'Bad Blood' subverts part of Andrew Goodwin's theory concerning the features of music videos. According to the theory, music videos for pop songs such as this should include a performance element such as a dance routine, however this is completely contradictory as the whole video is instead focuses on action sequences. It contains no characteristics that usually represent the pop genre but is effective in this way and can make people remember it so they remember Taylor.
There is a strong relationship between the lyrics of the song and the visuals of the music video because a line repeated a lot in the song is 'now we got bad blood' where the 'bad blood' is caused at the beginning of the video where Taylor's ally betrays her and kicks her out a window. This 'bad blood' that she is singing about is the reason for the events occurring in the rest of the video where they are preparing for and eventually engage in battle because of it.
The music and visuals are also linked such that all the cuts between shots are in time with the beat of the music. Additionally, there is lip-syncing of Taylor Swift to the song which amplifies the link as well. Other examples that illustrate this relationship include some punching following the beat of the music, Taylor closing her helmet exactly when she sings 'hey', and the rocket launcher being fired in time with the beat.
Almost straight away the camera zooms in to a close-up of Taylor's face to signify that she is the star of the song and video. Even with close-ups of all the different famous people in the video, there are many more of Taylor which meets the demands of the record label. There are also more close-ups of Kendrick Lamar as he is in part of the song and so meets the demands of his record label as well to sell his brand in addition to Taylor's.
The video had references to the notion of looking as Taylor's 'ally' watches her in the reflection of her makeup mirror before she pushes Taylor out the window where Taylor can also be seen in the reflection of the shattered glass as she is falling. In addition, when she is lying down on a white surface in a very revealing outfit, the camera pans up her body which could represent the male gaze and, coupled with the set, it is like she is on sexual display and is being examined. In addition, Taylor and the other women wear revealing outfits throughout the video and encourage voyeurism. She is also singing at the camera sometimes and always appears angry so we can easily see the grudge she holds.
The music video contains many intertextual references to different films, the first being 'Kill Bill: Vol. 1' as at the beginning Taylor fights a group of men dressed very similarly to the Crazy 88 who fight the Bride in the film. The video also makes an intertextual reference to 'Sin City' with the colour and style of the title 'Bad Blood' in the video which mimics that in the film. After this Taylor is seen lying down being analysed which imitates a scene in 'The Fifth Element' down to the white bandage outfit. Another intertextual reference that the video makes is to 'Tron' where Taylor and another woman are riding light motorbikes. There are many more intertextual references but a final example is at the end when they are walking away from an explosion behind them. This is common to a lot of action films, 'X-Men Origins' being one of them.
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