Brit Awards POMO Examples 2

Kate Moss pays homage to David Bowie as collects an award for him at the Brits wearing one of his Ziggy Stardust Costumes!

Pomo Examples

Pulp Fiction can be classed as postmodern as it deters from theorist Propp's model that all characters can be classified into clear roles

Postmodern Terms

Postmodernism and Music V4

Inception - Why is it post-modern?

INCEPTION – AS A POST-MODERN TEXT

·       It is set in a world of hyper reality – The world isn’t real but is very realistic.  They are constantly going to different versions of different people’s imaginations throughout. This makes it post-modern in that it is completely imaginary but as people get into the film they distort actual reality from what they perceive as the new reality. The reason for this is that the new reality could be seen as more desirable than the real world

·       The music is manipulated, in that a classic French song has the start slowed down to create a dramatic sound.

·       It doesn’t have one single genre. The genres it used were action, adventure, sci-fi, thriller, drama and romance.

·       The staircase which is a paradox in the film is postmodern in that it gives people the idea that everything is possible, even when it isn’t.

·       I feel that the film is postmodern in that it uses futuristic technologies that still feel believable even though they aren’t around. There is no such thing as a passive dream machine, but people believe in it for the sake of the film.

·       The shot switches through the layers of the dream, through parallel editing, to show that what’s happening in one layer is also affecting the other layers. The effect is lessened by the time warp through the layers. E.G. When the van roles over, the whole other layer starts to role, but slowly as the time is moving 12x slower.

POST MODERN THEORYS

Postmodernism theories and texts from raybloggs

Note To The Moderator

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Nations Pride - Inter-textual Reference

Short film - bits used in Inglorious Basterds
Battleship Potemkin - Shot in the eye and pram with baby

Explain how certain kinds of media can be defined as postmodern. [50 marks]

Postmodernism is a late 20^th Century movement that labels a cultural form displaying different qualities, represents the departure of modernism and is a way of mixing different styles and media.

Controversy is an ongoing discussion about ideas conflicting with the norm. This can be applied to postmodernism in different ways and different media’s. We can use self-reflexivity as an example of a controversial postmodern style. The audience can be unhappy that the film is revealed. They came to watch a film and are jolted back to reality throughout. This can occur when an actor breaks the 4^th wall, an example of this would be the film The Wolf Of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese 2013) when Leonardo DiCaprio looks directly into the camera and talks to the audience, like he is telling them a story. Other ways a film can be self-reflexive is when the set is reviled to the viewers and they are suddenly snapped back to realising that they are watching a film and aren’t at all involved. A great example of this is when the character Shoshana in the film Inglorious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino 2009) is walking through the corridors or the cinema, on the way to the film premiere, a crane shot is used to follow her. As it is shot from above we see the tops of walls on all the corridors and the set is revealed. Some viewers like the idea of self-reflexivity but others don’t want to be placed back into reality which is why it’s considered postmodern.

Picasso’s use of postmodernism in his cubism is just one example among many in the art world of examples of postmodernism. Another example is Grace Jones’ album artwork for her album Island Life by Jean Paul Goude in 1985. The reason for the artwork of Grace Jones to be considered postmodern is that it was a picture taken that was chopped up and taken apart and pieced back together in a slightly different way that was stretched out. The colours were all slightly changed and bits were removed. The final product looked similar to the original yet there was a big difference. The album cover was done in 1985 using the cut and paint technique by Goude in a time when Photoshop (which was released 5 years later in 1990 and would be used now as a preference) wasn’t around.

The idea of postmodernism can be applied to films too. In the film Drive, the lead character doesn’t have a name and is referred to as ‘The Kid’ throughout. Not only this, but, the character rarely talks in the film, which can sometimes lead to uncomfortable periods of silence within the film. When there is something exciting happening like an argument or a fight the lead character talks only in a calm voice throughout the whole film. These elements in the film combined make the film a postmodern text and therefore it can be described as a postmodern media.

