An accompanying
music video for "Willow", directed by Swift, was released along with the song. It is Swift's third self-directed video, following "
The Man" and "Cardigan". The video describes the experience of yearning for someone and life's twists along the way to finding the right person.
Synopsis and analysis The "Willow" music video is a continuation of the "Cardigan" video, picking up where the former left off. Swift, drenched from her oceanic voyage, sits covered by a warm glow of her rustic cabin. A golden string in her hands (referencing the
Folklore track "
Invisible String") The string later leads her to a scene from her childhood (a reference to "
Seven"), where the child versions of Swift and Lee are seen playing together with the string, suggesting that the pair is destined to be together. Swift exits the tent and finds her adult self at a carnival tent party, where she performs with a golden mist-emitting
lute inside a glass box (a metaphor from "
Mirrorball"), dressed in a cream-colored
Zimmerman gown and a
bridal headpiece by Jennifer Behr (a "
Love Story" reference). While Swift finds Lee, she is trapped inside the glass box, which Swift described before the video's premiere as a metaphor for her feelings about fame. She then realizes that the only way out is to follow the magical thread through the rabbit hole under floor of the glass box, a scene that may represent Swift reaching her lowest moments before finding a golden path once more. During this scene, Swift looks into the camera directly, while mouthing the lyrics "I come back stronger than a '90s trend", a nod to
1989, which is her first
pop album. The scene shifts to a wintry forest, where Swift emerges hooded in a
cloak reminiscent of her video for "
...Ready for It?" (2017). She is joined by other hooded dancers who gather in a circle to perform a ceremony around a
bonfire that oozes lots of golden mist and magical orbs. Swift has referenced
witchcraft in previous songs such as "...Ready for It?", "
I Did Something Bad" (2017), and "
Mad Woman" (2020). While dancing, she finds the golden string once again and follows it, leading her back to her cottage. Lee pulls off his mask and looks at the departing Swift in despair. Swift exits the piano wearing a new gown, representing the journey back to her roots as a changed person due to her experiences in the outside world. At the end of the string, Swift finds out that she is not alone in the cottage and that the string has guided her to back to her lover, Lee, while the lyrics "every
bait-and-switch was a work of art" play. The scene sees Swift appreciate the obstacles in her life that led to their relationship. The hook that she repeats throughout the song—"I'm begging for you to take my hand / Wreck my plans, that's my man"—finally comes true at the video's end. The couple walks out the door, holding hands, into a forest shrouded in golden sunlight. This climax references "Daylight", the final track on Swift's seventh album
Lover, in which she sings about abandoning her cloaks, and how one has to "step into the daylight and let it go".
Production regulations, the music video was shot using a
remote camera mounted on a
jib, without the need for a professional
camera operator.|alt=Taylor Swift shooting the music video for "Willow" using a remote-controlled camera fixed on a crane.|250x250px The cinematography was handled by
Rodrigo Prieto, who worked on the "Cardigan" video as well. Swift did not reveal to Prieto or the technical crew that the video was for a new album or song, so the video was shot without using the song. The shooting took place under strict
COVID-19 pandemic safety measures, including
testing protocols, as advised by
Directors Guild of America,
Screen Actors Guild and
International Cinematographers Guild. The entire crew, including Swift and Lee, had their masks on; the pair took off their masks only during action. The dancers in the scene depicting witchcraft had their masks on while performing, thus their faces are not visible in the video. A color-coded system was used to signify which crew member could be close to the set and the actors; anybody in immediate vicinity of a scene had to wear a red wristband. Face shields were used whenever Swift or any cast was approached. The video was shot without a
camera operator, using a
crane-directed
remote camera. The pre-production phase was a back-and-forth interactive process between Swift, Prieto and other technicians. Swift wanted the video to conclude back in the cabin (as with "Cardigan") and that her lover, Lee, would be inside when she returns. Upon further discussion with Prieto and team, it was decided that both Swift and Lee would leave the cabin at the end. Swift initially developed the idea for the video as set at night, but then decided it would occur during the daytime. For the witchcraft scene, Swift did not want to use a real bonfire due to the
2020 California wildfires. Instead, she conceived of using magical orbs. Ethan Tobman, the
production designer, presented Swift with reference images and ideas for the sets, and one of them was having magenta leaves on the ground, which the singer liked. Tobman also suggested the idea for the autumnal forest. He worked with his art director, Simon Morgan, over
Zoom. For the bonfire scene, Morgan and Prieto,
gaffer Manny Tapia and
key grip Donald Reynolds, sound-staged first and taped the space in the center where the magic orbs would be. The distance was measured to the
blue screen background, and taped the spots of the trees, and mapped the lighting for the set of the carnival scene. ==Awards and nominations==