Video Analysis

Furthering my research into Ellie Goulding and her 'image', I've found two of her previously released music videos to Analyse:

Ellie Goulding- Guns and Horses
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDwbHeR0UYc

Guns and Horses is filmed in a forest and, as with some of her other videos, the main focus is on her singing but it does involve the interaction with other 'characters'. I've print screened four images that show her in the music video, which all have the same kind of gloomy, blue/green vibe to them that is present throughout the video. The light seems to focus most of the time on her, while the surroundings aren't properly 'dark' but are slightly out of focus. The background dancers are very bright in contrast of the forest's atmosphere. There are a lot of close ups on Ellie's face as she's singing.

The narrative of the video is really just her singing with backing dancers, coming up into a big climax. Her genre of 'electropop' is shown through the fast cuts and toward the end the energetic dancing. Ellie has said that the song is 'about frustration, really' so i think this is reflected in a lot of the shots where the dancing is jerky and fast, a lot of the camera angles are tracking round her, helping the movement to look more fluent but also increasing the idea of the speed and urgency.

Ellie Goulding- The Writer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-ru2glqXAg

The Writer has a much calmer atmosphere to it, but again is set mostly outdoors, this time in a field near a lighthouse. A lot of the time she's surrounded by bright white which is the most electropop part of the video as the rest of the narrative is mainly following her around the field and lighthouse while she sings. It is similar to a lot of pop videos, where the singer is thinking about love and wondering around a 'romantic place' alone.

This video is a lot brighter than 'Guns and Horses' suggesting that the meaning of the song is happier. There is a lot of slow camera movement, especially panning round her and editing to make it look really smooth. This song is gentler than the other and that idea is mirrored in the video.

I think both videos conform to the usual expectations of pop music, in that they are both about relationships (whether positive or negative) and involve locations and camera angles that draw attention to the singer, while there is still a story in there.

In an interview Ellie said:
"I loved folk at first i was going to do an acoustic album, then this guy introduced me to electronic music and i fell in love with it instantly, then i later found out you can combine both folk and electronic music with each other and that's what i did and then this album was created"
I think this idea shows through in her videos, the folk influences particularly in 'The Writer' because open spaces (fields etc) are what people would associate with folk artists.