Intertextuality in music videos

Intertextuality: when media texts reference other media texts, usually done in a humorous way

Examples

You know me: Robbie Williams

This video uses intertextuality as there are references throughout to the Alice In Wonderland film. These references are shown through the location of the video and the costumes. Firstly throughout Robbie Williams is dressed in a White Rabbit costume then towards the end of the video there are female dancers who are dressed in pink leotards with hearts on them, this is a reference to the Alice In Wonderland character the Queen of Hearts. The location is also a reference to the film as at the start he seems to fall through a hole like Alice did in the film, theres also a shot of Robbie Williams dancing on a long table which is very similar to the scene from the film at the Mad Hatter's tea party.


Love Story: Taylor Swift

The song Love Story contains many references to Romeo and Juliet in the lyrics and the video reflects these references. Throughout the video the main scene is of Taylor Swift wearing a long dress standing on a balcony, similar to the scene in Romeo and Juliet where they're talking over the balcony. There are also scenes set in a ball which is also another intertextuality feature. There are also shots of the male and female character sneaking out at night to see each other which is possible the biggest reference to Romeo and Juliet as that is the main plot.


We Made You: Eminem

The music video for We Made You makes a number of references to celebrities, films, other music videos etc. These references include Kim Kardashian, Star Trek, Elvis Presley and Amy Winehouse. This is done in a humorous way in the video and is done for entertainment purposes.











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.