As well as this in the film, the text used for the credits and also on the cover of the DVD is the same at that used for Grand Theft Auto – San Andreas, showing an intertextual reference, which is postmodern theory by Gerard Genette. There is also an intertextual reference between the film The Driver (Walter Hill 1978) and the film Drive. The Film is referenced twice, once is the start of both films is almost identical, both set in a multi-story car park. The second is that throughout the police chase in The Driver, the driver of the car stays calm throughout the chase and doesn’t talk throughout the entire chase, whereas the passengers try to. Also, he manages to get away, hide the car and the occupants and is then found again by the police and he has to escape again, which is intertextually referenced in the film Drive. This works closely with the theory by Claude Levi-Strauss of ‘bricolage.’ Bricolage is a text that is constructed from part of another text, meaning intertextual references can be considered a part. The reason for this is that using a reference from another film such as the film Drive referencing the film The Driver is using a text to construct a new text making intertextuality a part of bricolage.

The director Tarantino used text as an intertextual reference between his films. We can tell a Tarantino film from the yellow subtitles throughout. Other examples of postmodernism within films can include films intertextually referencing one another, such as the Odessa steps scene in the film Battleship Potemkin (Sergie Einstein 1925), where a baby in a pram falls down the Potemkin Stairs and a man is shot in the eye during a massacre of the people in Odessa. Many films or adverts in recent times have used this as an intertextual reference; for example the Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut advert has a reference in that the baby falls down a set of steps in a pram. The clip is played in slow motion much the same as in Battleship Potemkin meaning again this is an example of postmodern media.

In the future, I think one postmodern idea that will develop is the use of holograms in music. We already see holograms being used but, I think what will start to happen is dead pop or rock stars will be put into a super band. E.G. Elvis Presley, Jimmy Hendrix etc. all put into a band to perform as holograms. This could be considered a really controversial idea in that they were all famous and now they are all dead, so the idea could be construed as disrespectful to them and their families.

Pomo Mix Tape

A-side

1. Meridian Dan - German Whip
2. Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa – Young Wild and Free
3. Killers – Mr Brightside
4. Danger Mouse version – 99 Problems
5. Queen – Fat Bottomed Girl
6. Kasabian - LSF
7. Bon Jovi – Its My Life
8. Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit
9. Bruce Springsteen – Born in the USA
10. The Script – Hall of Fame

B-Side

1. Bill Haley – Rock Around The Clock
2. Kasabian – Fire
3. Robbie Williams – Let Me Entertain You
4. Nickleback – Rockstar
5. Greenday – American Idiot
6. Three Days Grace – Gone Forever
7. Kings of Leon – Sex on Fire
8. Guns N’ Roses – Sweet Child O’ Mine
9. Bon Jovi – Livin’ on a Prayer
10. Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Californication

Explain why the idea of 'postmodern media' might be considered controversial. [50 marks]

Postmodernism is a late 20^th Century movement that labels a cultural form displaying different qualities, represents the departure of modernism and is a way of mixing different styles and media.

Controversy is an ongoing discussion about ideas conflicting with the norm. This can be applied to postmodernism in different ways and different media’s. We can use self-reflexivity as an example of a controversial postmodern style. The audience can be unhappy that the film is revealed. They came to watch a film and are jolted back to reality throughout. This can occur when an actor breaks the 4^th wall, an example of this would be the film The Wolf Of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese 2013) when Leonardo DiCaprio looks directly into the camera and talks to the audience, like he is telling them a story. Other ways a film can be self-reflexive is when the set is reviled to the viewers and they are suddenly snapped back to realising that they are watching a film and aren’t at all involved. A great example of this is when the character Shoshana in the film Inglorious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino 2009) is walking through the corridors or the cinema, on the way to the film premiere, a crane shot is used to follow her. As it is shot from above we see the tops of walls on all the corridors and the set is revealed. Some viewers like the idea of self-reflexivity but others don’t want to be placed back into reality which is why it’s considered controversial.

