Music Video Analysis- Titanium, David Guetta

David Guetta-Titanium ft. Sia

Titanium is the song by David Guetta, a fresh DJ and music producer, this song also feature the Australian recording artist Sia. The song was first released on digital download on August 8th 2011 and then appeared as the 4th single on David Guetta's album 'Nothing But The Beat', which was released on December 9th 2011. The music video was then released on December 21 2011 and did not feature appearances by David Guetta or Sia, the video featured a young boy with supernatural powers, this boy was played by the young actor Ryan Lee. The song was written about inner strength and power and that when bad things happen people have to remain strong and be 'Titanium’, which means strong willed and strong hearted.

Sia wrote this as she wanted to create a song that goes against the bullies and critics in the world and tell those who are effected by the vicious comments and abuse to remain strong. The main theme within the song is bullying, this theme is suggested through all the lyrics. For example,  "I'm criticized but all your bullets ricochet, you shoot me down but I get up", these lyrics suggest to the listener that you may be criticized and bullied by others but don't let it bother you, the point of this song is that you should try and be similar to the metal 'titanium', which is an extremely strong metal that doesn't let bullets go through, this suggest that those who are being bullies shouldn't listen to the criticisms or 'bullets' being shot at them and that they shouldn't let those bullets sink in but let them ricochet off. 

The Music Video 

The music video was filmed in the province of Quebec, Canada. The video is about a boy with super natural powers and because of his differences, people like the police and teachers are afraid of him, they therefore try and hurt him. The boy is afraid and scared, resulting in him going on the run, as he wants to get away from all the criticism and hate that people feel towards him, until the end of the video where he builds his courage and fights back. 

This video is based in the 80s, this is shown through the use of the costumes that the actors wear, for example the women who are seen running wear sweat bands and leg warmers. I believe that it was based in this era as many were fascinated by the supernatural in that time, leading to large amount of films being released such as Steven Spielberg’s "E.T." and "Close Encounters". I believe it was based in this era to allow the storyline to become more realistic as many films in that time were about the supernatural so the video and story of the video fits with that era. 

The video was based in a school, a street and a wood, these are all everyday places that all viewers have seen and visited, this makes the video more relatable as many can see themselves in these locations, these locations are common areas this makes the video more relatable and make the viewers feel more connected with the story line. 

Within the video, we see the reoccurring theme of bullying and prejudice. The very first shot we see is a long shot of the boy sitting alone in the halls, of what appears to be a school, the school has been destroyed due to the boy being in the school and being alone it is suggested to the audience that the boy caused the damage with his supernatural powers. The use of the long shot allows the audience to see the destruction of the school and to see that the boy is alone, by having the boy being alone in the hall it could imply to the viewer that many do go through bullying alone, as they don't have the courage to speak to anyone about their problems. 

The next shot we see, is the boy walking down the halls of the school, but then the camera focuses the audience’s attention to a lady in yellow who seems to be hiding, this suggest that she is scared of the boy. The woman is seen wearing a bright yellow jacket, the use of the bright colour draws the audience’s eyes onto the women, she is scared and fearful. This suggest that the theme of prejudice is apparent, in this scene, as the women is scared of the boy due to the boy being different to everyone else. 

I believe that, theses scenes were based in a school as the issue of bullying occurs in schools as well as in working environments, by having a small part of the video based in a school it makes the video slightly more realistic and relatable making the viewer watching the video feel like they are in the video. 

The next scene we see the boy exiting the school, however the shot pans out to the lady in yellow, we saw in the previous scene, running to talk to a police officer, as the officer and the lady in yellow talk, the women points at the bike park, the officer then turns to look, the shot then changes the boy riding his bike away from the school.  The use of the police suggests to the audience that the lady in yellow was scared about the events that had recently occured and called the police to get protection. 

The shot, now moves to the boy riding his bike on a street, the shot is speed up to make it seem like the boy is pedaling supernaturally fast, again suggesting his differences. While he is pedaling down the street the boy passes two slightly overweight women running, the camera pans to the women, the use of this could suggest to the viewers that many are bullied due to the difference of their weight and looks, this bulling occurs as the media present women who are slim suggesting to many younger girls that they need to look a certain way to fit in and to look 'pretty'.   

The boy then visits his home to pack up his belonging he decides to run away from the town, as the boy walks into the house three quick shots are used to show the video of the TV and to show the boys reaction from seeing the story on the news. It suggests to that audience what happened in the school and also suggest that the media has got only part of the story but doesn't know about the boy’s involvement. The use of seeing the news could suggest to the audience that the media has a huge effect on people’s lives. 

