Research Music video analysis 1:Ed Sheeran- 'Thinking Out Loud'

Ed Sheeran's 'Thinking Out Loud' is a pop song which was released in October of 2014. The music video show the relationship between a male and a female which is progressing through dance and demonstrates the physical attraction increasing.  The establishing shot is of a female figure creating different positions moving from right of centre across to the left side of the shot. The background used for this long shot is red which is a representation of love which suggests what is coming in the music video. The location for the establishing shot could be recreated for my music video as it is a coloured background and a dark figure. Once the music video cuts from the establishing location it remains in the posh ballroom.

The shot then changes to another location which is revealed from the sides of the lady with the left half of the screen showing the location and the right side of the screen being lit by a spotlight. From the location it is showing a place of wealth shown through the use of rich gold colours and cream. This is represented by gold being represented with wealth. The music begins whilst the actress is walking across the screen onto a dance floor, to which the actress is walking in time to the music which creates a relationship between the dancing and the song. The location used for this video would be not easily recreated due to being a large grand hall, whereas the costume worn by the lady would easily be replicated due to its simplicity. 

This is the second shot showing the ballroom and the beautiful location used for the video. At this point of the music video is where the male actor (Ed Sheeran) is first introduced. Even though this is Ed Sheeran's song during the music video he is not videoed singing at any point throughout the video. The two actors are being highlighted through the spotlights. This is is an extreme long shot and is also a two shot which shows the couple walking towards each other. This is not a location we could use for our music video due to being an ornate hall with very expensive looking trimmings.  

At this stage of the music video the couples costumes are first properly revealed. They stay in the same costume all the way through the music video due to it being set all at the same time so there was no need to have a change in costume. Ed Sheeran is wearing quite traditional dress due to wearing a shirt, trousers and a waistcoat but it is modernised by him having the sleeves rolled up which exposes his tattooed arms making his traditional dress more modern. I feel that the male costume fits the song perfectly as it looks right in the situation of the couple being in a ballroom. From the video i like the idea of using traditional dress costumes but making them more modern, however I feel this will only work for a certain type of song, for example Ed Sheerans 'Thinking out loud'. The females costume is of contrast to Ed's due to hers being a costume that is traditional of ballroom dancing but its more modern. This being due to the dress flowing whilst she dances but when the camera is focused on it it becomes clear that it is a bodice which is a younger representation. The dress goes well with the genre of the music video due to flowing when she dances making it look very feminine.

The use of the spotlight creates an atmosphere around the action. Due to the rest of the room being dark with the two spotlights on them dancing makes it the main focus of the person watching. This is effective as it creates a tense atmosphere that has the viewer focused on the dancers. This music video is a narrative music video as it shares the story of a couple dancing which shows representations of love e.g the body language portrayed and the use of the lights at the end of the music video creating a love heart shape around the couple.

This shot shows a different angle compared to the majority of other shots used in the music video. This medium close up shows the connection between the couple. This is an unusual representation to be shown as it is not stereotypical due to the female being the person to lead the dance and position the male into the correct position to dance. This modern representation has been used to show a connection between the couple due to they end of the sequence the female lifts up the males face showing a connection between the couple. For our music video we could create something like this but the hard part is finding people who would be willing to act for us so the connection looks believe and makes the viewer believe it is a true story.

The camera angle completely changes her from the rest of the music video due to the camera panning around a pillar allowing the viewer to watch the routine from another angle on the other side. The camera slowly pans from right to left around the post. Using this shot makes it interesting due to all the other shots being very similar so it breaks it up. During this shot we also loose sight of the couple and get a better image of the items around the pillar which is a table with chairs at it and also a lampshade. The use of panning around showing some of the features of the room makes it more interesting for the viewer as they can look at the location and really understand the grandness of the location used to shoot the video. The location used for the video is absolutely stunning however it is not something we could use for our music video due to not being anything like that around where we are and also the hiring price of a beautiful location like that would be extremely expensive.

The dancing and movement used throughout the music video is of a very high standard, this makes the video even more appealing to the viewer due to Ed Sheeran not being a dancer showing the commitment he has made for this music video.

During the video this beautiful shot is created. The spotlights over lapping to make a love heart really fits the genre and the words of the music. This aspect is used again later on in the video as repetition, which is a really nice reinforcement due to it being a cleverly added feature. This aspect we could not use in our music video due to it being technical and not easily created. This use of spotlights creates a great relationship between the words.

The repetition of the love heart made of spotlights is the ending shot of the music video. This is a long shot which is used to end and then pans outwards. The ending of the routine is very calm and the couple in the final shot are laid still which is the first time they are still throughout the video which is a nice way for the video to end due to it being different from the rest of it. Dyer's representation theory can be applied here "A star is an image, not a person" for this video I believe this to be true due to this video showing a completely different image to Ed Sheeran. Ed is usually presented as very chilled and casual male who is usually holding a guitar and singing adhering to conventions in his music video's, whereas here is presented as a smart, sophisticated male who ballroom dances, however in the video he doesn't follow conventions as at no point during the video does he sing into camera. Barthes can also be applied to this video due to the symbol's of the love-heart at the end of the video being a symbol of love which the two characters in the video clearly are in love in the narrative.  

How this has influenced my planning:

• The creative use of light makes the video very interesting and create the right atmosphere for the video. 
• Using simple costumes making the action of the video more noticeable
• The effective way one location has been used throughout, yet the music video is still highly interesting.