Case Study 2

ED SHEERAN- SMALL BUMP   

Directed by Emil Nava

Released- 10/05/12

Small bump talks about someone who has suffered a miscarriage, however it’s written in first person and given from his point of view. The lyrics reflect a lot of emotion and tell a story or a journey that he is going through.

Throughout the video it mainly concentrates on Ed Sheeran and has other characters around him. Since the video was set in a hospital the extra characters featuring had to carry the same emotional aspect as Sheeran to make it more effective. Been set in a hospital gave it a realistic element as  patients were coming in and out, children running and showing nurse/doctor working. The clothing was basic reflecting a basic sad day. Wearing simple clothing made the video more realistic and easy for the audience to relate to. The performance aspect of the video is still very simple and doesn’t try to focus on many things as the purpose the video is to convey a serious topic. Focusing on to much areas diverts the important message been portrayed.

A range of camera techniques were used. They varied between close ups and extreme long shots. The close up been used to show his emotion and the long shot been used to show his setting and what the characters around him were doing. For example at the beginning of the video there was a close up of Ed Sheeran. Few editing techniques were used however the fast forwarding effect was used and so was fading. Fading technique was used to remove the characters out of the scene it was done in a professional and uniform way to take them away from the shot. The cutting rate was at a normal speed which continued throughout the video. As explained in first paragraph the video is simple and doesn't try to incorporate to many elements and is reflected in the cutting rate of the video.

Lip synching was used although the singing was not the main focus, it moved in and out of shots showing him singing as well as showing other features of the video. The performance aspect was simple. His emotion matched what he was singing making the meaning of the song even more affective.  

The target audience may appeal to youths or mature viewers because of what it’s trying to show also that it has a serious aspect to it. However it can appeal to a younger audience they just need to see the link between the lyrics and video.

Ideas I may take when filming may be the fading technique as it’s an effective way to take a character/object out of the filming.  Having a main focus in the video may be something I may choose to incorporate. Also using one main character throughout the filming.