You've got to give Taylor Swift credit -- even with a bajillion records sold and a steady stream of radio hits, she's refused to take the easy way out with her videos, preferring to tell a visual story instead of filming performance clips.

That's definitely the case for her new 'Mean' video, which uses Swift's latest hit as the backdrop for an old-time miniature movie about, well, what happens when people are mean. And Swift gave fans a peek behind the scenes of the clip with a half-hour documentary that recently aired on GAC.

Filmed at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, the 'Mean' video stars Swift and her band stuck in the past -- literally -- as they play on a dusty prairie, complete with worn-looking clothes and old-fashioned instruments. Interspersed with their performances are a series of narrative sequences that follow mean behavior over the course of an ordinary life: playground bullying, cliquish high school teasing, and the agony of peer pressure.

"There are so many moments over a course of a day where I look at something or see something, and I just can’t believe I get to be around people who do stuff like this," Swift told fans in the documentary. "Visually, it just goes with everything I’ve been obsessed with lately … theaters and productions. It really tells stories that to me really matter. It’s also just really fun. I couldn’t be happier with the way it turned out."

Watch a clip from the show here, and look for repeat showings on GAC!

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