Intertextuality

Intertextuality is a term used to describe the referring to other films in a particular film, either through camera-work, mise-en-scene, character, editing etc etc. This is done to familiarise the audience with the film; if they are already familiar with the film which is being referred to, they are one step closer to understanding the new film that they are watching.

There are some very famous examples of films which have been intertextually referred to; Alfred Hitchcock's PSYCHO has been copied/used as inspiration for many films, such as THE STEPFATHER, WHAT LIES BENEATH and FATAL ATTRACTION.

THE STEPFATHER

This film is reminiscent of PSYCHO in many ways. Firstly, there is a murder scene which takes place in a bathroom. The murder weapon is a knife, which is another aspect of the film that has been taken from PSYCHO. A more specific element of the film refers to PSYCHO more exactly; this is the clip in which the curtain rail is pulled down in the bath by the victim.

PSYCHO: the curtain rail breaking and falling

THE STEPFATHER: man pulling curtain rail down

WHAT LIES BENEATH

Another film which encompasses elements of PSYCHO is WHAT LIES BENEATH. Again, the clip is set in the bathroom, however instead of an attempted murder taking place, a woman is dying and she is carried gently into the bath.

WHAT LIES BENEATH: shot of the shower

PSYCHO: shot of the shower

FATAL ATTRACTION

FATAL ATTRACTION, which is similar to THE STEPFATHER, revolves around a murder scene within a bathroom. The murder weapon, again, is a knife.

FATAL ATTRACTION: murder weapon

PSYCHO: murder weapon

[It is important to remember that references to films do not have to be exact; they can be as subtle or as obvious as the director likes.]

Now that I have analysed intertextuality and have shown that I fully grasp the concept of it, I can begin thinking about how it may influence my own thriller opening when it comes to the stages of planning. There are several films which I have been inspired by and could use as an example of intertextuality - see FIRST IDEAS blog