Titanium - David Guetta feat Sia

How editing helps to construct meaning

The video begins with a panning shot away from a cowering boy with his hands over his face, and then cuts cleanly to a panning side view of the boy, which adds continuity to the video and allows the narrative to follow without obviously being interrupted. This match on action helps  to create meaning as we able to follow the character and link the shots to establish a story. The video then cuts to a panning shot of destruction, and this order of shots helps us to link the character to the destruction, conjuring up the idea that he either caused the destruction or is a victim of it. The fact that the character is focused on in the first few shots of the video also helps to create the idea that he is very important, as he has the most screen time. So far in the video, also, all shots have been of a long duration, creating a slower pace and portraying intensity. Shots of the boy and close shots of his hands etc. continue to feature until 32 seconds in, further emphasising his importance in the video and connecting him to his surrounding of destruction. 

32 seconds into the video we see a shot reverse shot, showing the character walking forward and then cutting to over his shoulder for an over the shoulder shot. The shots are match on action and this helps to continue the narrative and helps the audience to follow the story. By including an over the shoulder shot we help to create meaning as we allow the audience to view the scene from the characters point of view and further helps to show his importance as it is his narrative eye that we are seeing the scene through. This then cuts to a panning shot of the character walking, focusing on his expression, and the shot is also an example of match on action as we are following the characters journey, and again, we are watching the character which suggests he is the most important and privileged character and that we as an audience are inferior and should therefore take the perspective of viewing him as oppose to seeing the situation through his eyes. We then see a new character at 37 seconds into the video, with a scarred expression on her face, and even then, with the introduction of a new character, the original male is still present and and at the foreground of the shot, solidifying our perseption that he is the foremost character. We can also see this in the short duration of a shot of her, as, although it conveys her urgency and terror of the main character, it could also be seen to represent her irrelevance to the story. 

The shots then continue on to feature over the shoulder and side on shots of the character, and at 59 seconds we see a prolonged panning shot as he exits the building closing lots of doors behind him and this helps to create the effect that he is escaping something, interesting the audience, combined with this long hot length, helping to create tension and intimacy with the character, as we wonder why he has to leave and where he is going. The shots that follow this are short and brief shot reverse shots, with some eyeline matching, of an interaction between the female character and a police officer, and again these short shots help to create a sense of urgency which can also be seen in the womans face, but also further helps to show the original characters importance, as other characters only receive limited screen time.