Intertextuality - My Original Music Video (DO NOT STEAL)

Hey all, obligatory Knight of the Wind reference goes here...

In this post I'm going to be looking at some of the intertextual references I've noticed between my video concept and other media texts. Some of this is completely unintentional; it's just that since I've been working on this video I've started noticing similar concepts in other pieces and I thought I should post it because it's actually pretty interesting. In my opinion, at least.

First up - my video will feature a lot of fast-paced cuts, including some cutting between performance, narrative (with actors shown playing characters) and conceptual elements which reference bodily harm. It's dawned on me that because of this, my concept seems like a significantly tamer version of this: (heads up: LOTS of blood, LOTS of gore. If you don't like that kind of stuff, you might want to give this one a miss).

They are similar in the way that they both have performance elements, they both show a 'victim' character, and they both have a lot of rapid cuts to shots of things which could be used as weapons. The difference here is that I'm not going to be showing the actual bodily harm. Why? Because a) it wouldn't fit my narrative; in my video the lead isn't actually going to attack the victim, he's just going to consider it, and b) it's more marketable that way - good luck trying convincing a music video channel to show anything which isn't some terrible reality programme bloody murder during the daytime when people are actually watching.

Secondly -

This was pretty much unavoidable given that the song I'm using was featured in this game, but eh. Shadow the Hedgehog's storyline revolves around the title character making moral choices as to whether he supports the hero characters in fighting off the evil Black Aliens, or whether he sides with the Black Aliens and conquers the Earth. My video also uses the moral choice concept, in that the lead is considering killing the victim character but is unsure as to whether he should go through with it.

Next up - I know I've mentioned this before but it's still relevant...

The similarity here is the use of the rapid cuts and the strobe lights combined with performance visuals. It was this video which inspired me to go with the strobe cuts when I realised the green screen idea wasn't going to work, so there is a definite link here.

So yeah... I'm probably going to find more intertextual links over the course of the video's production...

-HM.