Taylor Swift talks about her stimulation behind short film, All Too Well

Taylor Swift stated on Friday that movies, even ones from a half-century ago, impact her songwriting and music video direction.

When she took the stage at the Toronto International Film Festival to talk about the ideas for the short film she made for her popular song All Too Well (Taylor's Version), she mentioned early 1970s Hollywood as one among them.

Swift noted that the apartment of Barbra Streisand's character, Katie, in 1973's The Way We Were, inspired how she conveyed the personalities of the individuals in her 10-minute short. The lighting was inspired by the 1970 romantic drama Love Story.

"When I think of that film, I think of autumn and I was trying to establish that in the earlier parts of the film," Swift said while discussing her short film with festival CEO Cameron Bailey.

Swift envisioned the scene when the two main characters, Sadie Sink and Dylan O'Brien, are falling in love to feel more warm and cosy, so she used the lighting to assist the viewer to understand how they should feel. She wanted it to be cooler in the flat where they were fighting. Swift claimed that both elements came together in the end.

"She is still herself but she has been changed by this experience," and the lighting reflected what Swift said.

Swift's music video "The Man" was a hymn to "The Wolf of Wall Street," while "Bad Blood" tips its hat to the cliffhanger genre, she added.

All Too Well: A Short Film premiered in 35mm film at the Toronto festival.

"I feel like watching it in 35mm there is a depth, there’s a contrast," Swift said. "It’s a different experience."

On social media, some bemoaned how tough it was to secure tickets to one of the festival's most sought-after events.

"I tried so hard to get tickets and they were impossible to get, so I thought, 'Let’s camp out at 5 a.m.,'" said Emily Zeppieri, 24, who moved to Toronto from Whitby, Ontario, and had to depart her house at 3:45 a.m.