Controversial postmodern media’s can also stretch to music videos too. The M.I.A music video for the song Born Free was extremely controversial. On element that makes the video postmodern is that it contains intertextual references. In the video there is a bus which has bars across the windows and is attacked by a ginger guy throwing bricks or stones at the bars. This references the scene from the film Billy Elliot which is about the miners’ strike. There were riots on the street, with a bus with bars across the windows driving through, getting attacked. The other postmodern this about the video, not only does it contain intertextuality, it parodies the situation. The reference was to do with the miners’ strike, but the video twists it to be about persecution of ginger haired people. Using parody can cause offence, which makes the video controversial. Other examples of this are Southpark and Family Guy, they cross the line all the time but persecute everyone. This shows that the video is postmodern. The reason it is controversial is that the video is all about persecution of the gingers. Several gingers grouped together on a bus, made to run through a mine field and blown it. There is gritting violence and limbs flying around and blood everywhere which makes the video massively controversial. The reasoning behind making a video like this is to gain publicity.

Sampling in music is also considered controversial and postmodern as it is basically taking credit for someone else’s work. Sampling is used all the time in the music industry, examples include; Aloe Blacc sampled Elton John for the song I’m the man, Chase and Status sampled The doors song Down so god Damn Long for their single Hypest Hype and The Klaxons sampled their old songs for their new album, which could be considered really controversial as its recycling old ideas. Sampling in a sense is like intertextual references in videos, examples of intertextual references can be like the film Drive (Nicholas Winding Refn 2011) referencing San Andreas, the film Holy Motors references the film Eyes Without a Face with the limousine driver wearing the same mask at the end of Holy Motors as she work in the film Eyes Without a Face.

In the future, I think one postmodern idea that will develop is the use of holograms in music. We already see holograms being used but, I think what will start to happen is dead pop or rock stars will be put into a super band. E.G. Elvis Presley, Jimmy Hendrix etc. all put into a band to perform as holograms. This could be considered a really controversial idea in that they were all famous and now they are all dead, so the idea could be construed as disrespectful to them and their families.

Why are some media products described as 'postmodern'? [50]

Postmodernism is a late 20^th Century movement that represents the departure of modernism and is a way of mixing different styles and media.

In my opinion, media products are described as postmodern, either when the break the rules of normal conventions or the follow the rules of postmodern theories. So far we have studied Inglorious Basterds (Quentin Tarrentino 2009,) Drive (Nicholas Winding Refn 2011,) Her (Spike Jonze 2013,) and Inception (Christopher Nolan 2010.) All of the films we have studied so far are packed with postmodern elements. However as you will see in my essay, the term postmodern applies much as the question suggests to other media products such as music and art.

Postmodern media has several concepts combined together and have different elements that make them postmodern. If we take music as an example there are several elements that make it postmodern, for example when a band pays homage to another band or samples their music, for instance when Chase and Status sampled the song, Down So God Damn Long by The Doors, for their song Hypest Hype, it was considered postmodern. However there are other elements that make music postmodern, such as performance. A band called Kraftwerk were considered highly postmodern, an example is their song called The Robots. The band performs the song on stage as robots which create an appearance for themselves that is like a false front. This is an example of Baudrillard’s theory of simulacrum. Other examples of people who have used simulacrum via performance to be postmodern are Danger Mouse who performs with a mouse head on and Deft Punk who perform with shiny helmets on. These bands are all considered postmodern for a similar reason, which is ultimately creating a fake character by playing with the way they represent themselves, intriguing the public.

However, Music doesn’t have to be postmodern itself, but can be used as an element of postmodern media, in other medias. Songs are used all the times in films, sometimes in a postmodern way. If we take Inglorious Basterds as an example, throughout the film there are several genres of music used, from periods of the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. The David Bowie – Cat people from early to mid-80’s was used in the film during a montage of the character Shoshanna  as well as during the scene in the forest, where a German soldier walks in slow motion, music from a spaghetti western was used. This shows a distinct difference between genres of music and different eras. As the film was set in 1940’s, and the music playing is from a significantly more modern era, creating a hugely postmodern but realistic feel to the film. Whereas in Inception which is a modern day film, there is music dating back to a song written in 1956 the song in the film performed in 1960. They have taken Edith Piaf’s version of the song, stretched it massively and used it in the film. The use of this song was at the very start of the film and was used to create suspense through the music. The 60’s pop song was slowed down and distorted so much it sounded eerie and created tension. By slowing down the song, the film is manipulating time, which is considered postmodern as well as using old music which creates homage by bringing a potentially over looked or forgotten style back to a new audience.

