Music Video Analysis - (Ed Sheeran) Small Bump

Director: Emil Nava (2012)
IMAGE

Costume:
- Ed Sheeran & other patients: Ed's costume is fitting to the location in which he is filmed. Ed is in the waiting room area of a hospital ward, and therefore is dressed in casual clothing (sweat top, jeans and trainers). Therefore the audience are able to understand his character role in the video. Ed is often seen wearing similar clothes to those in this video helping to maintain his star image. Dyer states that 2 of the 'Values of Stardom' include Originality and Youthfulness both of which describe Eds image. The other patients are also in casual clothing and using props such as wheel chairs etc. to emphasise to the audience their roles. Ed is wearing no make-up and his hair is slightly roughed up as usual, keeping the continuity with the star image for the audience to relate to.
- Doctor & Nurse: Both are wearing a white uniform. The doctor is also wearing black trousers and smart shoes. The use of professional uniforms indicates their roles in the music video.

Eye Contact:
Throughout the music video no eye contact is made between Ed and the camera. This possibly suggests that he is in his own world and unfocused on what is happening around him. The song 'Small Bump' was written about a close friend of Ed's who suffered a miscarriage at 4 months, and the inspiration is clear in the lyrics, with the video helping to illustrate the feelings and emotions of the lyrics which links to Steve Archers idea surrounding disjuncture, illustration and amplification, with this music video being illustrative of the song rather than amplifying it. As the songs inspiration is clearly portrayed through the music video it doesn't reflect the disjuncture technique. The use of no eye contact works well to reinforce the feeling of sadness and loss.

Set & Location:
The music video is set in a Hospital waiting area/corridor, reflecting the nature of the lyrics and the topic they are about. Also the narrative performance and song performance are linked in this video as the video is only set in one small area of the hospital. This is different to Steve Archers idea 'often music videos will cut between a narrative and a performance of the song by the band'.

Body Language:
Ed's body language is used to emphasise and illustrate the feelings created from the lyrics of the song. He is sat on a chair in the waiting area bent forward resting his elbows and forearms on his knees, looking forward but with his tilted slightly down. His body language gives the impression that he is anxiously awaiting news about someone who is being treated. Combined with the lyrics and the song performance combined with the narrative performance clearly presents the topic of the lyrics and the feelings and emotions they create to the audience.

Colour:
All of the music video is in colour with the main colour scheme of the hospital being blue. The use of a location with cold colours emphasises the fear and anxiety that is felt. This again links to Steve Archers idea of illustration and how the moving images reflects the lyrics and genre of the song.

Types of Shot used:
4 Master shots are used at the start of the music video to show the location (a close up of the clock on the wall, x-ray and medical equipment through a window - emergency room, medical implement disposal bins and a hospital bed through a window). These shots all emphasise that the song topic is serious as it is being filmed in an emergency ward and links to Steve Archers idea of disjuncture, illustration and amplification. In this case the video is illustrative of the song.
The 5th shot is a long and continuous shot, emphasising how time is passing and it is becoming a waiting game which links to the song topic. This shot is a tracking shot which moves slowly down the corridor. As the camera draws level with Ed, it pans right to show a close up of his face. This links to Steve Archers ideas about how 'the meat of most videos is the cut to the close up of the singer's face' as Ed is seen continuously throughout the 5th shot and never disappears out of view of the camera, with close ups of him show twice. The camera continues to pan past Ed and moves backwards in a tracking shot away from him down the corridor. Throughout this patients and hospital staff appear in the shot moving around the area but after a few seconds they fade away, again emphasising to the audience the passing of time and how life continues around Ed but he doesn't seem to notice because he is in his own bubble of fear and anxiety, reflecting how he is putting himself in the shoes of his friend who was the inspiration for the song and again illustrating the feelings and emotions of the song. Again this links to the idea Steve Archer has about the three ways in which music video visuals relate to the song. The camera continues down the corridor before stopping and then begins to move forward up the corridor back towards Ed still with people going about their business. This long continuous tracking shot also creates the effect of someone pacing up and down the corridor as they wait for news, emphasising the feelings of fear and anxiety. Once the camera is almost level with ed it stops moving and pans left to face him from a slight angle and the song come to the end. With the most powerful lyrics of the song coming at the end once the camera has stopped this represents how after all that time has passed his wait is over. The two close up shots of Ed from within the camera pan links to Dyers paradox 2 stating that 'the star must be present and absent simultaneously for the consumer'.
Throughout all of this narrative performance, Ed is also lip syncing to the song and this combines the song and narrative performances, again amplifying the illustration of the song meaning and the emotions behind it through connecting the music video visuals to the song. Also Ed plays the lead role in the narrative, linking to Pete Fraser's ideas around the narrative performance.
Pete Fraser stated in his 2004 'Teaching Music Video' article that 'there are video's which use slow pace and gentler transitions to establish mood', and this is idea is reflected in this music video through the use of the 5th shot which lasts for a majority of the video, allowing the audience to establish the mood of the song. This combined with the people appearing and fading out really amplifies how slow the pace of the video is.

In conclusion, this music video is similar to 'It Will Rain' (Bruno Mars) as it also is illustrative of the lyrics, genre and topic of the song. Also, as the topic of the song is so clearly presented through the video, it allows for a connection to be created between the audience and star, and enables those who have had similar experiences to relate to the song and therefore the star.