Inter-textual references within ‘Antiques’

The music video ‘Antiques’ was based mainly around the significance of silent films, this was due to a lack of lyrics within the track, and most of our imagery therefore came from, the 1903 version of Alice in Wonderland. The man with the bunny mask therefore is a direct reference to the Rabbit from Wonderland, symbolism and references from Wonderland are scattered throughout the piece in order to convey the dreamlike state the young woman is in to the audience.

Another inter-textual reference can be made between the rabbit mask and the masked towns folk presented in the (1977) ‘The Wicker Man’. The animalistic nature of the villagers once they wore their masks is an effective link to the rabbit presented in ‘Antiques’. The rabbit is shown throughout the video to be hunting the young woman as she journeys through her dream world, this turns around the generic view of Mr. Rabbit and creates a mysterious villain that helps portray to the audience the danger that the young girl is in.

Another influence and important reference is to the oldest colour film, which date back to 1901, in this opening shot a girl and two small boys are sitting at a table, elegantly dressed and playing with toys. Due to the influences of silent films this shot was implemented into the first scene. This reference is used in order to present the young woman as being from the Victorian era and to explain why modern society appears to be so dreamlike. In order to portray this idea ‘Antiques’ started off in black and white and only dissolves into colour once she has entered the dream, this is in order to juxtapose the old with the new.