‘Beating Heart’ is a
song recorded by English recording artist Ellie Goulding for the soundtrack to the film Divergent (2014). The song was written by Goulding and Joe Janiak, and produced by Greg Kurstin. It was released on 9 May 2014 as the second single from the album.
‘Divergent’ (2014) was directed by Neil Burger based on the
novel of the same name by Veronica Roth The story takes place in a dystopian post-apocalyptic version of Chicago where people are divided into factions based on human virtues. Beatrice
Prior is warned that she is Divergent and thus will never fit into any one of
the factions and soon learns that a sinister plot is brewing in her seemingly
perfect society.
The music video for "Beating Heart" was
directed by Ben Newbury and shows Goulding in her fear landscape (an original
idea based on the stimulation of fears from the film, Divergent.) The video
begins with Goulding standing in a dark room drinking the simulation serum like
the serum in the film and sees herself in a simulation, where she is in a misty
forest. She meets a mysterious boy in the forest, and as she turns to walk
away, she is pulled closer to him. The simulation ends and Goulding is seen
standing in the same dark room.
The video opens with a focusing in of the wide shot
containing Goulding in the middle of a dark room. The musical breeze sound that
acts as an introduction to the song moves in sync to the focusing of Goulding
in the centre of the room holding a stimulation serum. The black on black mise
en scene which has the purpose to provide viewers with the sense of Goulding’s
reality and the close up shot of her drinking the stimulation
serum portrays
intertextual reference towards ‘Divergent’ scene where Tris drinks the same
stimulation serum. Also, during Goulding’s process of drinking the serum, a
transition occurs with the use of dissolve. This is used to show viewers
Goulding in her fear landscape of the misty woods. Again this idea originates
from the Divergent, using this as a form of advertisement for the film.
The mid shot displaying Goulding in the centre looking back
to the camera begins with the shot slightly blurred, before it starts to clear.
However, before it changes to the close up of her shoes, viewers are not
exposed to a clear resolution of Goulding herself. It may be that the use of
mist and the blurred lense combine to create a heavy headed image, like
something one would experience when they were to wake up from anaesthetics for
example. This shows a steady transfer from the previous shot to this shot and
highlighting the dream- like state that is required of this scene, especially
since Goulding is supposedly in her fear landscape. Also, the close up of
Goulding’s shoes and the blurred lens shot could be considered as shots that
gradually reveal the landscape that she is in and provide an illusion as to the
landscape, allowing viewers to distinguish between reality and dream.
During this shot, Goulding does not sing. This could
correlate to the idea that as well as her being the singer within the video she
is also a part of the narrative the video creates. The camera moving in some
sort of 180 degrees rotation creates the effect in centralising Goulding as she
is in her thoughts could suggest the idea of watching and perhaps a predatory
like manner.
The video also features videos and small clips from the film
‘Divergent’. This could be considered as a promotional music video for the film
itself as well as juxtaposing the two concepts relevant in these two different
types of media. This shows how relevant the music video is to the film and how
the two complement.
I also thought, it would be quite interesting to see the behind the scenes of this music video. The different ways the camera movements were accomplished and Goulding's view on the concept of this music video, it was also nice to see her commentary on the things they were doing.