Picasso’s use of postmodernism in his cubism is just one example among many; another example is Grace Jones’ album artwork for her album Island Life by Jean Paul Goude in 1985. The reason for the artwork of Grace Jones to be considered postmodern is that it was a picture taken that was chopped up and taken apart and pieced back together in a slightly different way that was stretched out. The colours were all slightly changed and bits were removed. The final product looked similar to the original yet there was a big difference. The album cover was done in 1985 using the cut and paint technique by Goude in a time when Photoshop (which was released 5 years later in 1990 and would be used now as a preference) wasn’t around.

Postmodern media can be applied to films too. In the film Drive, the lead character doesn’t have a name and is referred to as ‘The Kid’ throughout. Not only this, but, the character rarely talks in the film, which can sometimes lead to uncomfortable periods of silence within the film. When there is something exciting happening like an argument or a fight the lead character talks only in a calm voice throughout the whole film. These elements in the film combined make the film a postmodern text and therefore it can be described as a postmodern media. As well as this in the film, the text used for the credits and also on the cover of the DVD is the same at that used for Grand Theft Auto – San Andreas, showing an intertextual reference, which is postmodern theory by Gerard Genette. There is also an intertextual reference between the film The Driver (Walter Hill 1978) and the film Drive. The Film is referenced twice, once is the start of both films is almost identical, both set in a multi-story car park. The second is that throughout the police chase in The Driver, the driver of the car stays calm throughout the chase and doesn’t talk throughout the entire chase, whereas the passengers try to. Also, he manages to get away and hide the car and the occupants and is then found again by the police and he has to escape again, which is intertextually referenced in the film Drive. This works closely with the theory by Claude Levi-Strauss of ‘bricolage.’ Bricolage is a text that is constructed from part of another text, meaning intertextual references can be considered a part. The reason for this is that using a reference from another film such as the film Drive referencing the film The Driver is using a text to construct a new text making intertextuality a part of bricolage. The director Tarantino used text as an intertextual reference between his films. We can tell a Tarantino film from the yellow subtitles throughout. Other examples of postmodern media within films can include films intertextually referencing one another such as the Odessa steps scene in the film Battleship Potemkin (Sergie Einstein 1925), where a baby in a pram falls down the Potemkin Stairs and a man is shot in the eye during a massacre of the people in Odessa. Many films or adverts in recent times have used this as an intertextual reference; for example the Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut advert has a reference in that the baby falls down a set of steps in a pram. The clip is played in slow motion much the same as in Battleship Potemkin meaning again this is an example of postmodern media.

Another example using Inglorious Basterds of something that could be described as a postmodern text is that breaks the rules of representation. This postmodern film breaks the rules of the representation of nationality. There are several instances throughout the film where this occurs. The best example we can take is where the three American ‘Basterds’ accompany the film star to the film premier and are meant to be disguised as Italians. 2 of the three put on a good Italian accent but the main one of the three (Brad Pitt) talks in Italian in the most put on American accent. This is an example of a parody used in the film which creates self-mocking humour and is a technique is considered postmodern. This breaks the rules of representation in that he is meant to represent an Italian man in the film but parodies the role making us clearly aware he is playing a part in the film. The idea behind postmodern media is that they want you to know that it has been created and is hence not real, this highlights how it extensively breaks the rules of representation of reality. Postmodern theorist John Fiske said a representation of a car chase will only make sense in relation to others we have seen. So if we see a car chase in real life, we make sense of it by turning it into a movie such as the car chase in the film Drive. Therefore this breaks the rules as reality is being distorted by films, something that happens in real like we only make sense of by relating it to a film, such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks being described as ‘like a movie.’

