Music Video Analysis

Compare and contrast the two videos. How do the representations promote the artist? How might different audiences read the two videos? Apart from the artist, who and what else is being represented and why? 

For my two videos I am comparing and contrasting ‘Heaven’ by Emeli Sande and ‘Titanium’ by David Guetta ft Sia. 'Heaven' is square framing, this allows the artist to have lots of different scenes and shots throughout the video. It also lets the audience know that it will not be a story/narrative.  Whereas 'Titanium' is letterbox framing, which tells the audience that the music video is a narrative; a story. In 'Heaven' there are lots of camera flares, these circles of light could indicate spirits. Some shots are very clear and some are very grainy which potentially means that they are flashbacks or memories. In contrast to this, in 'Titanium' the shots are in harmony with the music, for example when the music is speedy and a beat drops the young boy is shown going extremely fast on his bike. There is slow camera movement at the beginning indicating that it is not safe to come out. On the other hand, both videos use objects as devices to get the audience thinking. 'Titanium' uses children's toys floating to portray a sense of horror and creepiness; they also use a child/young boy as the main person in their video to create a sense of vulnerability. 'Heaven' also does this; birds are used to resemble a sense of freedom. 'Titanium' uses bright white lights which could imply supernatural. This is also the case in 'Heaven' as white lights are used to show what heaven could be like and scenes are shown, like the women carrying the cross on her back, to trigger a thought of God and heaven. Todorov's equilibrium theory is used in Guetta's video; at the start and the end the young boy is in the same position (crouching down on the floor with his hands over his head).  The colours used in 'Heaven' are red, white and blue which are the UK colours. On the other hand the colours used in 'Titanium' are mainly yellow which indicates a sense of danger and warning signs. The title 'Heaven' gives the audience a hint, before they even listen to the song, of what it is about; which is religion, a life with Jesus and heaven itself. This is also the case for 'Titanium' because the title implies that there is an explosion of some sort and that is exactly what occurs/ what the audience sees in the first couple seconds of the video. There are lots of trees in both videos; trees resemble life, freedom and nature. In 'Heaven' this is a contrast to the setting of London, UK. Although, in 'Titanium' this is completely normal as it is set in America. The white lights in both videos resemble purity. Sande uses this in many ways; virginity, God and children. Guetta uses the white light to resemble freedom for the young boy but also to show his vulnerability. In 'Titanium' there is a sense of comedy when the women are running down the street, this is to take ease away from the situation that is happening so viewers don’t get too overwhelmed. Guetta uses celebrity endorsement as the boy in the video is also an actor who is in many films, including 'Goosebumps' and 'Super 8'. Sande does not do this as she is the star in her video alongside many day to day people.  

In ‘Heaven’ the representations are that heaven is there and God is real but behind it all there is hurt and pain; this emphasises the contrast between heaven and hell. The video is about all the evil in the world and what it can lead to and how you long to do good and hope that you can do good things in your life but sometimes you have difficulty doing this because of the other side of you that takes over and makes you do evil things. 'Heaven' shows the struggle of life and pain; for example, the scene of the women with cancer trying to care for her baby. There are stereotypical representations of women in the video also for example, when a small girl in a tight red dress is walking down into the darkness; it represents prostitution. Although, it could also be a metaphor for a human going down in the mouth of hell. This happens a lot in music videos now a days, women are seen as 'cheap' or 'easy' and are what their body is. Woman are extremely sexualised seen as inferior or less powerful to men. They are seen as objects that get rewarded for sexual behaviour. Sande challenges this as there are more women in her video making it the opposite to androcentric which is rare. Emeli Sande tells her story through this song and wants people to see that she is a loving woman who cares about other people's lives and wants her audience to know that she understands that life is really hard sometimes but you can always get through it. This promotes her as an artist because she will look good as a result of this. 

In 'Titanium' David Guetta is trying to make his audience understand that being different to everyone else is okay and nothing to be ashamed of; for example, the young boy in his video could be autistic. This promotes him as an artist because it makes him seem like he doesn't judge others and is a genuine man with kindness in his heart. At the beginning when the boy is crouched down on the floor, it indicates that he feels unsafe and not sure whether to come out or not. This is also shown through the slow camera movements; medium shots with a zoom out. The music video uses intertextuality; a boy on a bike in the woods relates to ET and a young boy with a bobble hat relates to Home Alone. The family home in the video is distorted and messy which resembles the school; this could potentially mean that everywhere the boy goes, he makes an explosion happen. The abandoned forest shows disorganisation and broken-ness in the boy's life. The police officers all look the same which shows that the audience should have no emotional attachment to them. Although, the only face shown is a black mans. This is a bold statement used by Guetta as a black man is holding a young white boy at gunpoint which is a big topic of conversation in America now a days. Guetta will gain a very good reputation from this because he is not afraid to step outside the box and challenge stereotypes. He wants people to know that it is okay to be different. 

Emeli Sande's video 'Heaven' speaks to her audience as it shows some very serious/deep issues that people in society can relate to as everyone goes through ups and downs in their life at one point or another. As 'Heaven' is not a story we have to figure out, as an audience, what the essence behind the video and song really is. We have to dig deeper and find out the true meaning of the song.  Sande uses this method so that people go back and re-watch her video to get a better understanding. This gives her more views and eventually brings in more money. In the video and through the lyrics the audience has to grasp that she is asking God if he will recognise her as she feels lost and alone; she believes the only way to get His attention is through her sinning and showing Him what she can really do. Although, overall she does believe that heaven is greater than everything and that is where she wants to end up. 

Both videos have gone through a selection stage that includes anchorage (lyrics that go with pictures). Although, 'Titanium' includes a countertype (the boy) because Guetta challenges traditional stereotypes to make his audience think about how being different is okay. 

'Titanium's' audience may view the music video as a way to get to know a little about David Guetta and understand why he creates the music he does. Guetta discovered his passion for house music while he was working in a gay club. He has lots of life experience and incorporates this into his songs so that his listeners can relate to him. 'Titanium' is a narrative so the audience know what is going on throughout and do not need to overthink the song too much before they gain an understanding. Everything is spoon fed to the audience. For example, shadows of large men and guns indicates horror and this leads to frantic movement which is shown in the next scene by the boy peddling very fast through the road away from the house which is where the 'horror' element was shown.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanium_(song)