Why did I do this?
Because if we didn't have their permission, they could sue us! It was also a chance to possibly get them to make a cameo in the video (which unfortunately they can't do, as they're busy on tour and promoting a new single in November.)
What did I learn?
I learnt that the band are actually really decent guys, as we've been emailing back and forth about the video. We also went and saw them in concert (they were amazing) and we got a chance to speak to them afterwards in which they seemed really interested in the video and are eager to see the video once it's completed.
Music Video Analysis:
1. Performance Video
Adele - Someone Like You
Whilst this isn't the official music video, this did serve as the music video for a number of months as the song became popular. The video opens with an introduction from James Corden, an actor and comedian in Britain. We then move on to Adele standing on a stage with a piano. It is not the stereotypical music video as it has live audio recording of the performance. However this version was played and requested on music video channels such as MTV and The Box. The recording that was on the radio was the studio recording. The fact that the music video was a live recording did not hinder it's chart performance as it became one of the best selling singles of 2011 and helped promote Adele's album - 21, which became the biggest selling album of 2011. This is an interesting feat as Adele is signed to an independent label which don't usually sell as much music as mainstream record labels as they do not have the ability to promote as well as them.
2. Narrative Video
Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris - We Found Love
This video caused a lot of controversy and ended up being banned in certain countries due to it's content. The video opens up with a monologue from an unseen narrator describing how love can end and how you "sometimes wish you could have all of the bad stuff back, just to feel the good again." A thunder clap is heard and the beat starts. Rihanna is in a room in a denim jacket and her underwear singing around with images projected on to the wall. We then cut to scenes of Rihanna and her boyfriend. They are in a bath together and take drugs. As the beat increases and gets faster, there is an image of weed being smoked and an eye increasing to give the illusion of someone getting high. Rihanna and her boyfriend are then seen getting drunk and playing around in a street in a trolley and in a fish and chip store. Rihanna is then topless in a field running round while her boyfriend watches. This shows that Rihanna is open to her boyfriend and gives him everything but the feeling is not mutual as he is clothed. They then argue in a car, which shows how the relationship begins to fall apart. She gets out of his car and he slams the wheel, as the beat increases again, the eye from previously begins to decrease. This could indicate that love is like getting high, everything seems fine and good when it happens but as you come down, the feelings turn bad. Rihanna then packs her clothes and walks out of her boyfriends flat, presumably dumping him.
3. Conceptual Video
Ed Sheeran - Small Bump
The video is very simple. Ed in a hospital waiting room singing whilst doctors and patients interact around him. For most of the video, it seems quite happy as the lyrics reflect that Ed is becoming a father and is waiting for his girlfriend or wife to come out of a scan. The angles don't really do close ups to show how small or insignificant Ed is compared to the situation. Kids are shown throughout, and patients being brought in. Ed is not the main focus of most of the video, just a background character. Towards the end, the video turns bittersweet and morbid, the video gives a close up to Ed and a girl in the background. Now there is a close up, we can get the feeling of sadness as he sings "you were just a small bump unborn for 4 months then torn from life, maybe you were needed up there but we're still unaware as why." Ed then looks down and the video ends.
