ADVANCED PORTFOLIO
Music Video Project - A2 Media Studies - Alana, Lauren & Maddie
Fancy - Iggy Azalea Feat. Charli XCX
A Thousand Years - Christina Perri
Intertextuality
Intertextuality is when a texts meaning is influenced by another text. Intertextual references allow a deeper meaning to the text. This idea was introduced by Julia Kristeva. She argued against the concept of a text as an isolated entity which operates in a contained manner, states that "any text is the absorption and transformation of another". John Stewart describes music videos as 'incorporating, raiding and reconstructing.' This essentially shows intertextuality by using something that the audience may be familiar with to potentially generate nostalgic associations and brand new meanings.
Roar - Katy Perry
The intertextuality in 'Roar' is within the lyrics. The line "I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter" in the chorus suggests a deeper meaning. The song was written with the purpose of the audience knowing the meaning of the phrase "eye of the tiger". It is a well-known phrase because it is the theme song of the film 'Rocky III'. The 'Rocky' films are a series about an aspiring boxer and the main actor, Sylvestor Stallone, of 'Rocky III' wanted a song that could be his characters (Rocky) training song. The original song was created by a band called Survivor. "Eye of the tiger" links with the idea of fighting because tigers are predators in the jungle that fight each other for power and hunt their prey. In a boxing match, the boxers act as two predators fighting for the title of who is better. Katy Perry has written this song with the purpose of empowering her audience and her intertextual reference to the film within that specific lyric gives them a deeper understanding into the meaning of the song. It suggests that she is ready to fight like Rocky was ready to fight when he was training.
'A Thousand Years' is the official soundtrack for the Twilight Saga film: Breaking Dawn Part 1 and featured on the album: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - Twilight Saga. The music video co-ordinates with this as it features scenes from the film throughout. It also has Christina Perri lip syncing surrounded by a room full of candles. As it is a love song about love being eternal, it fits perfectly to the film. The film is about 2 vampires in love and vampires' lives are eternal. During the instrumental of the song, the 2 main characters of the film are shown in the wedding scene of the film and you can hear them say 'I love you' to each other other the music. This is intertextuality as the film gives the song a deeper meaning that relates to the characters love. The audience can then relate to this as people who listen to the song will want to watch the film and vice versa.
The 'Fancy' music video shows intertextuality by being based entirely around the film 'Clueless'. The music video makes intertextual references to the film by imitating the scenes, clothes, characters, camera angles, settings and even the font of the title.
The iconic 1990's classic, 'Clueless', was very popular among teens as it showed the story of an American socialite who loved fashion. It not only appealed to teens in the 1990's but still remains popular amongst them now. Iggy's music attracts an audience of late teens to mid-20's which matches the target audience of the 'Clueless' film. Also, Iggy Azalea is 24 years old which means that 'Clueless' might have a been a film she watched or was influenced by growing up. The main character in Clueless, Cher Horowitz, is famously known for her mustard yellow tartan outfit that she wears in the film. Iggy uses the outfit to immediately show to the audience she is referencing and remaking the scenes from clueless.
Intertextuality gives the music video/song a deeper meaning and I think that Iggy Azalea used the intertextual reference of 'Clueless' to emphasise the lyrics of the song. The chorus of the song states: "I'm so fancy, you already know". This could link to the main character being a rich, American socialite who was very superficial and the most popular girl in her school. 'Fancy' makes a lot of references to fame and Clueless is all about the high version of fame: popularity.
