Ed Sheeran 'A-Team' music video full textual analysis

Ed Sheeran's 'A-Team' Music Video Full Textual Analysis

Ed Sheeran’s ‘A Team’ music video contains one predominate narrative which explores the despairing and miserable reality of homelessness with in London in the 21^stcentury. The music video has one reoccurring character played by Selina MacDonald, who is a woman in her mid to late twenties, battling a crippling crack cocaine addiction which subsequently kills her owing to an overdose. The video starts by vertically panning away from her face, which mirror her lifelessness being drawn from her body. It is Significant in ‘A-Team’ that the character with the drug addiction is female, this is contrasting with media stereotypes that portray drug addictions to be prevalent among homeless male owing to the statistic that 68% of homeless males are in their condition owing their substance abuse. However, the increase in female consumption of narcotics is more radical than that of men, since 2010. Selina is of White British ethnicity, this is fundamental owing to her ethnicity being the most widespread among addiction owing to this Ruskin Kyle, who both filmed, edited and produced the video, is creating an accurate view of homelessness and addiction in a post-modern Britain. The music video was filmed in Islington, a borough of London where homelessness is a major social issue. It was reported prior in 2016, before the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader that two-thirds of homeless people had been turned away by their local council. Since these numbers have been brought to the attention of the government the figures have improved. Selina MacDonald is portraying an archetypal character through the way she enters prostitution to fund her addition.  

The use of cinematography captures the damaging effect of crack cocaine along with the how homelessness can brutality affect an individual’s rationality leading them towards a desperate and dark state. The video starts by portraying Selina MacDonald’s character as a free-spirted, careless woman, this is owing to how the video captures her striding through trees and admiring their existence. The use of a worm’s eye shot connotes her freedom, which may be a subtle reference to how psychedelics mentally affect an individual. Kyle has chosen to use a low angles medium shot to a pay homage to Frank Darabont’s 1993 American drama ‘The Shawshank Redemption’. This intertextual refence is anchored through the way MacDonald widens her arms and looks up to the sky, identical to that of Andy following his escape from prison. This stance has been iconic with wider society owing to it association with freedom. As MacDonald is walking through Angles’ high street. Kyle opted to use an extreme low shot, that exposed her ripped tights. This signifies that MacDonald is unable to buy suitable clothing but reinforces her suffering owing to her addition. The exposure of her skin during winter nights signifies her desperation and lack of will to overthrow her current situation due to the loss of hope. This emotive shot was proposed by Kyle to stress the intolerable truth of homeless and its scaring consequences on an individual. MacDonald resorts to selling the ‘Big Issue’ on the streets of Angle. This is shown through a range of long shots which switches to a medium shot as Ed Sheeran approaches MacDonald, this brings the audience of the video closer to Sheeran through the presentation of his unassuming and generous nature which is reinforced by his appeal to raise awareness of homelessness and substance abuse in his video. Kyle decided to track across a sign that advertising the improvement of Angle. This is juxtaposed against those whose lives cannot be improved by the government let alone their local area. The use of time lapses within the video helps to anchor the desperation the MacDonald faced. Time lapses helped to exaggerate the amount of passer byers who are unwilling acknowledge homelessness and help those who so sincerely need it within society. As the time lapse is a long shot, MacDonald’s whole body is the focal point of the footage, with the public, moving hastily above her. This is Signiant as she both physically and metaphorically underneath them owing to her current social status. As MacDonald is sat on the floor in a sleeping bag, kyle cuts in to a shot of a face using an extreme close up. The use of an extreme close up enable tears, twinkling in the light to be reflected strengthening the relationship between the audience and MacDonald as her suffering and desperation that is ignored by the masses is emotive. The Chiaroscuro lighting in this shot, helps to anchor her sombre mood owing to how lighting captures her teary eyes contrasted against a black sky line connoting misery and desperation. Within the narrative MacDonald si forced into prostitution in order to fund her drug addiction. MacDonald is sexualised through the way the camera tracks a man’s hand that caresses her left thigh. This shot is striking as it conveys the theme of both hopelessness and despair. The sordid action of the man paying her for sex presents how disreputable individuals within society have the potential to take advantage of those who are financially dependent on prostitution, both degrading and humiliating them, through their violations. This theme is anchored through a medium shot of both MacDonald and her paying client in bed together the following morning. The disgust on her face is conspicuous for the audience fuelling sympathy for her despite her unfavourable addiction. 

MacDonald in her first scene is conveyed to have had an overdose. This is signified by Kyle choosing to a fade her shot out. This represents the life leaving her body and the waste that she invested into drugs, which proclaimed her life. The pace of shot transitions after the first half of the music video. The first half of the narrative has slow shot transitions, this is owing to the sombre mood of the narrative which is highlights social realism within post-modern Islington. The sombre mood is reinforced by Kyle’s decision to use a monochrome filter. This is significant as it helps to construct an emotive and reflective mood. As the music video progresses, the transitions speed starts to increase, this is mirrored by MacDonald having withdrawal symptoms. The fast transitions signify her inability to rationalise her situation forcing here to overdose as she cannot control the state that she has inflicted upon herself.  

The Mise en scene of Ed Sheeran’s ‘A-Team’ music video is significant owing to how it allows Kyle to Successfully anchor his theme of social realism and portray a narrative for those in society who are both ignored by the public and the establishment. In the first half of the narrative MacDonald has tangled and knotted hair which emphasises her carelessness owing to the lack of interest in her from the general public.  MacDonald starts with a natural appearance which shows her vulnerability. This is important as it creates an emotive connection between her and the audience. MacDonald later applies make up to sexualise herself, before entering the world of prostitution and selling herself to a sordid man, exploiting her in a position of desperation. The sexualisation of MacDonald is reinforced by the netted stocking she wears. The stockings are made the focal point as the man caresses her thigh, they signify her desperation to earn money from any means to fund her addiction. MacDonald also resorts to wearing low cut revealing clothing to increase her appeal to her paying customer. The choice of clothing shows her willingness to sell her body owing to the lack of hope from the establishment to gain a living.  Contrastingly, MacDonald has chosen to wear a pair stiletto’s, which glamourizes herself, showing her a touch of elegance despite her awful situation. Throughout the majority of the video, MacDonald wears an oversized black trench coat. This signify her concerning economic situation as she is unable to afford sufficient fitted clothing that are suitable for her. The choice of wearing a grey hoodie underneath her trench coats is significant as the colour grey has connotations of dullness and woebegone. The grey hoodie shows her vulnerability when she chooses to place the hood over her head. This enables MacDonald to present her unguarded nature, which allows an audience to sympathise with her. In vast amounts of the footage, MacDonald is either sitting in or holding a sleeping bag. Sleeping bags are signifiers of homelessness and allow audiences to recognise her sole option to sleep on the streets. MacDonald tries to earn a living through selling the Big Issue, this is important as within British cultural the Big Issue provides both ex-convicts, drug addicts and homeless people a second chance, through offering them an opportunity to earn a living. The whole music video is shot in Islington. This is significant as the area is the one of the most densely concentrated area of homeless people, emphasising the situation hoping to raise awareness. Furthermore Islington has deep historic relations with the Labour Party, the centre-left political party, who advocated democratic socialism in the hope to achieve better living standards for all in society.