger than life. You can write things like I get drunk on jealousy but you'll come back each time you leave, 'cause darling I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream. That is not my approach to relationships. But is it cool to write the narrative of a girl who's crazy but seductive but glamorous but nuts but manipulative? That was the character I felt the media had written for me, and for a long time I felt hurt by it. I took it personally. But as time went by, I realized it was kind of hilarious."

—Swift, behind the purpose of writing the song.

Taylor told the music director Kahn that she wanted to address the rumours of her relationships in the past by playing the part of a crazy villain. Interestingly, the music video was inspired by “A Clockwork Orange”. The director Kahn explained, "There's a lot of symmetrical framing that's Kubrickian, which is a really funny way to approach a pop video. But it's there if you look at the way there's centre-framing and symmetry throughout the whole thing, “Swift’s love interest in the video is portrayed by model Sean O'Pry."

For the music video “Blank Space” there is 360° Taylor Swift Experience on a video app. Here the users can follow the artist through many rooms of the mansion, although the user may leave the couple and go to other rooms to find interactive Easter eggs and watch the butlers doing their work. Joseph Kahn, compared it to a "stage play" and dubbed it a "choose-your-own-adventure" video. This was achieved by filming using special 360° cameras which enables the user physically moves their phone to move their point of view. Later the app won the Emmy for Original Interactive Program at the 2015 ceremony.

Taylor Swift -Bad Blood: 

This is another song by Taylor Swift for her fifth studio album 1989 (2014). It was then released on May 17, 2015 after it was remixed with the American rapper Kendrick Lamar. The song was written by Taylor, Max Martin and Shellback, with the lyrics describing the betrayal of a close friend.

 

The song reached number-one in Australia, Canada, Israel, New Zealand, Scotland, and the accompanying music video was directed by Joseph Kahn and features an ensemble cast. The video previously held the 24-Hour VEVO Record with 20.1 million views and won Video of the Year and Best Collaboration at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards.

The music video was directed by Joseph Kahn who has worked with Taylor on many other music videos. The video was filmed in Los Angeles. However, the video was set in London. The music video was premiered on May 17, 2015, at the start of the Billboard Music Awards.

The music video starts with Taylor Swift starring as Catastrophe fighting off a group of men in an London Office, for a mysterious briefcase, while Selena Gomez as “Arsyn” is seen beating men by arm bending and hitting them with her black heels. When all of the men are defeated, Arsyn double crosses Catastrophe by stealing the briefcase in Catastrophe's hand and kicking her out of a window. Soon after the song starts and the rapping commences, but one by one new characters are introduced and we start to see other familiar famous people such as singers, actors and models. Each actor chose their character's name. Swift began teasing the video in May on Instagram by posting photos of each character.

  • Dilemma (Serayah)

  • Slay-Z (Gigi Hadid)

  • Destructa X (Ellie Goulding)

  • Homeslice (Martha Hunt)

  • The Trinity (Hailee Steinfeld)

  • Mother Chucker (Cara Delevingne)

  • Cut-Throat (Zendaya)

  • The Crimson Curse (Hayley Williams)

  • Frostbyte (Lily Aldridge)

  • Knockout (Karlie Kloss)

  • Domino (Jessica Alba)

  • Justice (Mariska Hargitay)

  • Luna (Ellen Pompeo)

  • Headmistress (Cindy Crawford)

The two teams approach each other in what seems to be slow motion while an enormous explosion goes off in the background, blotting out the London skyline and then the video ends with both of the women simultaneously striking each other in the face

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