Intertextuality of music videos

How does the use of intertextuality shape meanings in the music videos?

Ashanti foolish- immediately the video begins we a 2 shot is used on a car with 2 men in it. They are talking about a girl who one of them has been trying to get with for over a month but it's not working. The man asks the person we assume is his friend in the car for help however the man who says no. This has set up the narrative which the audience will relate to when watching the video so they can understand what is happening. The song begins and we can see the camera pan on the man at the beginning of the video is a friend holding

Ashanti and walking near what seems to be a famous place as everyone is gathered there. We also see the record label murder inks logo come up on the screen to show the product. The video then fades into a scene where the 2 protagonists are seen to be sitting down at a table in what we know is an expensive restaurant Ashanti is seen wearing a very revealing dress which shows quite a lot of her body. From here we can immediately apply the male gaze theory as we now begin to see Ashanti ad more of an object rather than a normal human. From analysing the video, we can begin to see the movie has been done in a movie like style like Michael Jackson thriller were during the scenes when the music video is playing you can still hear the dialogue between the characters. Finally, the video then cuts to Ashanti and the male on a bed. The bed has often been seen in music videos as a place for somebody to seek refuge and comfort however Ashanti is sitting up looking at the man in a reflective mood. We can now see that she is having flashbacks of what the man did to her in the past. She then climbs on top of the man and mimes the words that are being said in the song showing that she has had enough, and she wants the man out and he leaves. Ashanti packs her belongings and is now about to leave the house but as she opens the door, she sees the man again. But this time hugs him. Which relates to the last words of the song which say how she always wants to leave him, but something holds her back which conforms to the idea of men hurting women but the female for some reason always goes back. She hugs the man, and he smiles and brings her stuff back inside the house. The video then blacks out and the music video is done.

Iggy Azalea ft Charlie XCX| Fancy

The music video for fancy by iggy  is an example of a video that incorporates intertextuality.  The characters represented in the video for ‘Fancy’ are almost identical to the characters in the 1995 movie ‘Clueless’ due to their costumes, makeup and hair. The video for ‘Fancy’ is a pastiche video; meaning it imitates the original without mocking it like a parody would.  The music video consists of shots that recreate some of the most recognisable scenes from the movie. The movie clueless is seen by many as iconic and the references are easily recognisable by the targeted audience. The use of this is very clever as the demographic of the movie and Iggy Azalea’s fan base align. This means that the video appeals to most of the people that would see it.

Taylor swift shake it off

Throughout the music video we see intertextual references to other artists and their style within their music videos but also to dance films and the common, popular quarrel between the classical and new styles of dance. The focus of the visuals of this video is the dance where many different styles are used. The most heavily used in this music video is ballet and hip hop contempory. This creates a strong reference to the growing style of dance films where there is a disagreement between the different styles and their popularity. This is particularly seen with street dance where the street hip hop dancers find themselves relying on the royal ballet school class to practice and improve their routines in order to win. This is portrayed within this video through the different mise en scene portrayed through the costumes and make up worn by different groups of dancers and Taylor herself. The different moves and dances that the groups how create an intertextual reference to the dance films such as street dance.