Analysing existing music videos By Jade Cornish

Ed Sheeran – You Need Me, I Don’t Need You His song 'You need me, I don't need you' is about his refusal to conform by the music industry. He was told he had to dye his ginger hair and change his musical styles in order to succeed. This song was therefore him challenging the music industry and saying how they need him to make money, he can find someone else to sign him. Matthew Morgan is the main sign lyric dancer in the music video and this makes the music video a concept and performance based video because the video doesn't particularly have a narrative but the young boy is performing, showing a talent. This music video is really unique, its just a boy standing under a spotlight but is using sign language to put across the whole song, he is signing the lyrics. Other effects are also in the video to make the video more interesting and eye catching like lighting. ED SHEERAN - YOU NEED ME, I DON'T NEED YOU  7TH OCTOBER 2015 Ed Sheeran is a worldwide phenomenon who only became recognised in recent years. He has become friends with major stars including Taylor Swift, Niall Horan and Courtney Cox. His song 'You need me, I don't need you' is about his refusal to conform by the music industry. He was told he had to dye his ginger hair and change his musical styles in order to succeed. This song was therefore him challenging the music industry and saying how they need him to make money, he can find someone else to sign him. Matthew Morgan is the main sign lyric dancer in the music video and this makes the music video a concept and performance based video because the video doesn't particularly have a narrative but the young boy is performing, showing a talent. For the first three seconds of the music video, there is a spotlight, which gradually increases in size and reveals Matthew Morgan who does the lyric signing. This then cross cuts to a close up of Ed's guitar and him playing it, however we only see the guitar and his hand, not above his mid-drift or below his hips. The cross-cutting between the two different performers happen for the first ten seconds of the music video and this is to suggest to the audience that they are the two key performers in the video. Thirteen seconds into the music video there is an extreme close-up of Matthew's eyes, nose and top lip and the shot is slightlyhigh angle, as though the camera is looking down on him. This makes him look vulnerable even-though he also looks quite fierce and strong. The juxtaposed representation of the boy suggests that he acts strong but is alos vulnerable and this is shadowing Ed's initial representation into the music business; due to his quirqy looks. This then jump cuts to a mid shot of the boy and the camera gradually gets closer to the boy and this is during the first couple of lines of the song. This amplifies the song because the song is just getting started and doesn't require any fast paced cuts until the song gets faster in tempo. In addition to this, three minutes and four seconds into the music video there is a mid shot of a boy standing in a choir boy costume and this mid shot is shown as Ed sings "I’m still a choir boy in a Fenchurch tee" and the lyrics coincided with the mid shot of the choir boy amplifies the song and makes Ed seem as though he was once innocent. Being apart of a choir suggests purity and innocence, which aren't two representations that would normally be considered for Ed Sheeran, however with the black and white filter this suggests that the music industry ruined his innocence.    The jump cuts additionally amplify the music video because they happen whenever the beat intensifies in the music video and this makes each cut stand out amongst the other cuts. It also amplifies the song as a whole due to the black and white filter because the black and white intensifies the whole music video and makes it more dramatic. The black and white also creates an enigmatic atmosphere because it is implicit and minimises what the audience can see. The setting is also unfurnished and this allows the audience to solely focus on the artist/character who is on the screen at the current time, which means there is only a shift of importance when the cut jumps to a different, individual artist. The fact that all of the artists/act are allowed their own individual shot suggests that Ed finds all artists individual and equally as important as the others. No artist is better than another, they simply showcase different talents and skills. One minute and fourty-three seconds into the music video, the first abstract prop is shown and it is a small buddha sculpture, which doesn't fit the theme of the music video, which is performance based. This shows the audience that the music video is also concept and the whole point of the abstract prop is to get the audience confused and questioning its appearance. This therefore makes the music video rememberable, which increases its popularity. Towards the middle of the music video there are cross cuts from Matthew to other dance performers and this again shows that many different people have talents and their talents are all original and Ed is trying to encourage originality and suggesting that you don't have to conforom to the stereotypical 'success 'criteria.' However, they are all performing in the same setting, which suggests that everybody has the same platform and oppurtunities, it's just how you use the chances you're given.  Even-though there is a black and white filter on the music video, the audience can still identify the low key and the high key lighting. The difference between the high key and the low key lighting shows the amplification of the beat and tempo of the song, with the video. When the tempo or beat increases suddenly, it goes high key and then low key relatively quickly and this looks really effective. The lyrics "You need me man, I don't need you" are amplified because Matthew Morgan points down the camera as though he is directly addressing the record company that Ed Sheeran is referring to. This is effective because a 'finger point' is seen as passively aggressive because it isn't violent but signals tension between people. This therefore exaggerates the fact that Ed is very passionate about his raw talent and doesn't feel the need to conform to change. Direct address is regularly used thoughout the music video when Matthew Morgan looks down the camera when he is signing the lyrics and this looks quite intimidating, especially with the black and white filter, which is used. The initmidating look suggests to the audience that the record label shouldn't have crossed Ed because he may not look intimidating, but he can definitely hold his own and will be successful without them. Overall, I personally wouldn't use black and white throughout the whole of my music video, however using it to go back in time may look effective and clearly distinguish between the past, present and future. In addition to this, I think amplifying the lyrics with what is happening on screen looks effective and I would therefore like to incorporate it into our music video. However, I find the concept element of the music video slightly bizzarre and would therefore rather focus on a narrative and performance based music video. 

