Music Video Analysis: Ellie Goulding Your Song

Amie

Your Song was a ballad originally composed and performed by Elton John in 1970. Ellie Goulding re-released the single as part of album 'Bright Lights' 12th November 2010 and by Christmas appeared on all our screen as it was the soundtrack for the John Lewis Department Store Christmas TV advert. The music video was directed by Ben Coughlan and Max Knight, and premiered on Youtube on 14th November 2010. It managed to peak at Number 2 in the charts. The video has a homely look on Goulding's life with her friends and her journeys along the way. The single sold 755,326 copies in the UK alone.
Ellie Goulding stars in her own video, the personal video takes us back to her home town and the train station in Hereford. It was well received by the fans as it is personal to the artists and also develops her image. This is a good example of a collage type video which is used by many artists to give it a home video feel which is an effect that I would like to enforce within my music video.

 

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The atmosphere throughout seems very pure and introduces a country girl with many shots of Ellie in the park and all wrapped up in her winter gear always wrapped up warm connoting the cold weather perhaps making it feel christmassy explaining why John Lewis chose to use it (video as shown below). Using it for the Christmas video implies and enforces the homely feel that this song provides and the feeling that it gives someone who is listening to it. The shots of her and friends indicate a trip out almost as if they are filming a memory making the home video look appear and feel very sentimental. The images connote Ellie's values such as the importance of friendship highlight that is what life is about and that is what makes you happy as we often find shots of her grinning and laughing throughout the video. 

The calming tempo of the music creates a relationship with the visual of nature conveying a peaceful setting. The characters outfits proves that Ellie is just a down to earth girl like everyone except the lyrics of the song highlights that she still has the gift of song and it is something that she is able to share.She expressed pure happiness throughout and a love of music as she consistently plays piano creating a soothing atmosphere and her portraying her love of music throughout.

This video in particular does not include an introduction although many do but then the narrative is not overly exhaustive. However the setting does set the tone and mood telling the story of the song. The relationship between the artist and the lyrics of this song can be left to you imagination as it does not overly have a distinctive story line. Although there are now connotations such as 'travelling' which could suggest a journey but here it takes us back Ellie's routes before she was famous as she visits her home town as we quickly see the station sign of 'Hereford' although it is not obvious it remains personal as she shares her life with her fans. Moreover "my gift is my song" expresses that this song shows the artists voice off and this is the gift. The association with gifts also would again have made it perfect for the John Lewis TV Ad. The director does use cuts but it is not faced passed as the tempo matches the music also unlike Andrew Goodwin's focus on voyeurism this is not included within this video at all it remains very authentic and pure. 

The action shot below is although very simple adds a great stylistic feature a represents her on a travelling journey. This type of shot with my own spin on I will 100% try to use within my own video as I really like the way it looks and the effect it has on the story. It almost feels that she is taking her audience on her journey too. The personal touch to this video is definitely what makes it so special and warming. 

 

In the build up to the chorus the viewers are still met with home made videos enhancing the idea of memories giving the audience a insight to her personal life as she develops her image as an artist but also what she is like in her personal life. The lens flare throughout almost accentuates the memories that she is capturing. The collage feel I also love it is used by many artists including Lana Del Rey. I believe it is a cheap yet effective way of the institutions to make music videos. It differs from your traditional rock and roll sort of themed video. A sense of peace is created as nature has a big part to play throughout the entire video and shots of her paddling in the lake with her wellies on. The enhanced colours throughout highlight the pretty side of nature making it only seem more beautiful. 

Goodwin's theory is also exemplified here there are so many close up shots of Ellie Goulding throughout her video as there is a clear desire for her to be seen which is wanted by the audience as they wish to feel up close and intimate to their favourite star. This in turn makes an effective performance which is perhaps something to be considered when making my own video as it is also evident within other music video for example Miley Cyrus- Wrecking Ball. 

The progression of the video continues with her story and we are presented with our star as a very warmly and down to earth kind of girl as she is sitting on the sofa with her cat having a cuppa. This although reflects normal life of many people I chose to analysis this video as in the music video spectrum there actually is not much that you could compare it with it as it is a very unusual feel as its not raunchy or looking for attention its very stripped back and raw which is actually why I think it was so popular. It was so well received and taken well as it was easy watching and aproppriate for all as many videos now days are not suitable for children and many adults in particular are annoyed with what there children are being exposed. The song is a great cover and the video is absolutely beautiful.