Due to the previous scene, this could also suggest that the media portrays people in a negative way thats why both of the women were running, to lose weight, as the media portrays the perfect image of women as skinny, toned and fit. 

We then see the boy pack his bag, in this scene teddy bears are being used to suggest that the boy is only young and still has to cope with the issues that he has to face, by using the teddy bears it suggest to the audience that any age can be a victim of bullying and oppression. Due to no adults being used in this scene it could also suggest that children find it difficult to communicate with their parent when events like bullying occur.

A worm’s eye view is used in the camera shot to shot the boys fearful facial expressions, as the police are trying to get inside the house, this makes the audience feel fear for the boy as he is so close to being caught, it also allows the audience to sympathies with the boy.

Three quick shots are used in the next scene, this is of the police turning the door handle, this then cuts to the boy trying to pack his things and then cuts to the police knocking down the door of the house to get inside. These quick shots help to build tension for the viewer as he boy is so close to being caught, as they are uncertain is the boy will escape or not. 

We then see the boy using his powers for the first time by elevating the bears into the air and also using his power to elevate the key into the air and bring them into his hand, this could suggest to the audience that the boy is becoming more confident in using his powers, he therefore has more courage to use them too, suggesting to the audience that he might fight back. 

The next shot we see the boy has escaped this allows the viewers to breathe a sigh of relief, he is scene escaping the forest onto a derelict road, with the sun about to set in the background, the use of the background allows the viewers to see how much time has passed, this makes the video more realistic as the film started in the morning and is now ending in the evening, this is how time really passes. 

In the long shot we see the child running through a woods, within this shot we see the visuals of lights, suggesting to the audience that the police have once again found the boy. By using a long shot the audience are able to see how small the boy is and how alone the boy is as he runs through the dark woods. This makes the audience sympathies with the boy as some may believe that no one should have to go through this just because they are different. This is similar to the theme of bullying as many go through the situation alone as they don't feel confident enough to tell someone as it may make the situation worse. 

In the final shot of the video the boy is surrounded by the police, one of the policemen kick the boy down and holds a gun up to his face, this again could imply the theme of bullying as many go through physical bullying, which involves a person beating you e.g. punching or kicking the victim. The boy then goes into a crouch, similar to the way we are introduce to him at the beginning of the video and uses his powers to launch the police away, a wide shot is used to allows the audience to see the police slowly falling backwards, this scene is slow down to make it more dramatic and see the projection of his power. This scene suggests to the audience the power he has and that he has plucked the courage to enable him to do this, to fight back to those who are oppressing him. This suggest to the audience that those who are being bullied need to remain strong and fight back against those who are bulling and harassing you. 

The scene ends in a cliff hanger with the boy crouching on the floor, the viewers will never know what happened to the boy and if he managed to escape, the scene ends with the last lyric "I am titanium", this implies to the viewers that the boy has become "titanium" and has fought back and no longer lets the 'bullets' and criticism of the bullies affect him. 

The visuals of the video match with the lyrics as they are both about being bullies and that one needs to get the courage to fight back and become strong once again. 

While watching this video is obvious that editing has been used throughout to cut the shots together, they also used editing to make the explosion look realistic, bright and eye-catching to watch. They use CGI to create the explosion to make the viewer believe that the explosion really happened and make it look more realistic. They also used editing to slow down the shot to make the explosion seem as if it is projecting the men away. Editing wasn't only used to slow down the shots but to also speed the shots up, as in the previous scene were the boy rides his bike, editing sped the shot up to look as if the boy is cycling supernatural fast to show the viewer the capability of his powers.

Opinions

"I love the meaning of the video, its very inspirational!" - Mia Agar-Rea, 16

"I don't really find the video entertaining as it isn't realistic because of the supernatural story line" - Kitty Jones, 16

"I like the video as it expresses the theme of bullying, which more people need to be made aware of"

- Greg Clarke, 17

"I not really sure about the video as i like the theme of promoting bullying but the supernatural element doesn't really make bullying realistic." - Lily Thompson, 15

My Own Opinion

Overall, I believe that David Guetta's music video portrays a strong and impactful message about bullying, this ensures that those who may have been effected by bullying should listen to this message and gain courage and fight back to those who are oppressing them. 

This has reminded me to ensure that the visuals of my music video match with the song and speed of the track I will use, it has also given me new ideas as I could use special effects to create a storyline similar to this one and create a well-liked character. 

From analyzing both music videos I personally believe that I enjoy the videos without the famous star featuring in them, this is because you can see the storyline better and you can watch and enjoy the story without any interruptions from seeing the stars face.