The Begging For the first couple seconds of the music video, there is just a spotlight, which gradually increases in size and reveals Matthew Morgan who does lyric signing. This then cross cuts to a close up of Ed Sheehan's guitar and him playing it, however we don’t see all of him, only see the guitar and his hand. The cross- cutting between the two different performer only happens for the first few seconds at the begging of the music video, to highlight to the audience that they are the two key performers in the video. There is an extreme close-up of Matthew's eyes, nose and top lip. This is a high angle shot, as though the camera is looking down on him. This makes him look vulnerable and weak, but also quite fierce, strong and powerful at the same time. The juxtaposed representation of the boy suggests that he acts strong but is also vulnerable, shadowing Ed Sheeran’s initial representation into the music business. During the first couple of lines of the song there is a mid shot of the boy and the camera gradually gets closer to him. This amplifies the song because the song is just getting started and doesn't require any fast paced cuts until the song gets faster in tempo.

Black & White There is also a mid shot of a boy standing in a choir boy costume, with angel wings, when he sings the line, "I’m still a choir boy in a Fenchurch tee" the lyrics matched with the mid shot of the choir boy amplifies the song and makes Ed seem as though he was once innocent and like an angel. Being apart of a choir suggests purity and innocence, suggesting he was once pure and innocent like an angel and choir boy. However with the black and white filter this suggests that the music industry ruined this. The fact that the whole music video is black and white suggest the battle of good and evil, between him and the music industry. Black connotes evil, darkness, danger etc, where as white signifies pureness, innocence and good.

Goodwin’s theory Goodwin’s theory refers to the relationship between lyrics and visuals within a music video as this music video is signed there aren’t many lyrics – visuals references however there are some images that directly reflect the lyrics that are being sung. Like ‘a thousand shows’, ‘couch’ and ‘the papers’. These all show the audience the exact subject that is being sung about which makes the audience slightly closer to the song as the rest is being signed and not everyone knows sign language so it make the audience feel a bit closer. It also helps the song stick in the audiences’ mind if they can link the movements to the lyrics because when they hear the song they will be thinking of the movements that they see when they hear specific words so it is a good technique to promote the video. Goodwins theory also refers to the relationship between the music and visuals which is also a major factor in this music video, although it is a simple visual video, just one man standing under a spotlight, there is more to it. As you can see the lighting follows the beat of the music. And even more so in the music video, the music and the visuals clearly have a relationship as the signing actor moves his hands the lighting sharply reflects his movements. Although, all of the lighting changes are very fast to match the beat of the song , the black and white colouring has a soft touch on the visuals.