Narrative Case Study- 'Give Me Love' Ed Sheeran (version 2; UPDATED)

Give Me Love was released in November 2012 where it reached the top 20s in the UK in 2012-2013 on the Official British Charts.

The song is an indie, pop and folk mix with no obvious meaning. The song has reached 411,744,237 views on Youtube and is one of Ed Sheeran's most popular song, even being used in the cult TV show "Vampire Diaries", giving it even more popularity and momentum.

Figure 1

The music video is centred around an unknown female character (played by Isabel Lucas). The video begins in a messy room where the character is presumed dead with an arrow in her neck, blood spilled behind her. The following scenes then depict her as alive again, suggesting that the video may be a hallucination. It uses a circular narrative, beginning and ending with the same shot type and scene.

Figure 3

Figure 3

The character is distressed and scratches her back and pulls out a white feather from her back. The white has connotations of purity, hope and innocence and as it is a feather has angelic and holy connotations. However, the feather is covered in blood, tainting the representation and suggesting that the girl is a cursed angel or a fallen angel. This may be a biblical reference to the fallen angels, suggesting the girl is sinning as she is hallucinating from drugs. Her hallucination is further followed by blurry mid shots of her with her wings spread against the dark and gloomy room. This elicits her confusion and possible hallucination as the colours are blurred, possibly reflecting her mind. In figure 3 the girl is centre frame, The long shot of her against the background with her wings and arms spread out gives her space and freedom. During her hallucination she is able to leave the dull room and wander the city and she is not confined to one room. The shot has been edited to look hazy as if it is a hallucination and therefore not real.

Figure 4

The protagonist is hiding behind a wall,
showing how she is hidden to others

The hallucination may also be an amplification for her normal life. Throughout the video she is shooting arrows (another reference to Cupid) and causing the one hit to fall in love with the other. The protagonist however is not seen nor acknowledged for what she did. This shows how the girl is never noticed and is invisible to other people and is alone. This is further shown by the the title of the song, "Give Me Love". The title suggests that the girl just wants love however instead she is the one giving it to others whilst receiving no love herself, which is why she seems solemn and melancholic throughout the video.

Figure 5

Figure 6

Entire video is a hallucination from drugs as in the beginning and end there is an ambulance suggesting the main character has overdosed on drugs and the arrow mimics the arrows she uses. It’s a hallucination as she is giving out love in the form of cupid’s arrows, an inter-textual reference to cupid. The hallucination be an amplification of her normal life by amplifying how she feels that all she does is help others without being noticed. In the visible she is invisible to other characters, unseen nor noticed, showing how she is there to help them with no reward. In many shots she is shown to be alone, barely occupying the shot. In figure 4 she is occupying only one third in the frame, reflecting her lack of presence. She is easily missed and this motif is used often in the video. In figure 5 her presence is even less, being barely noticeable except for her tiny silhouette in front of the blue lights. As the story progresses her presence increases. 2 shots after figure 5 there is a closer shot of her, increasing her presence in figure 6. Her presence continues to increase as the music begins a crescendo in a middle 8 section of yelling and shouting. The music becomes forte and intense and the imagery mimics the pace of the song by the quick cuts and close ups of the protagonist. The close ups of her show her in a dazed state, once again eliciting the hallucinogenic state she is in. Within the sequence she continues to cause people to fall in love but she stabs the arrow into their back rather than shoot them and she is still unseen, showing her invisibility to the others and how she is beginning to accept her invisibility. Once the sequence ends there are shots of a team of medics going to the room in the beginning intertwined with shots of the girl's silhouette dancing in front of a light. This may show that she is currently hallucinating the entire video and is moments from death. However, one of the final shots is figure 1. There is a small change in that the arrows disappears in smoke and her eyes open, followed by a blurry shot of a medic from a point of view shot.This may show that the entire video was a hallucination as she began to die however she was saved, possibly making a statement towards drugs and their dangers.

Figure 7

Alternatively, the wings on her back may symbolise angels and show how the girl is dying or dead and is ascending to heaven. The lack of attention from any other characters may reflect how she is invisible as she is dead and about to move on. However, in the end she is saved and the point of view shot is blurred, possibly showing how she has been sent back to life due to her helping others find love. The song has no real definite meaning so either interpretations may be correct.

Within the video Chomsky's theory can be applied. The idea that "we need stories to be comprehend human existence" can be seen here. The title "Give Me Love" is self-explanatory but Ed Sheeran wants the audience to really understand there story so the music video can show that. As a society we disregard overdose however this music video thrusts the topic into the spotlight in order for us to try and comprehend the existence of drugs and their effects.

Also, Straus' theory can also be applied. His idea that "the heart of the story is significant-not the story conveyed" is evident.The idea of overdose and ignorance towards teenagers is the meaning as opposed to an angel causing others to fall in love. The actual actions are no important but rather the small shots that seem insignificant. In figure 5 the main character is barely visible and this is a major part of the "heart" of the story as it shows how the main character is ignored by others.

