Ed SheeranGive me Love analysisApprox. 139 shots long

Andrew Goodwin

Andrew Goodwin had 7 key ideas that he believed could be identified within a music video. He believed that each one of these ideas could be found within most, if not all, music videos. For example, he stated that music videos demonstrate genre characteristics, for example a stage performance in a metal video, or a dance performance in a boy/girl band music video. Throughout my music video I intend on addressing the different ideas that Goodwin suggested existed within a music video.

Genre CharacteristicsThis video emphasizes the common aspects that are usually encountered within this genre of music. The main one being love. However this is not the only characteristic that is presented within this video. It also presents us with the feelings of despair and depression, made apparent through the main actress used within the video. The main actress seems to be in a depressive state throughout the majority of the video. The mise-en-scene of the video reflects this idea of depression as it is very dark and dull throughout the music video. A contrast to this is the police siren, however this may convey the idea of slight hope within the video. At the same time the siren also brings the idea of despair to the music video as there must have been an incident that has occurred for the police to be called in, this is portrayed in the bottom left image by the medium-long shot of the officer about to enter the building. Another contrast to this dark colour pallete is the use of bright red for the blood of the main actress. This also connotes the idea of depression and suggests that the only possible escape from the pain of reality is through death/suicide. At this point a high angle medium shot has been used so that you can clearly make out the blood and the cause of death, along with being able to see the actress lying lifeless. The angel wings on her back also support the conventions of death and help to emphasize the idea of it. The final contrast to the dark colours is the burst of gold that occurs when ‘cupid’ shoots the arrows of love into the other actors in the video. This expresses that another escape from the depression of reality is through falling in love with another.

ContinuedThe idea of love is later reinforced as the leading actress goes through a transformation into the greek god of love, cupid. This change is accompanied by the chorus of the song, which builds up towards the transformation and is a clear indicator that the tone of the music video is about to change. This supports Todorov’s theory of narrative as there is a clear equilibrium at the start of the video, followed by the disruption of the equilibrium through her transformation. As this happens there’s a close up on the back of the leading actress and it is clear from her expressions and actions from the shots before that she is obviously discomforted by something. The shallow focus shot of the feather allows the audience to focus on the key point of the shot but also allows them to see that the expression shown by the actress suggests that she is as confused as the audience at this point. This links back to Todorov as the actress is realizing the disruption to her equilibrium. While the feather is red because of blood, it also connotes the idea of love, however it does this subtly as to not give too much away to the audience and to try and keep the video enigmatic. The white of the feather could be used to express purity of the actress as it is suggested that she has never experienced love before or has been hurt in a way where she was not to blame.

Reverting back to the beginning of the video, the lyrics “Give me love like her” play as the main actress is watching two lovers conveying their feelings for one another. The two lovers are portrayed by a long shot (Likely P.O.V. from the main actress) in light and bright colours. This suggests that these two have escaped the darkness of depression. However, the shot shows the leading actress hiding in an alleyway watching the lovers in a voyeuristic way. At the same time she is covered by shadow and the dull bricks. A medium shot is used on her so that the audience can clearly make out the expression and body language of the actress. This shot, accompanied by the lyrics express the craving for the love that the character desires and emphasizes the struggle between her pain and being so close to love, while never being able to feel it herself.

Relationship between the visuals and the lyrics

Close ups of the artist?There’s not actually any close up shots of Ed Sheeran during the video, in fact the only shot we are presented with is a medium shot of him sat down at a table in a diner. This brings a contrast to the typical conventions of music videos, it also contradicts Goodwin’s theory. Ed Sheeran has likely asked for the filming to be done in this way so that he doesn’t distract too much from the actual music and the deeper narrative that is occurring during the video. Another reason to why he possibly has decided to break convention is because he does not see himself as a typical recording artist and therefore has decided that he would rather not be a large focus within the music video. However the leading actress is then seen to be watching him in another over the shoulder shot, however this time it is a long shot, likely so that the audience can make out the rain drops that clutter the window. This further deepens the analysis as we know Ed Sheeran as a famous celebrity while in the video he contrasts this by being sat in a diner, looking lonely and depressed.

Intertextuality

As I mentioned in the slide before, the narrative of the story is heavily based around the protagonist transforming into cupid. Again, this is used as an indicator to the audience to express the idea of love within the video.

Notion to lookingThroughout the music video there’s lots of reference to the lead actress looking at different people in a voyeuristic manner. This helps to portray the feeling of loneliness and depression throughout the video as it helps to convey the feelings of the leading actress. This leads to a very strong impact of the visuals within the video. It helps to build the narrative that the leading actress has likely undergone heartbreak or similar love related difficulties and emphasizes that the character is dealing with intense feelings such as depression and despair. Also the protagonist always seems to be in the background of the scene watching the other characters fall in love, again demonstrating the idea of her craving in love and being in depression due to her lack of it.

Is the video category illustration, amplification or contradicting? How much of each?

The video is all three of the following, however it is mainly amplification. This video clearly expresses a narrative relating to love and illustrates the idea of the heart broken protagonist who is trying her best to fit back into a world that she no longer fits in with. The narrative then gets contradicted by her transformation into the Greek god of love, Cupid. This impacts greatly upon the audience as the character has went from a person who is heartbroken and loveless into a giver of love. Which leads onto the amplification. The character transforms into cupid, clearly amplifying the narrative of the video and possibly allowing the audience to figure out that the key feeling behind this video is love, if they had not already figured this out at this point.