Video Analysis According to Goodwins Theory

Analysis of David Guetta- Titanium f.t. Sia

Titanium was released in 2011, as part of the album 'Nothing but the beat' by the artist David Guetta featuring Sia. This song falls into the house, dance/electronic genres. Titanium talks about our inner strength and being strong within ourselves. Throughout the song many literary elements are used to portray the song, such as metaphors, imagery and symbolism. When bad things happen we must stand strong and not fall. 

·        I feel as though this song and video are very narrative based as there is a clear meaning and story behind the song. This can be seen by the story that is systematically playing out in the video, of a boy with super powers that has caused chaos in this small town in America. For the reason I feel this is mainly narrative based with no performance is because there isn’t anything in the video that could be classed as audience entertainment or that has been purposefully placed in the frame for entertainment. The video starts mid storyline, causing audiences to be confused to what is going on and makes them pay attention to the video. This can be seen as a good thing as it is making audiences pay more attention to this specific video than they would any other ‘normal’ video as it has an actual storyline like a short film. However, this could also be seen as a bad thing as it means that audiences actually have to pay attention to the meaning behind the song to understand it, juxtaposed to just listening to the audio of a song that isn’t very narrative based. Overall I think It is a very good idea that David Guetta has chosen to present his story like this as the song actually has meaning and an understanding behind it.       

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          Throughout the whole video the use of colour isn’t very prominent. Everyone seems to be dressed in quite ‘boring’ clothing in terms of colour however, the way they has strategically placed the certain colour RED is very meaningful. Throughout the video the colour red can be seen to represent and highlight certain parts of the storyline, for example; at the start of the video the main character is seen to be running from the police as they turn up. As they as walking away from the school and towards the bike, he/she walks past the right side of a police vehicle and his/her red bobble hats perfectly lines up with the red police light. I feel this scene has significance as It shows the teen to be a problem in that moment in society comparing them to a RED light. I feel the whole story has significance to this as seen in and throughout the video everybody (including adults) are scared of a teenager. This connotes that teenagers can be misunderstood and that people need to be more understanding towards the people they feel they don’t understand. This can be seen at the end when the police men are holding guns at the teenager, ready to fire. This is quite odd as they are approaching this ‘child’ with caution and at their most hostile.  

·       Throughout the whole music video, the audience are being dropped little clues to what the story is telling. Little clues to who this boy/girl is, are dropped throughout the video and to what significance they are to the story as well.

·       Goodwin’s Theory – Screen within a screen- Lyrics “bullet Proof”- He explodes. Incorporated in the music video Two of Goodwin’s theories can be seen. The first theory that can be seen is the ‘screen on screen’

·        Throughout the whole music video it is evident that the video isn’t set in the 21^st century. This can be seen by what the actors are wearing and the material things they own like cars e.c.t. The whole music video seems to be a little dated, set in the 80’s, disturbing the ‘American dream’. The 80’s setting makes the video look like a typical thriller/sci-fi American film. The reason for this being the similarities between E.T and stranger things. The music video feels very much like one of these mysterious films. This can be felt through the use of low lighting and the set of the forest.      

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      The video looks as if it is set in the 80’s. This can be seen by the way they have filmed the music video and the setting of the video. We can see that the video is also set in an American school, this can be seen when the camera pans the classroom they have ‘American’ desks. The setting of the video can also be interpreted through the costumes and clothing of the actors. This is when you can establish the setting of the video straight away as no one would wear them types of clothing in this era. Near the start of the music video when the main character is running from the police on the bike. The main character can be seen riding past two woman out jogging. This scene perfectly captures the ‘American dream’ when the two American looking woman are out for a jog and one of them is large and one is smaller. The American theme can also be seen through the costumes they have been put in. As the camera tracks the main character riding past theme you can see the typically American houses behind them. This scene perfectly sums up and represents the American dream. The connotations of this scene is that the main character is disturbing the ‘normal’ American life and the ‘dream’.

     

·        Throughout the whole video there is no sign of the artist in any of the footage. I believe this is because the artist wanted the story of the song to be the focal point of the song. I think they didn’t want to take the attention away from the story by adding themselves in to the video singing their song. Another reason I feel they didn’t have footage of the artist in the video lip syncing was because the song was created by a DJ, which means that it wasn’t a ‘normal’ song that would be lip synced. Throughout the video I feel as though age is represented quite prominently throughout the song. This could be another reason why they haven’t chosen to be in the video, otherwise representation of age would be distorted. I feel that teens are represented through the lyrics and visuals of the song and video. Through the use of the 80's theme, this could mean that they are trying to attract people that would have been kids in the 80's. I feel they have done this as a type of attraction to this audience as this setting is relatable from them as they would have seen all of this before. This may be because The artist likes the look of the 80's or may remember the 80s when they were both teenagers. This connects to the story as they would have been about the same age as the main character in the 1980's. This could also be what they believed the 80's looked like and they may be recalling memories of what happened in their life when they were that age to base the story of tier music video on. 

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·        The target audience are shown through the main character and their age. The audience that are specifically targeted are shown through the main character. The reason I feel they have done this is because the target audience will be attracted by the main character of the story. This is why I believe they have chosen to use a teenager, is to attract teenagers. However, an unusual factor that they have added in is that you can’t distinctively work out whether the main character is a boy or a girl. I feel that this is a very smart thing form them to do as they aren’t just targeting teenage boys or teenage girls; they are targeting teenagers in general. Another factor that I believe is instrumental to the attraction of teenagers is the storyline. They have made the music video interesting and teenager based while making it interesting for teenagers to watch. This is a clear sign in the video that makes it clear that they have aimed their music video at teenagers, by the content of the storyline.

·        Not necessarily targeting boys or girls. – The main character doesn’t have a distinctive gender.

In conclusion to this analysis of David Guetta's Titanium, I believe that this music video demonstrates a narrative based music video. This is connoted and clearly shown through the use of the main character and the story that is portrayed throughout the song.

This is going to help me when creating my own music video as I am able to pick up on subtle hints and hidden meanings from the previous tasks which means that I will be able to create a successful video with good meanings behind it. By completing this task it enables me to create the best music video possible as I am able to see what a successful music video holds and what I could take inspiration from to help create a successful piece.

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