Intertextuality

Some music videos like to add a reference towards another pieces of media such as songs, films, artwork and fashion. Intertextuality can be either the main part of the video or just small references in the corner of the video for the viewers to find. For example a video that uses intertextuality throughout is Taylor Swift's "Love Story" which is based on Shakespeare's novel "Romeo and Juliet".

The video is based around a forbidden love story and the song even references both the names 'Romeo' and 'Juliet'. The costumes and setting match the theme of 'Romeo and Juliet' which makes the intertextuality very clear the second the video is clicked on, however Taylor Swift has added a small 'modern' section to the video to give the story her own twist.

A video that has subtle references is Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night". The video is fun and enjoyable to watch but their are a few hidden references that have to be looked at closely.

A larger part of the music video is made to look like a film with the credits and opening sequence to make it look like a official movie extract. This is a clever way of presenting a music video with a strong narrative.

A smaller piece of intertextuality is the social media page that is briefly shown at the beginning of the song. The page is called 'Friendplace' which is a small nod towards 'Facebook' as the two pages share many similarities such as users having their own personal profile which they can update with statuses and pictures that people can comment on. The reason it was a made up social media site and not an actual Facebook page could be because of copyright laws or even because it was easier to make a fake site than use a real one.

A, possibly more obvious, piece of intertextuality is the use of Rebecca Black in the video. Katy Perry's song is about partying on a Friday and having fun and Rebecca Black became famous for making a video about Friday. Having her as the main character relates back to her video 'Friday' and she is continuing this theme by throwing a party on a Friday in Katy Perry's video.

The final bit of intertextuality that I could find was the game 'Just Dance' being played during the video. The video clearly states that it is Just Dance as the layout of the game is exactly the same but also the screen has the Just Dance logo on it. This could have been paid for advertisement but it is still a nice touch for fans of the game.

Goodwin's Theory

Andrew Goodwin stated that there is a theory behind music videos that involve 6 different points:

• Genre Characteristics
• Relationship between lyrics and visuals
• Relationship between music and visuals
• Star Image
• Intertextual References
• Voyeurism

As the genre of out chosen song is a alternative song with a hint of rock to it I wanted to find a song of a similar genre and see if it matches Goodwin's theory. I chose Paramore's "Only Exception", the song is more of a rock song that ours but it still falls under the same genre:

  

The genre characteristics of this type of music are that there will be performance shots, which there are plenty of. The singer is surrounded by the musicians whilst she holds the microphone and sings which is a common feature of music videos of this genre.

The lyrics of the song explain that the person in the song will never fall in love because of her parent's marriage falling apart, however she falls in love with a man and he is the 'only exception' to this rule. The visuals follow this and tell the story of the woman and how she decides to stay with him through a unique set where each door leads to the next part of the story development. The visuals do not precisely follow the lyrics as the performance shots break the flow of narrative but the story is linked to the idea of falling and realising you're in love.

The scene with her father could link back to the theme of love as the main protagonist loves her parents, as her father is the parent shown it is likely she prefers him, which shows a different kind of love and that she will still love her father even though she never wants a romantic partner.

The music and visuals are interesting as overall the colours are fairly faded but not so much that the scene looks washed out. Love songs usually contain a lot of pinks and reds and there is a particular scene where these colours are used but overall the visuals are fairly normal. As a sad sounding song with happy lyrics the visuals are not overall sad, except for the sad looks given from the character, yet the visuals are not extremely colourful like a happy, positive song would be. A small detail that stands out to me is during the wedding scene the singer is wearing black, a contrast from all of the white surrounding her, and black is typically associated with darkness and depression, whereas white is pure and clean. I think this could be a small detail to show that the song is representing both the happy and sad times that can be experienced when you are in love.

Paramore's image is that they are a rock band with a female lead, they use many performance shots and have a very dedicated fan base. Although this video was created almost 5 years ago their loyal fans still adore both the song and the band and have watched the band blossom into who they are today. Their image today is still very similar to how it was back in 2010 and they still have a alternative rock style to their name which they still maintain, even after some members left. Some fans have stated that Paramore has turned into a pop group and dislike their more current music but dedicated and loyal fans will buy the songs despite the change in genre as they have watched the band grow. The band's image continues to show in both fast song (Misery Business), sad songs (Now), happy songs (Ain't it Fun) and the slower songs like Only Exception.

PARAMORE IN 2010

PARAMORE IN 2015

When watching the video again, I tried to spot some intertextuality however I could not spot anything. A small piece of information that links back to Paramore's fans. During the scene where Haley Williams can be seen lying on letters, these letters are actual letters that fans sent them. The band selected their favourite and placed them in the video and although it does not reference a TV show, film, piece of art or any other intertextuality, it does give a small nod towards their fans and their appreciation.

This video is very tasteful and at no point are gender sexualities exploited like voyeurism would suggest. Each outfit covers up everyone's body in the video, this might be because it would not match the song or visuals but also because it does not suit the band's image. However during the scene where Haley Williams is lying on the bed of letter her legs are being shown and the camera gradually shows more of her legs, this could be interpreted as the male gaze following her body down to her legs. Her body language is very open and inviting to the audience and the bird's eye shot could show her vulnerability about falling in love yet this could be taken in many different ways. Despite the music video not displaying any sexual content there is still a scene that could be interpreted as voyeurism due to her dress showing off her legs.
 

 

Overall the video ties in well with Goodwin's theory. Most of the arguments that Goodwin stated in this theory can be applied in this video and prove his theory to be correct. There are some contrasting points, such as the amount of voyeurism displayed in the video and how much the lyrics match the visuals, but overall this music video could be applied to Goodwin's theory.