Intertextuality

Intentional or otherwise, an author’s work can demonstrate their influences and offer a reference with which the audience can make a connection to another media text. As well as direct references, intertextuality can also be shown by two or more relating colour schemes, character traits, story lines, etc.  I found that there are a variety of references and inspired designs in Transformers that relate nicely to this.

When optimus prime is seen for the first time, he transforms to show his more ‘human’ form. The first thing I noticed was that the paint-work is entirely red and blue, just like the costume of Superman. I believe that the audience will make this connection whether it’s realised or not, and establish him as a hero. He is also the tallest and sounds very rough whenever he speaks. This puts him in place as powerful,  a leader and perhaps the wisest because of the age of his voice. The designs of the characters have changed since the original cartoon, but they are still instantly recognizable to anyone who has seen one and the other. It’s an imposed sense of familiarity, as if to say: ‘yes we’ve made a few changes, but they’re still the characters you grew up with.’

There is a strong hero, and villain theme to the entire show, and the movie series, and they have constructed the characters to be identifiable just from appearance. The Autobots (Good guys) tend to be smaller than the Decepticons (Bad guys ) and have less threatening voices. The difference in size is used to illustrate a point of beating the odds, the audience will have sympathy for an under-dog character trying to overcome obstacles greater than himself, and this is used to good effect here. However, the Decepticons are usually huge, and transform into more violent vehicles such as tanks and jet fighters. I noticed that their faces are also very angular, with sharp teeth and threatening features.

The naked teeth make the head look like a vicious skull, and the glowing red eyes play to the idea of an evil demon, or more typically, the grim reaper. It’s a design that’s been used by countless books, films, games, and animations, and we all relate these to each other when assessing any aspect of the film, be it the characters, storyline, art direction etc. Whatever the case, it really hammers the point home and is a very fitting concept for a race of beings that want all life on earth to be wiped out.

As a result we can set up an easy-to-read character, or even mislead the audience by assigning attributes to things that they should not typically have, like an evil character having a soft smile, or a dangerous room being dressed as a children’s play area. Seeing as intertextuality will be a part of my work whether I like it or not, I really would like to play to it as a strength; really emphasising characters and scenarios, and attempt to make the audience think a certain way about elements within my work. I really enjoy meing able to connect with films, movies and games, and I hope to offer the same oppurtunity to the audience