Treatment - Photograph

A2 Media Coursework – Music Video

Background on Song/Artist• Edward Christopher "Ed" Sheeran is an English singer/songwriter who moved to London in

2008 to pursue a musical career. • His debut album, +, containing the singles "The A Team" and "Lego House", was certified

quintuple platinum in the UK. • In 2012, he won two Brit Awards for Best British Male Solo Artist and British Breakthrough

Act. • He made a guest appearance onTaylor Swift's fourth studio album, Red, He spent much of

2013 touring North America as the opening act for Swift's The Red Tour. • wrote songs for One Direction. • "The A Team" was nominated for Song of the Year at the 2013 Grammy Awards• In autumn 2013 Sheeran performed three sold out shows at New York's Madison Square

Garden as a headline. • His second studio album titled X was released worldwide on 23 June 2014, charting at

number one in the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200.• It was nominated for Album of the Year at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards.

Why we chose this song?• Passionate about artist • Genre of pop and romantic songs is preferable to group members • We liked the lyrics and the message portrayed in the song• The emotional message in the song allows for an emotive music video• We were flooded with ideas when we first heard the song and so

instantly wanted to use the song• It is also a very recent song which no music video has been made for

and we would like the opportunity to create one without other influences

General Ideas• Dance – we want to portray our narrative of a boy-meets-girl love

story through the medium of dance. This allows for a more emotive and unique portrayal of the narrative, rather than through a story.• Artist – we will also incorporate, through montage editing, our

artist singing and playing the guitar, to give an identity to our artist• Artist – we also want people to perceive our artist as ‘human’ and

not glamorised by dancers or external components, and not adhering to the view that artists should be sexualised. • It is also a theme through Ed Sheerans early music videos to only

make cameo appearances in his videos which is an idea which we were drawn to, to focus on narrative and dance rather than the artist, challenging some conventions and stereotypical music videos.

Themes and AssociationsIn order to get a wider view of the themes running through the song we asked class mates and ourselves what we think of when given the word and title of the son ‘Photograph’ – we then made a diagram of these ideas.

Location• We will want to use the school theatre to create our ‘dance hall’ so

that there is a grand back drop to the dance in our music video. • The large dance floor will exaggerate the fact that the two are lovers

and together due to the vast surroundings. • We also use the lighting to create drama in our music video • This locations is also very accessible to us as student in the school and

has many advantages such as lighting, space and a stage.

Costume• Artist – we want to create a normal,

everyday look with our artists, visuals will include • Messy hair • Everyday clothing• Guitar – to create a raw performance • Dancers –• Girl – Chiffon dress to create visuals using

light and to create a flow to the dance • Male – dancers clothing i.e tight top

Editing• When editing our music video we want to create a flow by using long

cuts which are smoothly put together to fit the pace of the song and the romantic message. • Slow motion could be used to create seduction between the couple

and to emphasise certain shots and amplifying the male gaze aspect of music videos within the dance. • We will be playing the song out loud to help the dancers and

performers be in time with the music, this is a technique that we used in many preliminary tasks and proved successful.

Camerawork• We want to keep the camera moving at all times to create

a gentle flow to the music video • We want strong lighting to run through our music video • We also want to use lighting to amplify the romance

between the couple• We will see our music video flip the normal conventions

of 75% of the shots being of the artist and change this to 75% of the dancers and narrative of our song which will be the main focus in our music video• Our shots will mostly be long shots of the couple and mid

shots to see the full range of the dance• When focussing on the artist, close ups will be used to

create identity