Intertextuality is when something in a music video is an ideology of past events or references to other famous people. Goodwin stated that out of his 8 key factors which makes a music video, the 6th one states intertextual reference. This is because some music videos tend to make references to other films, TV programmes or other famous people e.g. Madonna's song "Gimme All Your Luvin" made references to Marilyn Monroe by matching her appearance. This is usually done in music videos to cause a controversy in the media in order to gain more publicity for the artist.
Examples of intertextuality in music videos:
1) George Michael's "Shoot the dog"
As a class we analysed George Michael's "Shoot the dog" music video and found that this music video is purely based on intertextuality as it has a number of references made. It mocks the English traditions and also mocks the people who they refer to e.g. portraying President Bush as dumb. Throughout this video these references were made:
This created great controversy as these were current affairs happening at the time and most references were political, causing a greater hype than other music videos. It did offend some of the pubic, however, it was still successful in causing a hype and becoming very popular.
2) Nicki Minaj's "Moment 4 Life"
From my own research, I found that in Nicki Minaj's "Moment 4 Life" music video it is evident that intertextuality occurs. This is because the introduction in the beginning of the music video suggests the references to the famous fairytale of "Cinderella". She makes references to a fairy god mother, glass slippers, going to a ball, finding a prince, and having to be home by midnight. These all refer to the tale of "Cinderella" making it intertextuality.
3) Big Sean's "Play No Games"
From my own research, I found that in Big Sean's "Play No Games" music video it is clear that there is intertextuality. This is because throughout the video there is a constant reference made to the old TV programme "Martin" from 1992. This is clear because the introduction is identical to the TV show, every artist is portraying one the characters from the show, and the setting of the video is also identical to the show. This suggests the clear intertextual reference being made in order to gain more publicity from the already loyal fans of the TV show.
Advantages of intertextuality:
Examples of intertextuality in music videos:
1) George Michael's "Shoot the dog"
As a class we analysed George Michael's "Shoot the dog" music video and found that this music video is purely based on intertextuality as it has a number of references made. It mocks the English traditions and also mocks the people who they refer to e.g. portraying President Bush as dumb. Throughout this video these references were made:
- The White House
- The Simpsons
- Tony Blair being George Bush's "Bitch"
- The Queen
- David Beckham and Scholes
- Ginger Spice
- Saddam Hussein
- Trevor McDonald
This created great controversy as these were current affairs happening at the time and most references were political, causing a greater hype than other music videos. It did offend some of the pubic, however, it was still successful in causing a hype and becoming very popular.
2) Nicki Minaj's "Moment 4 Life"
From my own research, I found that in Nicki Minaj's "Moment 4 Life" music video it is evident that intertextuality occurs. This is because the introduction in the beginning of the music video suggests the references to the famous fairytale of "Cinderella". She makes references to a fairy god mother, glass slippers, going to a ball, finding a prince, and having to be home by midnight. These all refer to the tale of "Cinderella" making it intertextuality.
3) Big Sean's "Play No Games"
From my own research, I found that in Big Sean's "Play No Games" music video it is clear that there is intertextuality. This is because throughout the video there is a constant reference made to the old TV programme "Martin" from 1992. This is clear because the introduction is identical to the TV show, every artist is portraying one the characters from the show, and the setting of the video is also identical to the show. This suggests the clear intertextual reference being made in order to gain more publicity from the already loyal fans of the TV show.
Advantages of intertextuality:
- Appeals to an audience due to entertainment.
- More recognition/publicity/profit.
- Understanding artist's views, morals and opinions.
- Bring something new into the music video industry.
Disadvantages of intertextuality:
- Offensive to the public.
- Influences opinions of the public on e.g. political issues.
- Spreads negativity if the reference is portrayed negatively.
- Artist's can lose fans if they do not agree with the artist's opinions.
- Controversial, which may be in the media for negative reasons.
Overall, I plan to use intertextuality because it creates a new form of entertainment for the public and is likely to gain more publicity for the artist. However, I know that I need to be careful with what references I choose to make in order to not offend any of the public whilst portraying my opinions. Therefore, the references have to be non political and more subtle than e.g. George Michael's "Shoot the dog" music video.
A highly proficient understanding demonstrated on what intertextual reference is.
ReplyDeleteTo improve;
-be more specific in terms on what the George Michael examples show. Discuss why is can censored too
-what are you opinions on the idea of intertextual reference? Make is clearer in your conclusion