Heaven Essay

With reference to Emeli Sande's 'Heaven', how realistic are the representations offered by the video? In your answer, you should consider the social and cultural context.


Emeli Sande's music video for her song 'Heaven' is a conceptual video that displays themes of struggle and hope. The music video was shot in Bethnal Green, East London which is a way to create empathy with the target audience as the area is local to some and likely well known to audience members who live in London. The video is composed of shots of different people who belong to different genders, social classes, age groups etc, who all appear to be struggling in some way. The decision to use Bethnal Green as the location to shoot the video establishes it as urban and real as many of the audience members have probably been there or are able to identify it. This makes the music video much more realistic and believable to the audience, implying to them that the struggles that are presented in the video are real. The video consists mainly of long shots and close ups which contrast each other however both serve individual purposes. The long shots are used to show the setting that the people are in to establish their position in life and society. These are contrasted by the close ups which utilise direct address to break the fourth wall and connect with the audience so that they can understand and relate to the music video, forming empathy. Often times when the camera pointed towards Emeli Sande a low angle is used to portray her as dominant and having greater significance. The lyrics are often synchronised with a shot that either personifies or just displays what the Emeli Sande is talking about. The cuts and editing are set at a mediocre pace, giving enough time for every person shown in the video to have their lifestyle and struggle exhibited to the audience. The music video is heavily theological as it links to the concept of heaven and there is angelic symbolism throughout the video. This of course suggests that the people shown in the video and Emeli Sande herself are heavily reliant on the concept of God and religion and are desperately trying to overcome the struggles of the current world and ascend to heaven. This is further suggested by the constant shots of Emeli praying and glimpses of the sky which is where heaven is known to be. This could however cause controversy amongst the audience as many of them may belong to different religions and have believe in different things or may not believe in heaven and God at all. Perhaps, the music video was intended to broaden the perspective of some audience members who may not agree with the ideas and concepts presented in the music video or the music video may just be targeting those who believe in God & heaven in a similar sense, maybe those who belong to Abrahamic religions as they follow very similar tradition of God.