Analysis of “The A-Team” by Ed Sheeran

The video starts of showing us a close up of someone crying, but then we know she is crying because a girl who she probably knew is laying next to her dead. Then there is a close up of the women who is dead, the close up then becomes a medium shot. The video is in black and white, and the woman is staring at the camera, and we can here sounds of birds chirping, this effective because it gives the audience a cold feeling, we can tell that the dead woman maybe had a hard life, a colourless life.

After this we see the dead woman sleeping and then sitting on the bench, she is wraps her self with a blanket, when she walks off we see that she is not completely dressed, which could mean she doesn’t have money to buy clothes.  From this scene I assume she is very poor and homeless. In the background there are dead trees, maybe the meaning of having them in the background is to show that trees are slowly dying and maybe she is. Then she walks around the park, she looks like she is enjoying the weather, I can tell because a medium shot is used which allows us to see her facial expression which is happiness. We can tell that this location brings her peace.

The next scene takes place in an urban area, and by the use of close ups we can see the mood has changed. She looks depressed, hungry and weak, and I assume she is depressed because of the things she has to do for example begging. She is probably hungry because she don’t have enough money, and she is weak because she isn’t eating enough or regularly.

She stands near the fence and sits on the pavement begging and she see things go and come, in the editing stage the video speed has been increased for certain amount of time. This is effective because as it shows that her life is a stand still, no progress is made and that she is stuck in the same situation everyday. In the print screen below, the close up allows me to assume that the woman is beginning to give up, and that she is exhausted of the life she lives. We can see that she wants to cry as we see her eyes tearing up.

In the next scene she is getting ready and she goes to a parking lot, where a car stops next to her. At this part the Ed Sheeran sings “sells love to another man, its too cold outside”, this is effective as the lyrics is now being explained with the use of the video.  Then she goes to his hotel room, and before anything happens she takes the money out of his pocket, and a close up is used to show this, it is effective as it emphasizes that what she does is only for the money, as she needs the money to survive. Yet when she is finished, she has a sad, dead facial expression. We then see her buy drugs with money she just earned, and she goes into her room and commits sucide by inhaling too much. I assume she gave up, and that she couldn’t take anymore. What makes the ending so effective is that close ups are used and we see what she does and what she prepares, and her serious face.