Intertextuality can give a media product another dimension; their is nothing more gratifying for a fan of a particular genre of film or music than seeing their favourite works referenced or mimicked. My video is peppered with intertextual references; some more overt than others.
Part of the narrative in my music video is identical to that of 1960s cult classic Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? This intermedial reference shows how media products can co-exist due to technological convergence; a newspaper can now be read online or on a phone; a music video ca now reference a film and be watched online or on a phone. The consumption of media products can now occur on so many levels; we are over indulgent, greedy and spoilt in regards to how we interact and devour our favourite films or music. To nod at 1960s cinema, I will give the footage a gray scale filter; an overt stylistic reference to cinema of yesteryear. In Whatever Happened To baby Jane?, one of the female characters is desperately trying to kill her ‘friend’ whom she cares for; in one instant she poisons her beloved pet bird and serves it to her under a cosh. I am directly mimicking this in the video; an obvious and explicit reference once again.
Old fashioned thirties/forties thriller/horror films used tight extreme close ups of simple everyday actions to create tension and suspense. something as simple as walking upstairs slowly or turning a door knob can become unnerving and suspicious if filmed tightly. Hitchcock and his contemporaries used this tool as it was easy to film and thirties/forties cinema was restricted and basic in regards to what is possible However simplicity is sometimes incredibly effective. I will use extreme close ups as Will mounts the stairs with a tray of poison, when he closes his ‘friends’ bedroom door as he seals his impending doom… This will subtly reference old fashioned movie making and heighten the drama in the video. Again, a subtle link to an era of film making in a music video is, of course, another intermedial reference.
During shooting, as a director i try and ask the actors o do something different every time; i like drama to shock and unnerve – similar to Bertolt Brecht. I think a successful media product should do exactly that; it should surprise, startle and entertain. I placed a light under Will’s face an asked him to pull faces; gurn, if you will. Some of these faces are terrifying and suit the character in the video; the low level lighting and extreme close ups nod at the old fashion horror films.
Popular culture has heavily impacted my creative process; Will and Henry play an old-fashioned comedy double act and there are no greater old fashioned comedy double acts than Morecambe and Wise and The Two Ronnies. Even subtle choices of mise en scene reference Eric and Ernie; Will wears glasses! However simple and slight this is, the reference is there; for sharp fans, this adds a new level, a new dimension, to the video; it becomes something more than a typical homogeneous music video that litters the music channels today. The very fact Henry’s character plays the piano is an explicit Eric and Ernie intertextual reference. One of their most famous lines, ‘I’m playing all the right notes but not necessarily in the right order’, is also referenced; Henry slams the keys of the piano haphazardly and the footage will not match up with the music; he clearly cannot play the piano! But this adds to the comedy in the video and adds a new level of intertextuality. In a previous post, i said i will add subtitles to the video to make it look like a script; the stage directions being explicit for the audience. This is a very subtle reference to celebrity culture; if you watch their lives unfold, there is a certain degree of inevitability with their actions; shocking gossip or revelations seem planned and scripted. The haphazard dramatic piano playing is similar to that of Chris Martin or Gary Barlow; an intertextual reference there too!
Every intertextual or intermedial reference shows that a director is media literate; they have a knowledge of the technological world around them. For the consumer, the music video or film becomes so much more than ‘another music video’ that is lost in the ether. Stylistically, the video is given a whole new fresh lease of life and will appeal to more people; if you reference someone’s favourite film or book, they are going to want to see it; your market, audience and consequently profit can rise considerably.
James McDermott A2 Blog 