ELLIE GOULDING ‘Guns and Horses’

This music video for Ellie Goulding’s ‘Guns and Horses’ is centred around the lyrics. The narrative isn’t completely clear yet there are hidden meanings in the lyrics so the audience can interpret it in different ways.

I think the song is about a guy that she likes, which 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 - and could see 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 find out 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')

LYRICS…

MISE EN SCENE…

The artist is wearing a very casual outfit, this could be so that the audience can relate to her as a person and can show that she’s a laid back person and isn’t represented by the usual stereotype of a singer by being glamorous and elaborate. Also, I believe it shows that she’s a normal person who entered a wonderland as there is a contrast to the dancers elaborate outfits and the whole contrast between the artist and surroundings reflects the lyrics and narrative, making the music video more unique and ‘magical’

The music video is set in a normal forest, however smoke is used to create a magical feel a long with dancers and horses creating an ‘Alice in wonderland’ feel.

CAMERA WORK…

The camera work in this video is very basic and the majority of the time mid shots and long shots are used. I believe this is to keep the simplicity of the video so the audience can really focus on the dancers and mise en scene.

As the video progresses, more close ups are used on the artist faced to show her expressions and emotions when singing the songs.

Trucking and panning is also used throughout, to keep the main focus on the artist so the audience follow her journey.

At 3.25, it looks as if the artist is holding the camera and making an authentic ‘home movie.’ This makes her more relatable.

Due to the lighting, costumes and mise en scene intertextuality is present within this music video. The audience are engaged with the narrative and lyrics throughout.

Throughout the music video the editing matches the beat, this creates a link between the narrative and the music. At the beginning of the music video, different still images are revealed in time with the beat to build suspense, until the music really kicks and the artist is revealed.

INTERTEXTUALITY…

EDITING…