Album Covers

Representation Case Study- Hozier's "Take Me to Church" and the Representation of sexuality.

Hozier's "Take Me to Church" was released in 2014 where it began to receive nominations and awards. It was nominated for MTV's Video Music Award for Best Direction, Best Rock Video and it won MAD's Music Video award. It topped the charts in 12 countries including the United States top adult 40.

Figure 1

The music video is focused around 2 homosexual males whose sexual identity is discovered by the community leading to violence. The video brought the fears of the LGBT community to the media, showing the violence the community faces. The music video focuses on a narrative with no performance element, a common theme amongst Hozier's other music videos such as Cherry Wine.

Figure 2, the first shot of the bonfire

The first issue within the music video is that there is no equality between gay and straight people. This is elicited through the use of the circular narrative where the first shot is of the bonfire (figure 2) and the last shot is of the bonfire, although in the last shot there is a homophobic group around the fire. The use of the circular narrative reflects the hate crimes within societies as the attacks keep happening and often those who commit those crimes attack again. The repetition of the shots of the fire supports this as the fire becomes a master-shot as it is often referred back to, showing the hate harboured by certain people as fire has connotations of anger due to its bold colours. Although in the video is it grey scale the meaning of anger is still present. Also, the inequality is shown in figure 1. The large bonfire behind the men causes for there to be a strong chiaroscuro effect. This sharp contrast of light and dark reflects the opposition between straight people and gay people within the shot. The grey scale throughout the video continues to feed the idea of opposition between gay and straight people, portraying gay people as lesser and weaker than straight people.

Figure 4

Also, straight people, within this music video, are presented as hateful and dangerous. The dark silhouettes in front of the bright bonfire portray the straight group as hateful and to an extent demonic as the fire has hellish connotations and due to the grey scale the males are completely black. They are surrounding a male on the floor who is the gay male as they beat him showing the unequal balance that is rooted in society. This links to Hozier’s main purpose which is to criticise the Church’s beliefs towards gay people (hence the title “Take Me to Church”) and to reflect the hate crimes that happen too often within societies, particularly in America. The referral back to shots of fire reflects the hate within the straight people towards the LGBT community and more specifically the gay protagonists. Also, the fire may represent how hate can spread to generation to generation, person to person as fire spreads to house to house. The straight people within the video attack one of the protagonist and as we, the audience, are positioned on the side of the protagonist we begin to resent and build a prejudice towards the straight people. Many gay viewers will take this prejudice and see straight people as dangerous and hateful and therefore Hozier's music video may have incited new hate within the LGBTQ community towards straight people. The straight people within the video are presented as dangerous due to the parallels drawn between them and the KKK. In figure 1 the large bonfire surround by masked people has connotations of the KKK's rituals, presenting straight people as dangerous, hateful and even evil. This representation seems as though it is a hyperbole however the music video draws upon real life events, reflecting hate crimes on the LGBT community and therefore raising awareness for the issues the community faces with society. Additionally, the costume worn by the straight people is matching, showing unity within the straight community that have united to attack the gay community. In figure 4 the male in centre frame is wearing a bandanna, representing how the straight people are hiding their real identities. This further elicits that the straight characters know what they are doing is wrong and illegal and yet they are attacking an innocent, gay man. This is a huge statement Hozier is making as it truly reflects the hidden hate harboured by some societies towards the LGBT community, founded on prejudice with no real reason. The shot overall presents straight people as the antagonists, having no motivation for the attacks. As well as this, the beginning of the chorus starts with a chromatic descent from G to F# and then F. This creates discord within the song which shows how straight people are wrong to attack gay people for their sexuality as the discord does not belong within the key of G major. This therefore presents straight people as hateful as they know what they are doing is wrong and their actions do not belong to current society and yet proceed to attack them anyway. 

Figure 3

Thirdly, gay people are presented as scared. This is done through the shots of the gay character running. The shots of the character running is filmed through a handheld camera causing the shot to shake, mirroring the response to fear within humans. The shaking of the camera places the audience in a position of panic as the character is running as well as the frame is shaking so the audience begins to worry for the character's safety. Also, there is a shot where one of the gay males is running down a narrow corridor (figure 3). The narrow corridor is claustrophobic, panicking the audience once again as the gay character is beginning to become trapped, foreshadowing the capture of one of the males during the climax of the video at the end. The decline down the staircase juxtaposes against the rise in pitch during the "deathless death" lyric during the chorus. The decline down the corridor may reflect the decline into hell as he is going down, linking to the song's criticism of the Church's belief. Due to the composition of the shot, with the walls coming into the middle of the shot and aligning upon the rules of thirds, the shot has an effect of being chased. The walls are encasing and almost following the character, portraying gay people as hunted and therefore scared.

