Music Video Analysis- Ed Sheeran: The A Team

The music video for Ed Sheeran’s ‘The A Team’ is very simplistic and was produced on a budget of only £20 by two amateur directors. It follows a circular narrative structure, however it is non-linear; we start off from the end before being show how the protagonist ended up where she is now.

There is a clear link between visuals and lyrics; the narrative follows the true story (through actors) of a young girl named Angel who is involved in prostitution and the consumption of class A drugs- hence the name ‘The A Team’.

It’s an acoustic song with a guitar being the only notable instrument. It follows as Soul/Folk genre. This and the fact the song is about such a dark subject tells me it’s aimed at an audience of 14+.

Shots: Birds eye, Close Up

Lyrics: Birds Sound Effect

Edit: Cut Edit

One of the first shots we see is an extreme close up of the protagonist face as she lies dead on the floor. The purpose of this shot is to evoke emotion out of the audience- they want you to feel empathy towards her. For me this shot connotes one of two things:

The angle in which the shot of her face is taken at could indicate that she is being watched over by the ‘angels’ referred to in the song. So we’re watching the video from their perspective.

It could also denote vulnerability. A lot of people believe that before you die your life flashes before your eyes; therefore the fact that there is such a focus on her face could be indicating that we’re watching how she ended up where she is now from her own perspective. Her eyes are acting as the window to her soul.

During this part of the music video the song has not yet faded in; the only thing that can be heard is the sound of birds. We relate birds to nature, they create a calming and peaceful sound; I believe this means that she is in a happier place now.

The entire music video is shot in black and white. Black can connote a lot of things including death and strong emotions- it’s the colour we think of during a time of mourning. I think the colour is a representation of her life- it was very bleak.

Shots: Long Shot

Lyrics: Instrumental- acoustic guitar

Edit: Cut Edit

I believe that this shot is very powerful; it represents the protagonist’s entire life. The mise en scene is very bare and lifeless, there isn’t much going on around her. The only thing we can see are trees in the distance and the protagonist lay across a bench; the shot gives off a very isolated feeling which is a perfect connotation of her own life. The trees are very stark which could be a representation of her own emotions; from what we can see she has nothing going for her. The fact the trees are slowly dying could be showing that she is slowly killing herself.

Although it is shot in black and white we can tell that the footage was taken on a very overcast day, therefore natural lighting is used. By giving the song a narration it helps the audience to relate with the song more; It’s such a dark song with a very emotional message, so making it a performance based music video would take away from them meaning. By illustrating the song and placing a link between visuals and lyrics the audience can empathize with the protagonist more.

Shots: Mid Shot

Lyrics: ‘Long night, strange me’

Edit: Cut Edit

This shot slightly contradicts the rest of the music video depending on how you look at it. We can see that in this shot the protagonist is facing away from the camera with her arms embraced outwards. On one hand you could say that she is embracing life and her freedom. However, I believe that a more reasonable view point is that she is embracing the fact that she made it through another night and is still here today. Prostitution and drugs play a major part in this song; the lyrics during this particular shot are ‘long nights, strange men’. She’s happy that daylight had has now come and just for a few hours she can forget all her fears and the dangers that come at night from prostitution; she’s safe for another day.

Whilst natural lighting is used throughout the entire music video, there is always more of an emphasis on her face. We can see it very clearly in detail. This up close and person shot allows the audience; we are being drawn into their personal space and get an understanding for their feelings. It can be emotionally distressing for one person to watch another person upset-

this is what this shot aims to do. Tears eventually become visible which shows us that she very vulnerable.

The pace of the song is quite slow; therefore only cut edits are used. At beginning of the music video we see the camera track the protagonist; this is to convey the fact that she is the main focus.

We can clearly see Levi-Strauss’s theory being used in the music video- he believed that all narratives contained binary opposites. In the case of this music video it’s life and death. The protagonist is struggling to live day by day and eventually dies- her life has to continue no matter what.