Intertextuality in Music Videos – Andrew

Goodwin’s Theory

What is Intertextuality?Intertextuality is simply the referencing of another media text in an original media text. Goodwin believe that there are 5 aspects to a music video and these include:1. Star image2. Narrative/Performance3. Thought through beat (seeing what the lyrics mean in your mind)4. Technical aspects of the music video5. Relationship between the visuals and the song

Star ImageStar image is the most vital part of a music video according to Goodwin. This is because the artist is what makes the video more interesting and appeal to the audience in addition to adding their own unique style to the video in the way that he/she is portrayed.

The artist can be portrayed in different ways, for example; their attitude, outfit, and how they act. Their star image helps to promote the artist which may give them attention in other media texts on top of promoting the video itself.

Katy Perry is quite literally an all-American 'Californian girl'. Katy is always keeping up with the latest fashion trends and if not, creating her own. She is really well known for her music videos where she dresses up in various outfits such as an Egyptian and all different sweets. Katy is a very girly person which incorporates many bright colours including pinks, yellows and blue which younger audiences are attracted to as well as young adults. Most of her music is about having fun and doing what you want, and this is portrayed in her image on magazine covers where she will really wear anything.

Narrative/PerformanceGoodwin believed that it was important for the artist to be involved in their own music video somehow. Either by performing or acting because this helps to give the audience a more of an understanding of the song/lyrics making it look more realistic.

An example of this is Rihanna’s music video, Unfaithful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp4UwPZfRis

Rihanna is the main actor within this video as well as the artist of the song. This therefore makes the video more believable due to the song which is sung by her, and the amplification of the lyrical content which engages the audience further.

Technical Aspects of the VideoTechnical aspects hold all of the different parts of the music video together this could be through the use of the mise-en-scene, editing, sound and transitions.

• Mise-en-scene helps the music video to look more professional and this is because specific items such as outfit/costume.

• Lighting and colours can contribute to the mood/setting of the music video, using different brightness's of light and colours can emphasise or symbolise significant parts of the video, creating an exciting or calm mood of the song.

• Different beats of the song can help the creator to edit the music video effectively. This could be by making the different transitions of each shot in time with the beat of the song.

Thought Through BeatThere are three different steps to this:

The first part to this is listening to the actual music and to analyse it, identifying the verses and chorus.

Then, to listen to the artists voice as this will be unique to any others, forming a form of identification which then can be used to enhance their star image.

The third part of this theory is the artist’s mode of address. Goodwin believes that the song has a story/narrative to it and that we can establish the artist as the story-teller. Therefore, the music video acts as an aid to the lyrical story, a two-communication media text.

Relationship between the visuals and the songIllustration

Illustration is when everything in the video is rooted in the lyrics of the song.

Disjuncture

Disjuncture is when there are no clear links at all to the lyrical content of the song. The content of the video may seem surreal or abstract and a new set of meanings are created.

Amplification

Amplification is when there are no clear links to the song lyrics but the video may combine narrative and performance and create more varied intriguing or ambiguous meanings.

Why is intertextuality used?Intertextuality is used in music videos because to keep something familiar towards the audience to identify with. It signifies the genre of the music video and the star image. So, for example in Lady Gaga & Beyoncé's hit Telephone links with the film ‘Thelma and Louise’ which associate with ‘bad girls’ and murder.