Ed sheeran "you need me" video analysis

This is Ed Sheerans video for 'you need me' I choose to analyse this video as it breaks conventions in that the video actually features a person following the song in sign language however looks like he is dancing. At the start of the video its shows a man standing in a dark room as a spot light gradually gets bigger showing the figure, it then goes in a cropped image of a person playing a guitar if you knew who the song was sung by and the type of music they sing you would know that the person is infact the artist however if you didn't then using the cut in showing the guitar gives the artist a sense of mystery leaving the audience wanting to know more, which will make them want to watch the rest of the video. It also shows a cut in of the mans hands looking like he is preparing for something to happen; this along with the low key lighting and black and white colour give the video a dramatic effect which I think the producers wanted to portray maybe because Ed Sheeran is a new artist they wanted to 'wow' the audience.


They use low key lighting in the video using only a back light behind the subject to lighting up the shape but not enough to light up the subject giving a silhouette effect. They have also used spot lights to draw in the audiences eye in to the subject, the fill light also pulses to the sound of  the beat giving the video and extra dimension and the video a sense of depth. It will occasionally go into high key lighting over exposing the room and contrasting the scenes between light and dark yet again attracting the audience.

Throughout the video they use jump cuts to change from scene to scene which changes in time with the beat and also the flashing light in the background. The simple cuts against the dramatic lighting and big preformance give the video a faster look making it look big and spectacular.

They are all dressed in dark casual clothing which relates to the street dancing featured in the video and also the calmed relaxed nature of his music. This well then help him relate to his audience as he wants to attract a young, hip age range to show them he's just like them, which also relates in the song.