Intertextual References in Music Videos

I have chosen to write about All Time Low's video for I Feel Like Dancin' (2011).

The song itself is quite satirical and almost parodic of mainstream music that is all about partying with lazy rhymes and silly lyrics, so appropriately the video parodies lots of things about the music industry.

The premise of the video is that the band are signed to their new record label, Interscope, which is one of the huge players in the industry, so they are discussing ideas with their new manager about their upcoming music video. This unlikeable manager tells them that they are his 'puppets' then suggests that in order to sell their single and make its video appealing they use product placement (obviously the band must have got some kind of sponsorship from Rockstar energy drink to use their brand, which is kind of ironic in a way). Many artists nowadays use brands like Coca-Cola, BlackBerry or Apple to show close-up shots of their products, so All Time Low play on this idea to the extreme, covering the whole set-up with Rockstar products and models with huge Rockstar logos on their shirts. The company also sponsor lots of rock festivals so the deal is mutually beneficial, despite the fact that they are supposed to be being satirical.

Their "manager" then suggests using sex appeal to target their audience, obviously a backlash against the rock groups and rappers who typically use scantily-clad women dancing in their videos. They name-drop 'Jersey Shore' and dress in tight, sparkly t-shirts like the characters, directly referencing the TV show which is hugely popular at the moment, especially in America. 

Jersey Shore

The band look very uncomfortable in the scene, separating them from the artists who typically use sex to sell their records. The dancers all look quite inappropriate and are meant to seem ridiculous, especially the male ones wearing nothing but underwear groping Jack, the guitarist. 

For the finale the manager then asks how a band can ensure success. Zack, the bassist, answers "Put your heart into it, give it all you got" in a cheesy, slightly tongue-in-cheek way, but the manager shoots him down and explains, as if it is obvious, that they should steal someone else's idea. The rest of the video features the band parodying other artist's music videos, replicating very well-known videos that most of their fans (predominantly teenage girls) will recognise.  They are also slightly ridiculing these artists, as their remakes of their videos look very silly, as they involve the band, four grown men, dressed as teenage boys in caps (Justin Bieber), in bikinis and colourful wigs (Katy Perry) and in white PVC catsuits with ridiculous headgear (Lady Gaga).

Most viewers will recognise at least one of the videos they are parodying, meaning they will compare this version to the original and hopefully find it hilarious (I did!). The fact that they are taking the mickey out of pop artists like Justin Bieber may please their more discerning rock-favouring fans.

This reference to modern pop culture works very well for All Time Low as it shows their sense of humour and lack of dignity, something the band is known for. Fans will know that they do not take themselves too seriously, and this video takes this to the extreme and whether you like them or not as artists, you will recognise the references in this video and probably find at least some of it funny, as well as respecting them for their ability to laugh at and humiliate themselves. 

All Time Low are known for not taking themselves seriously and dressing up in ridiculous outfits in videos

The fact that the whole video is based on their move from a small record label, Hopeless, to major label Interscope, is also a reference for their fans. Many of them were probably sceptical about the move as they feared it would make All Time Low too mainstream, and the band picked up on this and created this video to reassure fans that they wouldn't be controlled by their label, which obviously worked in their favour as they addressed their criticism in such a humorous way.

The video references Interscope Records... here are just some of the artists on this label, including Lady Gaga who is parodied in the video

The video is post-modern in that you wouldn't really understand it if you weren't aware of the pop culture referred to, and/or had no previous knowledge of the music industry. It also plays on the idea that so many things are so prolific in the media that we hardly notice them anymore, like product placement, plus the use of sex to sell pretty much anything in the media; just think of any TV show aimed at young people and it will be full of sex appeal.

Sex appeal in the media - do we even notice it anymore?

All Time Low are also using the post-modern idea that all media is recycled and no-one really comes up with anything completely new any more as everything reflects some form of media that already exists. This is obvious in the 'I Feel Like Dancin' video from the music videos they parody at the end... their manager seems to be a post-modern thinker by suggesting that the only way to sell things is to steal someone else's idea that has already been proven to work.