Music Video Textual Analysis

By Fasiha Zaheer

"Give me Love"

By Ed Sheeran

Single Release: 

"+"

 

(Pronounced "plus")

Genre:

Acoustic Folk

Indie Pop

Year of Release:

21 November 2012

Directed by:

Emil Nava

Record Company:

Music Video Type: 

Narrative and Concept based

Narrative:

Ed Sheeran's music video begins with a girl lying on the mattress, with an arrow in her neck. A police investigation is being carried on at the place the girl is found. 

 

The scene changes to a flashback when the girl is alive. She seems to be alone and miserable. While she is on the mattress she pulls out a bloody feather from her back. Later, she has wings. She then shoots arrow at people in the street. Trying to give love to other people. Which explains that she is a cupid. But, it does not seem to satisfy her. She does not want to just give away the love but wants a chance to fall in love too.

 

Her attempt to find love results in her being killed. As we first saw here dead lying in her bed with an arrow in her neck. But there is hope that she resurrects from the dead, which could be assumed that she finally got what she wanted.

Andrew Goodwin

Andrew Goodwin's theory on music videos, talks about the key features which distinguish a music video as a form. These include:

 

1.  Music Videos demonstrate genre characteristics:  

 

Ed Sheeran's song Give Me Love has an Acoustic Folk Indie Pop genre. Various characteristics of this music genre are presented in the music video such as it is in a slow pace and emotional. The editing techniques are very simple. The theme of love is present. This is evidence of point 1 of Goodwin’s Theory. However Ed Sheeran is seen as a cameo in the music video so certain characteristics such as the artist performing is not present.

 

2.  There is a relationship between the lyrics and visuals:  

 

Text

 

 

 

 

"Give me love like her" are the beginning words of the song. A shot of a woman is revealed. This suggests that she is the protagonist and the give  the audience the idea that the story is going to revolve around her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The relationship between the lyrics and visual is seen a number of times. Over here this helps to convey the story to the audience more effectively as the lyrics and visual support each other. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The lyrics ‘I just want to hold you’  is visually illustrated in the music video using tow wooden figures holding each other. This evokes a sense of passion and the idea of love.

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of the music video the lyrics ‘The taste that your lips allow’ directly relates to the visuals as the couples targeted by the ‘cupid’, are shown kissing. This further illustrates the theme of love that is present throughout the video.

 

 

 

 

3.  There is a relationship between the music and visuals:  

 

On the first beat of the music the visuals change to that of when the audience is first presented with the woman in the video, who is hidden behind a wall. The visuals after this are prolonged and slower which correlate with the fact the music is slow. This allows the audience to concentrate on the story being told in the video and to become familiar with the woman.

As the music begins to increase in pace, so do the camera shots. This is apparent when the woman discovers she is becoming cupid and therefore evokes her emotions of distress and confusion to the audience. Throughout the music video there are various occasions when the camera shot changes at the same time as the beat in the music. This is mainly used to allow the music video to flow evenly, especially when the location changes. For example when the woman goes from the location of inside to outside when she becomes cupid.

It is also evident that once the woman becomes cupid the visuals of the arrow hitting people are exactly when the beat in the music happens. This is to connote the impact of how the arrow will affect each individual. 

 

4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work: 

 

Throughout the music video the artist Ed Sheeran is rarely present in the visuals. However two camera shots are employed of Ed Sheeran in the cafe, one medium shot and one shallow focus, which allow the audience to distinguish the artist of the song. Nevertheless this deviates from the 4th point in Goodwin’s’ theory as Ed Sheeran has a cameo role.

During the music video, which is primarily based around the female, there are a number of camera shots which can be seen as the voyeuristic treatment of the female body. This is mainly apparent when the woman is on the bed and first realizes something is happening to her. There is a sequence of shots employed, with her back towards the camera, of her pulling her clothes. This can be seen as voyeuristic treatment as the audience are presented with the female in minimal clothing in the video. 

5. Frequent reference to the notion of looking and voyeuristic treatment of the female body:

 

6. There are often inter-textual references:

 

During Ed Sheeran’s Give Me Love music video intertextual reference is not apparent at all. 

 

Mise en scene:

Camera Work:

This music video contains a very wide variety of shot types, however the director has chosen to focus on this angelic character by mostly showing her in medium shots and close ups. The entire video has been shot in a handheld style probably with a stabiliser to avoid overly shaky shots which gives a more realistic effect as static shots can feel more staged.

 

The protagonist’s home is very minimal; there’s no wallpaper on the walls, her bed is just a mattress on the floor, she has very little furniture. The audience can either assume that she’s squatting in an abandoned building or that she’s paying very little rent because that’s all she can afford. This makes the audience more sympathetic towards the protagonist as we can tell that she’s lonely, sad and poor.

If the protagonist were living in a luxurious house, the audience wouldn’t sympathise with her as much because she would at least have a comfortable living space. The drab setting may also be symbolic of her feelings. She’s alone and lonely, and her home is reflective of that. Just like her home, she may also feel empty and cold.

 

 

The plot takes place in an urban setting. This is intentional for several possible reasons. The plot focuses on the protagonist match-making; in the city there are lots of people to match together. Ed grew up in the city, therefore he is more inclined to devise a narrative centered around his own personal experience, thus creating cohesion between all forms of his work. An urban location also makes the plot more relatable to the masses as most of the population live in the city.

Location:

The costume of the protagonist has been deliberately contrived to portray an image. The ripped, layered vest tops, laddered tights and frayed shorts match her drab, worn out home. This further confirms to the audience that she is poor, possibly amplifying their sympathy for her. We can see that the protagonist is not wearing anything to keep her warm, as she probably can’t afford substantial clothes like the other characters can.

 

 

The girl is wearing a white tank top and long black knee socks. She also grows a pair of white angel like wings. The color white connotes innocence, that she isn't trying to harm anyone. However, the black socks is the binary opposite, which connotes that she has a dark side to her.

 

 

Location:

The costumes of all the other characters are much more ‘luxurious’ than that of the protagonist, and they are all wearing substantial coats/layers to keep warm implying that the plot is set in winter.

 

Her costume also sets her apart from all the other characters, despite the variety of styles among them all. This identifies her as an outsider, a misfit.

 

Her identity as such emphasises her loneliness which further makes the audience pity her. We also connect more deeply with the character as we understand why she is the way she is. This understanding gratifies the audience, as it’s part of the human condition to want to understand and connect with other people. The way in which we connect with her is also in-keeping with this desire, as we all want to fit in and nobody wants to be lonely.

 

 The props demonstrate the protagonist’s fixation with love and togetherness. We see the framed picture of the kissing couple and the embracing artist mannequins during the first equilibrium of the narrative, which foreshadows the nature of the disruption. It also helps the audience to understand the character more as most of us want to find our ‘soulmate’. However, we can see that the protagonist has a fixation with this idea which makes us sympathize with her.

 

Her angel wings, bow and arrow.

 

 

 

 

 

Props

Star Image

Just like many other music videos of Ed Sheeran, he is not the protagonist. It is played by a girl. We only get to see a "Cameo" of Ed Sheeran. Being the protagonist is on of the signature style of Ed Sheeran.  He As Andrew Goodwin said, is the ‘story teller’. Singing the story to the audience.