If we now take Her as an example of something that can be described as postmodern, we can see that throughout the film there are several examples. The film follows some of the postmodern theories such as Fiske and Baudrillard in that the main character (Theodor) thinks that reality isn’t good enough so he engages with a fantasy. He enters into a relationship with the operating system on his computer as he had trouble with his ex-wife and felt that his computer was easy to fall back on. Other postmodern elements include the film following Derrida’s theory that no film can belong to no genres. Her is in two genre categories, romance and sci-fi. The sci-fi part of the film can also be considered postmodern in that it’s not like Star wars, it’s more realistic and believable. When we look at the film and we think how technologies have developed in the last 10 years, from the Nokia 3210 to the IPhone it is a huge leap. So when we see this technology in the film it wouldn’t surprise is if it came out later on this year. Also the world the film is set in is a form of hyper reality, everything is too neat, too clean, too uniform. We cannot relate the city to one place, like Dubai for example as the city is far too advanced and planned for that which follows the postmodern theory by Baudrillard of hyper reality.

In my opinion, media products are described as postmodern, either when the break the rules of normal conventions or the follow the rules of postmodern theories. When we look at theories by Derrida, Baudrillard, Fiske, Levi-Strauss etc we can see the films I have studied are considered postmodern in that they either follow the rules of postmodernism or they break the rules of normal film making, such as representation. So when a film follows the theories or breaks the rules, that is why it is described as postmodern.

POMO essay Question 9: Monday 17th

"Postmodern media break the rules of representation" Discuss.

Question 1 A in for Mondasy 17th

Describe the ways in which your production work was informed by research into real media texts and how your ability to use such research for production developed over time [25]

Work For Lesson Later Today

Describe how you developed your skills in the use of digital technology for media production and evaluate how these skills contributed to your creative decision making. Refer to a range of examples in your answer to show how these skills developed over time. [25 marks]

Tips from Exam Board

G325 exam from petefrasers

Creativity Task

This Video

This Song

Question 12: What is meant by the term 'Postmodern Media'

What is meant by ‘Postmodern Media’

Postmodernism is a late 20^th Century movement that represents the departure of modernism and is a way of mixing different styles and media.

In my opinion postmodern media has several concepts combined together to create the term. I think that different media’s have different elements that make them postmodern. If we take music as an example there are several elements that make it postmodern, for example when a band pays homage to another band or samples their music, for instance when Chase and Status sampled the song, Down So God Damn Long by The Doors, for their song Hypest Hype, it was considered postmodern. However there are other elements that make music postmodern, such as performance. A band called Kraftwerk were considered highly postmodern, an example is their song called The Robots. The band performs the song on stage as robots which create an appearance for themselves that is like a false front. This is an example of Baudrillard’s theory of simulacrum. Other examples of people who have used simulacrum via performance to be postmodern are Danger Mouse who performs with a mouse head on and Deft Punk who perform with shiny helmets on. These bands are all considered postmodern for a similar reason, which is ultimately creating a fake character by playing with the way they represent themselves, intriguing the public.

However, Music doesn’t have to be postmodern itself, but can be used as an element of postmodern media, in other medias. Songs are used all the times in films, sometimes in a postmodern way. Most of the track listing in the film Inglorious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino 2009), were considered postmodern as the songs used were all from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s such as David Bowie with his song Cat People from early to mid-80’s was used in the film during a montage of the character Shoshanna getting ready for a movie premiere set in 1944. The film was set in the early 40’s, therefore using music from a newer era in a film set in the past. They are also examples of music edited in a postmodern way such as in the film Inception (Christopher Nolan 2010), the Edith Piaf song I Regret Nothing was slowed down so much is stopped being an operatic pop song, and became an eerie, dramatic start to the film. The main background music that starts the song was slowed down and used within the film credits at the start. This is considered to be an element of postmodern media showing the diversity of the term and what can be included in it.

