Media coursework

2. One of my favourite music videos is Ellie Goulding’s On My Mind. The song is all
about an ex boyfriend of Ellie’s and mixed emotions she has towards the
relationship. The music video illustrates the meaning of the song by telling the
story of a relationship between two people turning sour and uses different
locations/settings in order to show the feelings that Ellie has about the
relationship. For example the video uses a gambling theme and uses Las Vegas
to signify that. The fact that gambling is shown can express the fact that Ellie
feels like she is taking a risk with the relationship as gambling denotes taking a
risk or chance.
The lyrics to the song suggest that even though Ellie doesn’t have feelings for
her ex anymore she is hung up on him in her head as the line ‘But my heart
don’t understand why I got you on my mind” suggests clearly. The line in the
song ‘You got yourself in a dangerous zone, but we both got the fear, fear of
being alone’ hints that from the start she had doubts about the relationship
being healthy.

3. In the video a close up shot and long shot shows Ellie pulling an
expressionless face while the man playing her boyfriend/lover shouts and
her and storms around the room, showing his anger. This indicates that
she is feeling trapped in the relationship and feels like she is being
controlled as she is forced to stay quiet while the male character yells at
her.

4. Later on in the video Ellie is seen being joined by
a friend while they are both riding horses towards
the casino that her boyfriend owns. This suggests
that Ellie has had enough and is eager to seek
revenge on her boyfriend and gain the upper hand
as the fact that she is riding a horse suggest that
she is ready for a battle/fight as normally these
are the connotations associated with horses.
Also at the end of the video a long shot is used to
show Ellie riding away from the casino. This can
used as a visual to the fact that Ellie has now
broke free from the relationship and is finally
escaping the suffocating relationship as one of
the connotations of riding a horse is that it give a
sense of freedom.

5. The On My Mind music video follows the typical stereotypes of pop genre by
telling a narrative, which is commonly seen in pop music videos. Also pop music
videos are known to have some whacky elements in them and the fact that Ellie
rides a horse through a casino in the video is a perfect example of this. However
the video does go against one major stereotype of a pop music video, which is
that there is generally a dance routine performed but there is none featured in
this music video.
In the video Ellie is seen wearing some very provocative outfits and is even
naked for parts of it. This a perfect example of Voyeurism as even though I don’t
think the shots are intended in an sexualized way, the fact that she is a naked
woman will appeal to the male gaze as in todays society a women seen wearing
anything remotely revealing is immediately linked with being sexual and erotic.

6. Rapid editing and smooth transitions are used in the video in order to match the beat
of the song with the visual of the video.
The lyrics to the music can easily be linked to the visual of the music video as quite
literally when we hear ‘now I’m in a hotel with you’ Ellie is seen in a hotel room with the
man that plays her boyfriend/lover.
The On My Mind music video can be used to prove Carol Vernallis's theory of sound in
a music video. At the start of the music video the sound effects are used to match the
visual of the video, then the music is introduced quietly and becomes louder over time,
this can prove her theory that the sound in a music video can be revealed slowly as we
don’t hear the music straight away but quite a while into the video. Ellie is seen
moving her body to the music, for example in the video Ellie crosses and uncrosses
her legs, this movement matches the beat of the song at that particular moment. This
is evidence to prove Carol Vernallis's theory ‘ Characters may move to the music’. Also
the video can be used to demonstrate Carol’s theory that there my be gaps in the
audiences understanding of the story, for example when this shot in shown in the
video we hear the lyrics ‘You don’t mess with love you mess with the truth’ and
because the music doesn't’match the visual at this point and it is at the beginning of
the video, the audience may be temporarily confused as to what is happening.