Analysis of Music Video - George Ezra - Listen to the Man

The Artist

George Ezra is an English singer-songwriter. After releasing two EPs, ‘Did You Hear the Rain?’ (October 2013) and ‘Cassy O' (March 2014), Ezra rose to “fame” with the release of his hit single ‘Budapest’, which reached the top 10 in numerous countries around the world. Ezra's debut studio album ‘Wanted on Voyage’ (released on 30 June 2014), reached number one in the UK and the top ten in seven other countries. It was also the third best-selling album of 2014 in the UK. Zane Lowe, one of the most popular Radio 1 DJs, called him "one of the most compelling and powerful new vocalists around”. Genres associated with Ezra are folk, blues and rock.

The Record Label

Columbia Records is an American flagship recording label, under the ownership of Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group. Columbia is the oldest surviving brand name in recorded sound. Artists signed to Columbia Records currently include ‘The Vaccines’, ‘One Direction’ and ‘The Script’.

Narrative

Sir Ian McKellen is perhaps the ‘star’ or the music video as the music video is centred on him singing the song rather than George Ezra himself. McKellen attempts to almost steal the song, ‘singing’ it himself, the result being a very comic effect. The main narrative is that George is sat at a bus stop when Sir Ian McKellen comes over and starts to sing his song, much to the outrage of George. There is diegetic sound in the middle of the music video as George and Ian argue however, this is resolved as George realises that Ian isn’t going away and so the rest of the music video is Ian and George playing and singing the song together. In this way, the music video is both narrative and performance based, complementing the happy song with a comedic element. The feature of Sir Ian McKellen also draws much attention to both the music video and the song itself.

Mise en scene

The is one set used through the whole music video which appears to be in a studio with a painted background - which is quite similar to an amateur school play set piece – of a very green landscape with hills etc. There is wooded floors and even curtains at each side of the ‘stage’. In this way the main focus is perhaps not on the set but rather the song itself and the feature of Sir Ian McKellen however, the fact that it is in a studio is suggestive of the narrative being Ian McKellen taking over George Ezra’s music video. However, the fact that the central point to the song is ‘Listen to the Man’, the music video imitates this with George eventually giving into ‘the man’ and performing with him willingly near the end of the video.

Costume and Make-up

The sound of the song relates to Sir Ian McKellen’s Hawaiian style shirt with a summer hat, white trousers and white shoes (Toms). In this way, his outfit is perhaps associated with ‘holidays’ which imitates the summer feel to the song which songs almost like reggae music. George Ezra however wears a black jacket with black trousers and shoes, with an almost contradictory white t-shirt underneath. This could reflect how George was unwilling to go along with Ian McKellen’s dancing and singing until near the end of the music video.

Props
Throughout the music video props are used to give the feeling of the whole video being set at a bus stop thus, there are props such as the actual bus stop sign as well as the bench next to it. In this way, props are used to help the video’s narrative flow and provide more of an understanding about where the video is meant to be set. Since they are not on the actual location it is important that there are props that signify the location and assist the narrative.

Lighting and Colour

The lighting in the music video is very high key reflecting the ‘happy’ sounding song and lyrics. This emphasises the importance of matching sounds to visuals since if the music video had low key lighting and quite a lot of blue rather than yellow in colouring, then the video would appear juxtaposed and not look right so the upbeat song. The fact that there is quite of lot of yellow and green in the video connotes the feeling of happiness and nature, life. Thus, the colour of the video matches the sounds and lyrics of the song.

Sound
The music video incorporates diegetic sound near the middle of the music video as Sir Ian McKellen and George Ezra argue over the performance. The use of diegetic sound complements the narrative since is also provides an explanation as to how they ended up in the situation. Ian McKellen just confirms that he ‘likes the song’ and wanted to sing it. Thus, they carry on with the song, but having resolved the ‘conflict’ they decide to sing together.

Camera Work & Editing
Similar to many conventional music videos, the majority of the shots are mid-shot and in, only becoming a two-shot/long shot to display their ‘dancing’ and therefore convey what they are doing in the right way. The majority of the shots are not placed on a tripod, therefore it adds to the flow of the music video. However, the long-shot is filmed gradually pulling in and later out which gives a variety to the shots used. Throughout the video there are straight cut used in sync with the music.