Luke Bather - 23rd Jan 2017

Ed Sheeran gets nostalgic in the video for 'Castle On The Hill' by George Belfield.

Casting a cinematic gaze back on Sheeran's formative teenage years, the video is a sometimes-sombre, nostalgic look at English small town living. Allowing the restrained, social-realist 'nothing-happens-yet-everything-happens' narrative to guide the film, we watch a young Ed and his pals just try and kill time in the countryside.

Disappointing house parties, dilapidated ruins, and awkward first kisses make up most of the onscreen action. With some great compositions from DoP Steve Annis really helping to highlight the young ensemble's group struggle to find something to fill up the day.

GEORGE BELFIELD:

"I wanted to make a video about young people that wasn’t urban and hard-edged. It's about friendship and boredom in small-town England.

"We street-cast young Ed and most of his pals from real Ed’s old school and filmed around the areas he used to hang out. It’s been amazing to collaborate with him on it, and to work with Dan Curwin again, who commissioned the Kwabs video I made a couple of years ago."