Analysing A Music Video

Ed Sheeran - The A Team
Directed by Ruskin Kyle





The A Team is a song by folk artist Ed Sheeran. The single was released in the UK on June 12 2011 and served as the lead single from his studio album '+'. The single was a success and debuted at number 3 in the UK top 40.

The song was written by the artist himself following a last minute performance at an event for the homeless, the song and music video tell the story of a heroin addicted prostitute.

The music video itself follows the narrative of the song. It follows a very naturalistic display of the story. The video is filmed completely in black and white which is a rarity among music videos, although some artists have opted to use this effect such as Jay-Z with his single 99 Problems. The black and white effect gives the video more of an artistic approach.

The director of this video has used a variety of different shots including lots of close ups. The camera work is mostly hand held, to me this gives the idea that the video is done from the point of view that someone is watching the young prostitute.

The target audience for this music video would be fans of Ed Sheeran and the younger population under the age group 16 to 24. The place where the video gained most of its view from is from the website 'youtube' as of 10/10/11 it had received over 12 million views. Another place which the music video will have had airplay is on the various UK music channels.