Figure 5

Figure 6

Another way sexuality is represented in this music video is that gay people lack the freedom that straight people have. This is first shown by the use of the chains around a box (figure 5) which is being buried, signifying the physical manifestation of the burying of the character's identities. Due to the prejudice and hate towards gay people the character's must hide themselves and bury their true identity to protect themselves, once again showing the struggle the LGBT community faces everyday. The chains also have connotations of prison and may have an alternative meaning to reflect the laws in some countries that prohibit homosexuality that can be punishable by incarceration.The removal of freedom within homosexuals is once again illustrated in figure 6. The plane is free to fly through the sky whereas the gay males are stuck within the small community, surround by hate. The plane is small, occupying only one point on the third within the shot showing how far away freedom is, reflecting the distance humans as a whole must go to achieve freedom for all to love who they want. Also, in figure 7 the bars look similar to those of a jail cell. This removes the character's freedom and takes away their rights. Jail is for criminals and therefore it places them in a position where they have committed a crime when in reality they have not. This removes their freedom and represents gay people as having no freedom and reflects how gay people are wrongly imprisoned and targeted based on prejudice.

Storyboard

Annotated Lyrics of our song.

The Pitch

Our Music Video is following an 18 year old girl who witnesses a party rather than being a part of the party. As she visits rooms she sees separated scenarios, creating a multiple-stranded narrative. As the party progresses the scenarios escalate quickly, reflecting the dangerous undertone parties often hold. The protagonist visits the first room to witness a couple arguing. She then wanders into the kitchen to witness beer pong as well as witnessing a pair of males sprinkling an unknown powder into a drink. She leaves the room and she discovers a girl passed out in a bedroom next to an opened bottle of enigmatic pills and a male character in another who lay with a note in his hand, un-moving.

The characters are highly Americanised in order to create a cliche party scene. The cliches are later used to subvert the ideologies held towards parties. For example, the sporty, popular character who will have committed suicide. This challenges the audience's own knowledge and preconceptions of characters as they would assume he would not die.

Updated version//
The music video follows a similar narrative in that there are separate scenes which are passively observed by the main character. For example, one of the first narratives observed includes a male character dancing suggestively with a female and then his boyfriend separates them. Then, later on in the music video the same couple are on the stairs having an argument. As well as this, another "jock" character is in the bathroom with a girl drinking and then is seen walking out with the girl who is in an intoxicated state, casting a dark undertone to the song in order to reflect the bubbly synth sound juxtaposed against the dark, drug-related lyrics.

Music Video Characters & Initial Ideas (Updated)

We initially began to mind-map our ideas before we chose specific roles. This allowed us to splurge our ideas onto a page where we could then narrow the roles down and allocate characters to actors.

Our music video was formed from the different character types so creating different characters was the most important aspect of planning.

We then noted down the scenes and which scene required which character. For example, scene 3 is the scene in which the main character is in the hall. The scene would include the main character and so, to create our party atmosphere we need some characters in the hall.We then tallied how many characters we'd need: 6 boys and 6 girls.

We then wrote down each character type we wanted and began to give roles to actors. Initially we could not find actors however as time went on we were able to get the important characters.

Preppy Inspiration- A style which
combines the high formality, typically
seen in Cambridge, with a fashion-conscious.
It was originally a style associated with private school
children who are wealthy.  Its roots began to grow in 1912
from the Ivy League; establishing itself in the 1950s. By 1980
it had become its own, categorised style, being marketed by
huge fashion labels such as Lacoste. In the 21st century the
style has evolved into a simple mix of formality with an avant-grade feature;
something that is different. This usually is in the form of bracers or a bow tie.

This character is based on
the "preppy" fashion style
as we want to have a wide
scope of personalities. The
mix of formal shirt and bracers
with a bow-tie is a whimsical
style, showing another personality.

  This character is inspired by our Thriller
Opening I did last year and is therefore
our inter-textual link to our Thriller Opening.
The red dress connotes danger. seductiveness
and passiob.

Our jock inspiration- we took our character idea from Ryan Shay from the sitcom
Suburgatory. The character adorns a classic varsity jacket which we
 decided to swap out for a  burgundy bomber jacket. We also changed
 the blue colour to a simple black  jeans and white top.

   This character is based
heavily on the American
"jock" aesthetic to match
our American-like House
Party setting

Mean Girls Costume Inspiration

                    This character is based off
the film "Mean Girls" as we
want to have a wide range
of character and personality
types.

This character takes inspiration
from a "gangster" sub-culture.

 Similar to our "gangster"
character, this character is
inspired by the sub-culture of
"chavs". 

Chav and Gangster inspiration- we decided to split this into two separate characters. This fashion style entered the scene rather late in the 1970s,  most notably brought in by Adidas. The fashion rose to popularity by Will Smith during his appearance on  "The Fresh Prince of Bell Air". In the 21st century it is now associated with snapbacks and low-waisted jeans. However, we wanted to try use a 90s style of gangster/ hip-hop so we wanted to use chains and hats.

This is our main character. An enigmatic, mysterious and invisible main character, observing the party as if she is a fly on the wall. Her casual costume presents her as a care-free character who does not want to be at the party.