Practicing analysing videos

In order to prepare to analyse the video I use, i practiced by analysing and comparing two other videos; Titanium and Heaven.

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 or what else is being represented, and why?

From list A I chose to study ‘Heaven’ by Emeli Sande and from list B, ‘Titanium’ by David Guetta ft. Sia. Both lists follow their own theme of who is represented and how this is done, who the target audience is and how they might react to the videos, but ultimately there are links and similarities between the videos from each list.

These two videos are mainly very different, in that one is a narrative and the other is performance (this is shown by edting techniques,and the fact that Titanium is shot in letterbox format whilst Heaven is the regular box format), and one features a young boy and the other primarily features an adult, black woman. Although there is a similarity in that both video’s overall message is the importance of individuality and acceptance in society, in the past as well as now, these two characters represent very different things and their experiences would be very opposite. But the videos have similarities too. For example, both Heaven and Titanium reference topics that are controversial, and both present characters who can be considered as different, perhaps even as outcasts in society.

Heaven covers various controversial topics, including religion, prostitution, unanswered prayer, crime, and heaven and hell. Although Emeli Sande did later say that she doesn’t follow a religion, she believes that there is a heaven, and the struggle of wanting to be a good person to get there but being unable to do so because prayers go unanswered is what the lyrics are about. This conclusion is suggested by the lines, “Oh heaven, I wait with good intentions. But the day, it always lasts too long”. This is likely to be something that many audience members have dealt with in the past, and the short shots throughout of societies outcasts represent these struggles. For example, the dark figure under the bridge is facing a church. He probably wants to do right by the church but results to crime which is why he’s represented as intimidating. Another crime represented in the video is prostitution; this is very controversial as people associate it with illness and the past when it was more acceptable, however it is now frowned upon. At the very beginning a woman is wearing a revealing red dress, walking down a staircase. Red dresses are frequently used in Hollywood to represent prostitution, and the fact she is walking downwards is like she’s leaving societies rules behind.

Again in Titanium, many controversial topics are referenced, including the supernatural, outcasts, terrorism and racial expectations, although this is only briefly shown towards the end when a black policeman is given the authority of pushing the young boy down. Whilst today’s society has moved far away from the racism that could be expected in past media, some may still expect a white person to portray this role as that is what they are used to seeing, as wrong as that is. And race is also prominent in Heaven, as Emeli Sande is a strong black women standing up to racism, making the videos similar in that aspect. Still similarly to Heaven, crime is one of the topics shown in Titanium, especially at the beginning when the audience assumes that some sort of terrorist attack/shooting has happened, by the long shot of the school hallway which is a mess and has a young boy, presumably a pupil, crouched on the floor in fear. We later find out he has some sort of supernatural power, which makes audiences unsure of how to feel about him because he appears as so innocent, yet it seems he caused whatever happened at the school.

These themes do sometimes contradict each other, making the videos’ differences more noticeable. For example, someone of a religious nature who relates to Sande’s video wouldn’t agree with the supernatural aspect of Titanium, as Christians do not believe in that. Secondly, the town that Titanium is set in appears as poor, and so is unlikely to be religious. Someone from a place like that would not understand the religious issues discussed in Heaven, such as unanswered prayer and the want to do right by the Church.

Emeli Sande’s ‘Heaven’, strongly represents those who want to make a positive contribution to society, through the lyrics as well as mise en scene. For example, a woman is seen walking through the town carrying a cross; which is a reference to Jesus who is known for the good things he did. This woman probably wants to do the same but faces things that restrict her. Similarly, whilst trying to make it in the music industry, Sande is likely to face struggles such as wanting to be a positive role model, especially for upcoming black artists, but going against this in order to reach her goals. For example, studies have shown that many black artists become sex icons in their videos as this has been the key to success for others. This proves that Heaven was written with Sande’s own experiences in mind.

Similarly, David Guetta has faced struggles in life relating to his music career, which he put into his video. He said that there are always people waiting to tear him and his music apart, especially as a child with parents who didn’t support his choice to go into music, but he’s learnt to carry on anyway. The young boy in the Titanium video is represented as an outcast, because of his supernatural powers and individuality. And despite everyone trying to stop him from being himself (the policemen come for him), he gets on his bike and runs away. Therefore, the character’s representations promote the artist because his struggles portray those of David Guetta.

Because the two videos discuss hard hitting themes, such as bullying, racism and depression etc., the audiences are likely to be a diverse group of people. And a lot of these people may have faced not being accepted in society. For example, at one-time black people weren’t given the same basic rights as white people. Because this was also in a time when women were fighting for equal rights to men, it is important that black women today remember and respect those who played a part in their equality. That is why black women would relate to ‘Heaven’, as Sande’s lyrics explain these struggles and the video features many black people, to show their importance in a society that is still sometimes unaccepting of those of another race.

Another segment of Heaven’s audience is likely to be people of a religious nature, as belief in God is heavily referred to throughout the video. Although there are many instances that suggest having a religion is a positive experience, such as birds flying around a church which indicates that religion links to freedom, the shot of a window with “Fear is your only God” written on it discourages religion and what it could bring to a person’s life. Therefore, some people would not like the video, despite it bringing awareness to other important issues like race, as discussed earlier.

When watching Titanium, the audience is made to assume that the young boy has been bullied at some point for being ‘different’ (this links the video to Heaven, which also presents those who aren’t accepted in society), which is why he caused something at his school then ran away in anger and fear. Therefore, many children who have been bullied and the parents of those children are likely to see this video as a positive representation, and reminder to others of their struggles. It tells those people that it is okay to be different, and those differences will prevail anyway (he ends up blowing all the policemen away, which also illustrates Todorov’s equilibrium theory because he ends in the same position as he started).

There is a minor element of nostalgia throughout the Titanium video, for example the children’s toys spinning in the air. Obviously this couldn’t actually happen in real life; but it is something that a person may have imagined happening as a child. Therefore, it is a reminder of childhood for many adults, who would then react positively to the video. There is also an element of humour, when the ladies in bright colours fast walk alongside the young boy. The lyrics along with the video had felt very serious previously, so this makes it more light hearted. This is something all audiences can appreciate, whoever they are.

An interesting interpretation of the Titanium video is that the young boy does not only represent children that are being bullied, but also those with learning difficulties, as these types of children often feel like outcasts in society as the young boy in the video does. Especially when he is on his bike, there are a lot of close up shots of his face which expresses anger and upset, to show how people like that may feel as they get rejected from certain parts of society.

Guetta’s video also has lots of representations of dangerous people that are to be feared in society. Obviously the young boy is the main example of this; he wears a red ht throughout which connotes danger. Also, every other character that he comes into contact with (teacher, policemen etc) are either chasing him to try and stop him or running away out of obvious fear. Secondly, the camera shot in the woods of a lake in which the boy’s reflection can be seen, is a representation of a dual personality, which connotes the idea that you don’t know what someone could be hiding.

Heaven also represents various other things, such as innocence through the shots of children, despite the harsh settings they are put in (dark, rainy nights) and some of the lyrics that contradict this. However, these babies act as a visual representation of what Emeli Sande wants to be; pure and innocent.

Overall, I think that the success of these videos comes from the fact that they reach a variety of audiences through representations. They are relatable in reference to regular struggles in society and so lots of people have become aware of issues they may have ignored in the past. Whilst ‘Heaven’ takes more of a religious approach, both feature issues that people have faced for many years but ‘Titanium’ does it in a more modern setting. Whilst this can make it difficult to differentiate between the two, there are similar themes such as judgement and expression that link the two throughout.