Intertextuality and My Inspiration

Intertextuality And My Inspiration

Intertextuality is a reference to another medium, usually paying homage to someone or something and there are many different examples of this. An intertextual reference is usually used to aid the creation or interpretation of a certain text or medium. There are not only examples of this in regard to music videos as they are present in video games, music and films; a few of which I will mention later.

A good example of such an intertextual reference within a music video is Blur’s ‘The Universal’ and the references to Stanley Kubrick’s film, ‘A Clockwork Orange’. This type of intertextuality is called ‘Pastiche’ which incorporates features of another text or medium and directly imitates them in a given text or medium. This could be certain features, like the mise-en-scene for example, or just a rather blatant copy paying homage to the original text. As you can see below there are similarities between the two, but there is another type of intertextuality I am yet to touch upon.

The other type of intertextuality would be best labeled as a parody, which is similar to ‘Pastiche’ but this type of intertextuality would usually exaggerate the features of another text rather than just simply incorporating them into the work. A good example of this would be Fat Les’ ‘Vindaloo’ being a parody of The Verve’s ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ as can be seen below. With our music video I feel using intertextuality would be a good technique as it could add another dimension to the music video whilst engaging the audience who may or may not be aware to any references we may include.

After viewing many music videos, Nickelback have seemingly produced my favourite style and therefore I will be looking to their videos for inspiration. If we could emulate the narrative style that their videos have taken to heart in our music video then I feel this could work wonders considering The Fray and Nickelback are of a very similar genre.

Furthermore, I have influences that are separate from solely other music videos. The Spanish language, for example, could be used rather easily within our music video for ‘You Found Me’, and this is something that would ultimately add to the sense of mystery which I will want to keep the audience shrouded in. Due to the tone and genre of the song we have chosen, the intertextual references that we use will have to be chosen with care.

I will also be looking to include my other outside interests, such as any films that I have enjoyed, or similarly with hobbies. This may prove to be difficult, again due to the tone of the music video but due to the usage of Adobe After Effects and Final Cut Pro, it may be possible to include what would be best characterised as an ‘easter egg’ within the music video. Succinctly, I will try my utmost to ensure that the music video is personal whilst never detracting from the professionalism of the video itself.