INTERTEXTUALITY IN MUSIC VIDEOSSAEED MOULAI

WHAT IS INTERTEXTUALITY?

‘Intertextuality is the way in which one media text is referenced in another’

WHY USE INTERTEXTUALITY?

Intertextuality can be an effective tool in making a video humorous, at times seeing a particular artist pretend to be someone else or part of something else can be quite comical, particularly if that artist is an opposite genre to the reference they make, for example a rock artist making references to a boy band music video. Using intertextuality can also increase the popularity of the video as fans of the text that are featured may also decide to be a fan of that artist.

EXAMPLES OF INTERTEXTUALITY IN MUSIC VIDEOS

An example of Intertextuality in a music video is 'You Know Me' by Robbie Williams where the video features the artist being taken to an 'Alice in Wonderland' style setting with Robbie William's dressed up as the rabbit from the film. This creates intertextuality between the film and the music video.

EXAMPLE 1

Here we can see Robbie Williams is dressed in a White Rabbit costume which is showing that Robbie Williams is replicating the Rabbit, the setting also shows Robbie Williams in many of the same locations as in the film Alice In Wonderland.

EXAMPLE 2

Another example of intertextuality between the film and the music video is through the use of back up dancers dressed as the character the ‘queen of hearts’ from the film. It is also worth noting about the flooring in the shot in the music video as it is frequently used in Alice In Wonderland too. The costume used in this music video also links in with Mulvey’s theory of the male gaze.

EXAMPLE 3

Also at the end of the video there is a shot of the artist in the Metro-Goldwyn - Mayer trademark Lion replaced with the rabbit character.

OTHER EXAMPLES OF INTERTEXTUALITY IN MUSIC VIDEOS

Iggy Azealea’s Fancy – Clueless (film) Taylor Swift’s Love Story – Romeo And Juliet Madonna’s Material Girl – Gentlemen Prefer

Blondes Eminem’s Just Lose It – MC Hammer Cant

Touch This