Intertextuality

Question 1

Pastiche

Answer 1

Imitates other work

Question 2

Wes Anderson

Answer 2

-Hipster style
-Crash zoom
-Whip pan

Question 3

Other Intertextuality references (7)

Answer 3

1. Western iconography– To showcase a narrative stance on the lyrics, a homage.
2. Horror film “Don’t look now”– blonde woman wearing red, suggesting a horror element to the female character in Riptide.
3. Wes Anderson’s ‘hipster’ films– His style is reflected throughout the video continuously: wide shots, parallel sets, same actors in different films, costume, symmetrical shots, centred focus, colour grading
4. The Assassination of Jesse James/ Roger Deakins– Silhouette shots
5. Blue Velvet, David Lynch– The lady singing on the stage, high key lighting and contrasts on the stage lights.
6. He is very cine-literate, using more varied styles from different directors and producers
7. Surrealism– Salvador Ali, metaphors

Question 4

Significance of intertexuality
Julia Kristeva

Answer 4

All texts are shaped by and dependent on other texts. Meaning is never created in isolation but rather is formed through a network of cultural and historical references

E.g. ‘Michelle Pfeiffer’ directly referencing an actress known for iconic roles

This Intertextuality encourages the audience to decode multiple layers of meaning, reinforcing the videos polysemic nature

Question 5

Significance of Intertextuality
Barthes

Answer 5

Semiotic codes help reinforce/ subvert cultural myths

The video deconstructs familiar tropes, particularly around the representation of women.

Intertextuality ref:
- Hollywood glamour (woman on mic) : symbolic of male gaze
- Damsel in distress

Disrupted by:
- Horror iconography via gesture codes
- Parodic details such as “how to photograph girls’ mocking the male gaze

Question 6

Significance of Intertextuality
Baudrillard

Answer 6

Argues that media no longer reflects reality but instead creates a

Question 7

Significance of Intertextuality
Baudrillard

Answer 7

Baudrillard argues that media representations often blur the lines between reality and fiction, creating a hyperreal version of the world.

Riptide’s disjointed editing, eerie staging, and artificial imagery make it feel like a surreal, fragmented dream rather than a realistic story.

Many of its intertextual references—such as classic horror aesthetics and film-noir lighting—are not just nods to other media but simulations of simulations.

+ The video’s lack of anchorage forces audiences to make their own interpretations, further emphasizing its polysemic and postmodern nature.

Question 8

Significance of Intertextuality
Stuart Hall – Reception Theory

Answer 8

Cultural capitol

A dominant reading might see the video as a clever artistic pastiche, celebrating various film styles

Question 9

What is surrealist avant garde film?

Answer 9

• use of montage editing to create ‘freedom from a reliance on traditional story telling’ to create meaning.

-use of violent images to stimulate an ‘intellectual or emotional’ response.

-use of referencing film-making process to make it ‘postmodern’.

-use of intertextual references to the popular culture of today.

-individual shots

-intertextual references to horror genre.