We could be OK, but we’re not doing well after Taylor Swift suggested that the scarf from her fan-favorite epic ballad “All Too Well” might not be lying around in the drawer of an old flame. In fact, the scarf that has the power to remind ex-lovers of innocence and is said to smell like the chart-topping singer-songwriter is, according to Swift, nothing but a carefully constructed metaphor.
The revelation came during Swift’s Friday night appearance at the Toronto International Film Festival, where the Grammy-winning artist was promoting her self-directed self-titled film based on the song. The ambitious short film, which features stranger things‘ Sadie Sink and The maze Runnerby Dylan O’Brien, follows the journey of a 21-year-old woman whose heart is broken by an older boyfriend.
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“Basically, the scarf is a metaphor, and we put it in red because red is a very important color in this album, which is called Redsaid Swift, drawing laughter from the audience. “And, I think when I say it’s a metaphor, I’m just going to stop.”
For years, the Swifties have been unable to shake off the many fan theories surrounding The Scarf – a Swiftian Easter egg that only gained popularity after the release of Red (Taylor’s version) at the end of last year. The album’s inclusion of the 10-minute extended version of “All Too Well,” which painted a scathing portrait of the romance that turned Swift into a crumpled piece of paper, launched thousands of memes – many of which were aimed at actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, who fans believed to be the sister Swift left an infamous prop with. (At least the Swifties have a new puzzle to keep them busy as the singer prepares for the release of her next album, Midnightswhich falls on October 21.)
As much as Scarf Gate’s resurrection will feed Swiftie Twitter and TikTok for days, Swift’s hour-long interview with TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey focused primarily on her newfound affinity for filmmaking, peppered with movie references. and to the directors who inspired Swift during the pandemic as she began to develop her directorial skills. (The name Swift dropped an impressive list of reference points throughout the panel – including Guillermo del Toro The Devil’s Backbone and The shape of waterby Alfred Hitchcock rear windowby Sydney Pollack The way we wereby Arthur Hiller Love storyby Robert Benton Kramer versus Kramerby Noé Baumbach Marriage story, and the films of John Cassavetes – lest haughty film school students feel the need to use their filmmaking knowledge against the singer. Swift, as anyone passionate about her work knows, is a firm believer in doing your homework.)
“It wasn’t like I woke up one day and was like, ‘You know what I want to achieve,'” she said. “I didn’t go to film school. Still, Swift cited her experience working on countless music videos, saying her long hours on set gave her intimate insight into the craft and made her start to wonder why certain creative choices — such as the use of particular lighting or staging – resonated with his artistic sensibility.
“Every decision you make, it’s such a beautifully collaborative process,” she said of the movie. “You make decisions, you know, based on your idea of how you want it to feel, what you want it to look like. And then you bring in people you trust. Swift specifically highlighted the work of Very goodcinematographer Rina Yang as an instrumental force helping the singer realize her dream of shooting the film on 35mm. “I brought her in early on and showed her my endless mood boards and references, and what I was looking for in terms of lighting, color and texture. It was pretty obvious that we both wanted to shoot 35mm. I didn’t know how to do that. Swift added, “She really, really, really taught me a lot, and I never would have known anything at all without her.”
Asked about her recent efforts to re-record her back catalog after the master recordings of her first six albums were sold to an investment group, a time the singer called a “time of extreme desperation,” Swift said she had ultimately able to view the loss as a moment of opportunity not only to revisit his creative output, but also to reshape the aesthetic and emotional narratives of each record. The genesis of the song’s “All Too Well” onscreen, Swift noted, was part of that journey.
“It was a song that I loved so much – but it was never picked up by, you know, an A&R team in a boardroom as a single. No one saw the potential in it except the fans. the singer said of when the track was first released on Red in 2012. “So there would be no world in which I could have created a visual element for this song at that time. I needed 10 years of hindsight to know what I would even do to visually tell one version of this story – and I’m so grateful I was able to do that, with a bang of all these different twists of fate.”
Last month it was announced that Very good is eligible to be submitted in the Best Live Action Short Film category at next year’s Oscars, raising questions about whether Swift will continue to pursue acting alongside her music career. “I absolutely, absolutely love telling stories that way,” she said, noting that she was open to the idea of working on a feature film being the right opportunity to introduce herself. However, Swift also noted that her ability to retain full creative control over a film project, especially one that involved using a medium that has been phased out as digital technology has become more accessible, is a challenge. rarity for women in cinema. “I realize that I’m in an incredibly privileged position to have been able to fund this short film independently — because when it comes to female directors, I’m one of them, but I also realize there’s people who work so hard to get funding and raise any kind of budget to do the production and the projects that they want to do. So honestly, I like to bow my head and take my hat off to these female filmmakers.
Additional reporting by Tatiana Siegel.
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