1) The song was released in 2012 by David Guetta, featuring Sia. The genre of David Guetta's music video 'Titanium' is mainstream pop, house and urban dance. The song uses the techniques of these genres with a fast and regular rhythm to suit the urban dance genre; this will be suitable for dancing as the steady beat will give timing and pace for dance movement. Rapid editing and handheld and fast camera movement suit the tempo and the genre, where a variety of camera shots are also used to make the video interesting. The video uses modern techniques like these compared to little movement, simple shots and slower editing used in old music videos, which suits pop as it is a fresh, punchy and a popular genre. Music's main target group is young people, so a lot of energy and pace is created in music today to compliment youthful energy. Lastly, just like pop, the music builds up in the chorus to make it the most memorable part of the song.
2) The name of the song is called 'Titanium,' which is a very strong metal that takes a lot of force and effort to penetrate. This song is using titanium as a metaphor to describe how mentally strong the boy is. He will not be taken down without a fight. The reason for using a young boy is because he looks vulnerable compared to the adults, and to raise issues on bullying, which is the reason for the school location at the beginning. The lyrics are sending us a message too be strong and not let anyone bring us down. The line such as 'I'm talking loud' and 'raise your voice' are telling those who are bullied or hurt to speak out. Although the lyrics mention nothing of the boy, the video is illustrative as it tells a story based on the meaning of the lyrics to stand up for yourself, of which the boy does in the video.
There is a lot of reference of guns in the lyrics; examples include 'I'm bulletproof,' 'fire away, fire away' and 'but all your bullets ricochet.' They are using guns in the video to illustrate the lyrics, because they are threatening and deadly, just like people can be. However, the lyrics 'you shoot me down but I won't fall, I am titantium' suggest that nothing people say or do to him will hurt him. This explains the boys powers (such as making the keys come to him and blowing the police away at the end) as he is being depicted as independent, strong and unstoppable, similar to a superhero. The location in the woodland makes him look isolated and vulnerable, which emphasis his independence.
3) Despite being part of a dance genre, there is no dancing in the video. Instead, the editing and movement of actors in the video fit with the rhythm and tempo. For example, when the boy is in the woods, the beat comes in when he starts running to express his heartbeat going fast as the police have found him. Near the beginning, the boy walks slowly when the music is at it's calmest. However, when the boy sees a teacher calling the police on him, he realises he is in trouble, so he starts to move fast where the music builds to match his movement and anxiety. As well as the actor's movement, editing matches the pace of the music.
Rapid editing is used on the scene such as when he is riding fast on his bike to get away from the police, but is more simplistic in slow parts of the song such as walking through the wood. The fast pace of the music represents when the boy is scared, and dramatic parts of the story. However, slow motion is also used in slower parts of the song, such as the beginning of the video, so the camera footage fits well with the music. The slow motion represents the calm parts of the story to contrast with the tension created in the rest of it. Slow motion also emphasis important scenes of the video, such as the end when the boy uses his powers to blow the police away. It allows the audience to appreciate the footage for longer.
5) What is also used a lot in David's videos is voyeuristic imagery of woman, such as his video 'Where Them Girl's At' (Featuring Nicki Minaj and Flo Rida), where attractive woman are wearing tight clothing that shows off a lot of flesh to emphasis their figures. This engages the male audience, as well as the female audience for a sad reason: they compare themselves to the girls in the video as they want to be just like them with the skinny waist and 'sexy' clothing.
In 'Titanium,' there is no female cast with the exception of two female characters who are only in two shots, but are stereotypically not seen as beautiful. The fact that they are jogging to get thin is ironic of 'Where Them Girls At,' as this could be someone trying to lose weight to be skinny. The boy is represented as a vulnerable child, but proves to be more powerful than expected to connote the message that appearance doesn't matter. The police on the other hand are stereotypically thought of as a good part of society and having a strong position, but they are represented as the antagonists in this video and lose to the boy's powers in the end. This is a metaphor to suggest that even the most powerful forces cannot bring you down. The other notions of looking in this video is when the police look for the boy, and the boy looks out for the police. There is also a close-up of a TV screen broadcasting news of what the boy has done, with a zoom-in to emphasis the boy's realisation of how much trouble he is in.
6) There is no obvious intertexual reference in this video, but the idea that the boy has powers may be influenced by comic books or superhero films such as 'Superman.' The fact that he has supernatural powers of mind control, making objects float, and blowing people away is similar to something you would see in 'The X Files.' The director is suggesting that you can be as strong to stand up for yourself as someone with superpowers.
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