Titanium– David Guetta (ft Sia)

1. Titanium– David Guetta (ft Sia) Representation and media language Social and Cultural contexts

2. LQ: What are the messages in David Guetta‘sTitanium’ and how are they constructed? Lesson Aims • To understand the social and cultural contexts behind the video • To see whether the ideas of Goodwin and Vernallis could be applied in analysis • To consider different representations in the video • To write up your notes onto the research blog

3. Your choice of videos in the exam • You have to choose 1 from each list to reference in the exam. • You can of course, reference more than 1 but you’re unlikely to have more than 20 mins to write an answer that looks at 2 music videos

4. The video What are the connotations of the title of the song ‘Titanium’? Then let’s watch the music video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRfuAukYTKg (you will watch it again) Any comments ? What genre of music would you say it was ? Why might the video be considered as typical of this genre ? Is it similar in that sense to videos from other ‘DJs’ such as Aviici and Calvin Harris ?

5. Research into David Guetta and Sia Now do some research about David Guetta and Sia, along with the video. • Who is David Guetta? • Who is Sia ? • What songs has she written (besides Chandelier !) ? • Who was the song originally written for and who was intended to perform the song ? • What did Sia think of its release ? • Who is the actor playing the boy in the video ? • Wh y could his role indicate some intertextuality ?

6. Cultural Contexts, Social Contexts and Representation The representations in this video focus largely on the boy so in terms of Cultural Contexts there are not that many points - perhaps it being typical of a ‘DJ’ video and also the intertextuality (also with Stranger Things although the makers of the video would have known nothing about this of course The social contexts tie with in the representations in the video. Watch the video again, I think it would be better if you worked in pairs and used the computers and take notes on • The appearance of the boy – what does ‘he’ look like – is there any hint of androgyny ? • The appearance of his pursuers in the woods – especially at night, what do they look like ? • What are these first 2 points and the narrative saying do you think (what is the message of the video ?) • In what ways could the narrative be described as circular ? Why is this ? • What connections are there between the video and the lyrics ? Which one of Goodwin’s categories (Illustrate, Amplify, Disjunture) ? The final, crucial, question is – what image of David Guetta (and perhaps Sia) is being projected by this video ? Now watch the video again and see how typical it is of a music video using the ideas of Goodwin and Vernallis

7. How typical is ‘Titanium’ of music video ? You will watch the video again in pairs taking notes – 1 looking at the ideas of Goodwin and 1 looking at the ideas of Vernallis. Do any of the features that Goodwin and Vernallis discuss appear ? Goodwin Vernallis Narrative – video is a visual response to narrative that may be disjointed and contain repetition Editing – edits draw attention to themselves, jump cuts, base track, rhythmic changes in pace of editing Camera – most common are either at front or side with a low angle to one side. Camera often moves. • Relationship between visuals and lyrics • Editing to beat • Typical David Guetta imagery (Brand) • Multiple Close ups • Active women ? • Intertextual references • Narrator and Performer

8. The Blog Write up your thoughts and notes onto your blog