Ed Sheeran - Small Bump music video

As our group has chosen a song that is quite sad and heart touching, I thought it would be a good idea to look at a similar music video with a similar sad narrative. I have never focused on this music video, and it quite surprised me how simple but effective the video is. This made me realise that when directing our own music video, it doesn't have to be completed to make it look 'good', it needs a good narrative to be successful.

At the start of the video a simple beat begins, jump cuts are used which flow well with the beat, this shows the location of the video. As it is set in a hospital there are many different cuts representing the hospital bed, the clock and the chemicals in the hospital, which suggests to the audience the sadness of the location. As soon as the gentle tune starts, a close up is used focusing on Ed Sheeran sitting quietly on a hospital chair, the close up represents him being alone, it also shows the darkness of the location, and with his face facing the floor it links in with gentle song. Lip syncing is used as the verse begins, this is extremely conventional of a music video, it shows that the lyrics are coming from him, it also draws attention to him as the main character and captures the audiences attention to feel sympathy for him. As the close up continues you can tell the degrading location of where he is, you can tell his 'basic' clothing, which represetns him as a normal person in a real life situation, this makes the video seem more real and close to heart. A panning shot is used as the camera rotates around his face, this shows Ed Sheerans facial experession, however noticably his eyes never make contact with the camera, as the camera passes his face he tends to look away. This makes him look sad and expresses the lyrics of the song. Noticably there is little movement in the video, as Ed Sheeran is simply just sitting down in the same position the whole through the video, little movement however is extremely effective. As the camera moves away from Ed Sheeran, other characters appear in the video, other patients from the hospital appear on the screen, however the images begin to fade away, this shows that Ed is alone in the video. There is a constant focus on Ed Sheeran and his thoughts as he just sits there. Simple use of camera work is used throughout the video, this makes the audience concentrate on Ed sheeran. A zoom in is used towards the final moments of the song, a close up is used on Ed Sheeran, again he does not make direct contact with the camera just looks ahead, which presents that his problem is not solved, leaving the video with the lasting sense of sadness.