Music Video Analysis 5-

Ellie Goulding ‘Guns And Horses’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDwbHeR0UYc

What is the song about?

I think the song is about romance where the artist is singing about the man she loves. However, it seems he may be scared to be in a relationship because he's

been hurt in the past ('I know you've been burned but every fire is a lesson learned') but she would do anything ('I left my house, I left my clothes, Door wide open, Never knowing, You're so worth it, you are')to take back the past

and erase all his pain he's experienced; it is clear how much she loves him. ('But I wish I could feel all it for you, I wish I could be it all for you, If I could erase the pain and maybe you'd feel the same') With anyone we love, you

generally want to take all negativity and pain away from them to protect them. Towards the end of the song she appears to want to come clean to him and get

things out in the open ('It's time to come clean And make sense of everything, It's time that we found out who we are').

What type of music video is it?

This music video is mainly performance, however, it can be said that a concept idea has been used throughout. Ellie Goulding appears to be singing

throughout and at various parts the artist acts or dances alongside backing dancers. On the other hand, this is not a typical Indie music video performance where the artist or band is seen to be performing with various instruments to a

large audience. This video does, however, contain a concept idea. The music video is located in what looks like some kind of dark woodland, surrounded by men and women dressed in soldier outfits. We cannot tell why these certain

outfits are being used in this particular music video but seeing as though it’s a concept rather than a narrative video we understand that the use of random

images within an Indie music video is quite common.

Ellie Goulding performing with backing dancers.

Music and Visuals:

It could be argued that the song ‘Guns and Horses’ is actually quite a relaxing and mellow song, which is also reflected by the visuals where the image of woodland and fog moving past the artist creates a sense of calmness and

tranquillity. The white horse at the beginning also reflects the gentle sounding music throughout. However, when the music slightly increases in pace, we can

see the artist movements have a fasting cutting rhythm. The upbeat tempo of the chorus is illustrated by the dance moves of both the artist and the actors

present. As soon as the music hits the verses, the audience can see that everything slows down once again and even the actors drop to the floor.

Therefore, I would say that the relationship between the music and the visuals is amplified. Music and visuals reflect one another a lot of the time during the

video.

Image of horse reflecting the gentle sounding music. Also the image of the solider dropping to the ground, when the music slows down again.

Lyrics and Visuals:

Although the relationship between the lyrics and visuals are not illustrative, it can be argued that the relationship is indeed amplifying. We know this

because lyrics such as ‘Let’s join forces’ is reflected by the presence of soldiers and armoury. The presence of soldiers also amplifies the ‘pain’ mentioned in

the song. Along with this, the lyrics ‘you’re so quiet’ is illustrated by the quiet

woodland setting. Lastly, the song title ‘Guns and Horses’, which is repeated various times throughout the song is illustrated by a horse and weapons.

Lyrics ‘You’re so quiet’ illustrated by the artist standing alone in an empty woodland area.

Genre Characteristics:

There are a number of reasons why this particular Indie music video shares the same conventions of most other Indie music videos. The first reason being the use of ambiguity, especially when considering the location used in the video. The video is set with woodlands, an unusual place in comparison with clubs,

and flashy cars or houses used in a lot of RNB or Hip Hop music videos. Secondly, although the artists herself is wearing what we would consider to be ‘typical’ casual clothing (a shirt and leggings), this is untypical of Indie artists as most of them prefer to ‘sell’ their image in unique way. It could be argued that the actors and dancers within the music video are the main aspect that makes this music video ‘different’. They have soldier outfits on with the use of funky

make up and wild looking hair styles. However, unusually the artist Ellie Goulding is performing yet she is not seen to be playing an instrument or even

singing into a microphone, she is dancing along to the music. This therefore does not follow the genre characteristics of the Indie genre, but strangely fits

in with more of the characteristics associated with Hip Hop or RNB music videos.

First two images show the unusual woodland location used in Ellie Goulding’s music video, in comparison with the typical location shown in the other

image, which is Jennifer Lopez’s music video showing flashy cars and houses.

The second two images show Ellie Goulding’s plain and casual clothing in comparison to Florence’s image which can be seen as ‘different’, with her

bright red her and glittery hair pieces.

Demands of the Record Label:

When watching this particular music video, I noticed that there are many close- ups of the artist, which may be one example of the demands of the record label. Close -ups and situating the artist to be centre of the screen

throughout the whole of the music video allows the audience to feel more attached to the artist herself and advertises the uprising artist. Along with this, a popular idea within the Indie genre is being represented as individualistic and

free spirited, an example of the record label reflecting these qualities of the artist is through the use of the artists and dancers free flowing dance moves

throughout.

Image of the free flowing dance moves used in the music video to represent the artist as free spirited.