Intertextuality

In music videos, intertextuality is implemented in order to add a cinematic element. It is mainly used in narrative music videos which include synergy such as in Love me like you do music video where scenes from Fifty shades of grey were added. In different words, intertextuality is when a media text refers to another media text. It adds a deeper meaning to the music video by adding reference to an element which was previously used for different media products eg movies.

A good example of intertextuality is Madonna’s music video Material Girl. She was using the scene of Marilyn Monroe from the movie Gentlemen prefer blondes. She tried to emphasise on how at that time, Hollywood was stereotyping women with blonde hair being seen as a sexual element.

Cinema, fashion and art photography are known as being the main three elements used in music videos as visual references.

Another element which was developed in the early 2000’s was the use of video games style. Red Hot Chili Peppers decided to implements the style in the music video Californication. At that time, there was a new era where the younger audience was fascinated by the new technology which was providing them with video games. This was a great opportunity for the band to promote their music video. As a result, it increased their popularity and even today the music video has over 200 million views on YouTube.

In conclusion, the intertextuality was a success for Red Hot Chili Peppers, and eventually other bands such as Linkin Park used the same video game style for ‘Breaking the habit’

Californication Red Hot Chili Peppers

Breaking the habit Linkin Park