Research Into Existing Music Video: Ed Sheeran - Bloodstream

Here is a picture of the notes that I had made whilst watching the music video.

The music video that I have decided to look into is "Bloodstream" by Ed Sheeran. The reason that I chose this music video to research this song is because Ed Sheeran is a very similar artist to Frank Hamilton who is the artist that I have picked to use for my music video. Researching this music video will help me a lot as it will allow me to pick out codes and conventions to use in my own music video.

At the start of the music video you can see what is going to happen to the actor in the music video at the end of the story, and as the audience it makes you think how has he got himself into this position and makes you want to watch the video and find out. I think this is a very effective way to intrigue people and get them to watch the whole music video.

From 0:01 until 1:15 in the song you can really get a sense of what the actor is feeling, with the slow music and slow cuts along with the depressing scenes such as the one where he is in a big room around a big table, by himself. You can see that the actor is depressed and lonely in his big house by himself and you can tell that this is could be what drove him into the state that you can see him in at the start.

At 1:15 onwards until near the end of the song you can see that he has decided that he has had enough of feeling depressed and lonely therefore he has started to use his money to host huge parties and the slow motion effect shows this happening throughout. At this point you can really understand his path.

Throughout the song there is a lot of cutting to the beat which really makes you feel engaged with the song that you are listening to and the music video that you are watching. At 3:12 there is an example of this where the actor shoots glass and it cuts along with the beat at this point. This happens a lot during the song and is definitely something I will include within my music video.

At around 3:50 in the song the pace of the music starts to get really slow therefore the cuts and slow pans follow in the music video, whilst still cutting to the beat so that you still feel really engaged with the music video. At this point you can see the whole story come together, from slow and depressing music along with slow cuts and pans up to partying with fast cuts and music then back down to a depressed actor again. 

Overall, I love this music video. When you listen to the song without a music video you just enjoy it for the lyrics and rhythm however when you have the music video along side the music you feel like you are a part of the song and you know the story behind it which I find to be a great way of engaging the audience. After watching this music video I would want to watch another of Ed Sheeran's music videos and enjoy those.