Intertextuality in our Production

When planning our production, we studied intertextuality and so looked into our own intertextual references. Looking at our product throughout the editing process, some of these have become particularly clearwhen looking at some of the films that we have studied as part of our research. The most obvious use of intertextuality is through the use of colour as a form of representation.


This colour usage can be found in many films produced over recent years: Schindlers List (1993); Unbreakable (2000) and The village (2004).

All of these films have chosen to use colour (particularly red) to draw attention to certain aspects of shots. In our production, we have eclectically borrowed the idea of using colour to draw attention to our female (child) protagonist, specifically choosing the colour red to represent the theme of danger. The image from Schindler's List was one that we particularly referenced when planning our production; the idea of the young girl in the red coat is very similar to our footage. However, the use of the colour in contrast to the dark forests in M. Night Shyamalan's The Village, is another aspect we have chosen to focus on as the main setting of our teaser trailer is the woods.

Aside from the intertextuality in the form of colour usage, aspects of our plot are also referenced to other texts. For example the kidnapping storyline could be connected to Gone Baby Gone (2007) - this particular films UK release was postponed due to it's similarities to the Madeleine Mccann case, which is something that we have been particularly careful and senisitve in avoiding reference to - or Taken (2008), which focuses on a much older female being kidnapped, but is based around the same idea.

Although intertextuality appears throughout our production, all of the main plot ideas and shot types that we have used have been our own, and we have only borrowed ideas from certain aspects of other major productions.