The same thing over and over again: single-shot repetition as cinematic metareference in Spaceballs (Mel Brooks, 1987)
The same thing over and over again: single-shot repetition as cinematic metareference in Spaceballs (Mel Brooks, 1987)

Summary/Abstract: Repetition is a staple of cinematic practice. From the Russian Montage School to the French New Wave, repetition has been used for a variety of reasons, from adding a poetic touch to a scene, to highlighting certain aspects pertaining to its content. This paper will focus on the device of cinematic repetition, more specifically, on single-shot repetition within the same sequence, in an attempt to ascertain its metareferential potential. The inquiry will be both semiotic and narratological in nature, but with an added focus on notions derived from film theory. It will employ Werner Wolf’s theoretical model of metareferentiality, understood (1) as a particular type of self-reference (the opposite of all instances of heteroreference – i.e. all manner of references to the ‘reality’ outside of the representation), and (2) as an umbrella-term for all manner of instances that, in one way or another, produce a higher-level discursive statement on the work that contains them (or, indeed, on the entire medium). The prime aim of this paper will be to demonstrate the relevance of such a technique in the context of metareferential cinema. Thus, I shall take into account various examples of such instances of multiple repetitions of cinematic shots. My prime interest will be one of the most notorious metafilmic parodies of all time: Spaceballs (1987), directed by Mel Brooks - a spoof of the sci-fi blockbuster, Star Wars (1977).

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