The term postmodern media isn’t just contained to music I can be spread across different Medias such as art. Picasso’s use of postmodernism in his cubism is just one example among many; another example is Grace Jones’ album artwork for her album Island Life by Jean Paul Goude in 1985. The reason for the artwork of Grace Jones to be considered postmodern is that it was a picture taken that was chopped up and taken apart and pieced back together in a slightly different way that was stretched out. The colours were all slightly changed and bits were removed. The final product looked similar to the original yet there was a big difference. The album cover was done in 1985 using the cut and paint technique by Goude in a time when Photoshop (which was released 5 years later in 1990 and would be used now as a preference) wasn’t around.

Postmodern media can be applied to films too. In the film Drive (Nicholas Winding 2011), the lead character doesn’t have a name and is referred to as ‘The Kid’ throughout. Not only this, but, the character rarely talks in the film, which can sometimes lead to uncomfortable periods of silence within the film. When there is something exciting happening like an argument or a fight the lead character talks only in a calm voice throughout the whole film. These elements in the film combined make the film a postmodern text and therefore it can be described as a postmodern media. As well as this in the film, the text used for the credits and also on the cover of the DVD is the same at that used for Grand Theft Auto – San Andreas, showing an intertextual reference, which again is postmodern. The director Tarantino used text as an intertextual reference between his films. We can tell a Tarantino film from the yellow subtitles throughout. Other examples of postmodern media within films can include films intertextually referencing one another such as the Odessa steps scene in the film Battleship Potemkin (Sergie Einstein 1925), where a baby in a pram falls down the Potemkin Stairs and a man is shot in the eye during a massacre of the people in Odessa. Many films or adverts in recent times have used this as an intertextual reference for example the Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut advert has a reference in that the baby falls down a set of steps in a pram. The clip is played in slow motion much the same as in Battleship Potemkin meaning again this is an example of postmodern media.

There are several examples I have used which are all good examples of postmodern media. There are several concepts that come together to create the term. We have to assess different medias in order to really show the diversity of the term ‘Postmodern Media.’ In my opinion the term postmodern media can be used to describe post 19^th century things that are out of the ordinary or redefine the way we think, such as the cubism movement pioneered by Pablo Picasso and film makers such as Quentin Tarantino. 

Postmodern Media Questions

1. Why are some media products described as 'postmodern'?
2. "Postmodern media blur the boundary between reality and representation". Discuss this idea with reference to media texts that you have studied.
3. Explain how certain kinds of media can be defined as postmodern.
4. Discuss why some people are not convinced by the idea of postmodern media.
5. How do postmodern media differ from other media?
6. How far do you accept the idea of postmodern media.
7. Define postmodern media, with examples.
8. "Postmodern media manipulate time and space". To what extent does this definition apply to texts you have studied?
9. "Postmodern media break the rules of representation". Discuss.
10. Assess the arguments for and against postmodernism, in relation to media examples.
11. Explain why the idea of 'postmodern media' might be considered controversial.
12. What is meant by postmodern media?

Question 12: Essay!!

What is meant by 'postmodern media'?

Chase And Status - Post Modern Band

Chase and Status - Post Modern Band

Post Modern Adverts 2

I feel this is a post-modern as it extends reality. Realistically, you don't slide away from work, and slide through super markets buying things. The advert is weird for the sake of being weird. This may come under hypotextuality as I see it as a parody on life and work. He works in a bank, is meant to be suited and booted, but instead plays a spoof type role of walking through the workplace in swim wear.

Post Modern Adverts

I feel this is a postmodern advert as it follows Baudrillard's theory that everything is a simulation of reality. By shopping online, we see pictures but in reality the clothes don't always look the same on. The red shopping cart represents the reality of the person going and picking the items, whereas it’s just a simulation.

20 Songs on Shuffle

On Top - Killers
Use Somebody - Kings of Leon
U Boat - Kasabian
Something in Your Mouth - Nickleback
Amanda - Greenday
Head for the Baracade - Limp Bizkit
Another Brick in the wall - Korn
If Everyone Cared - Nickleback
Kaleidascope - The Script
Changed the way you Kissed Me - Example
Bird Song - Florence and the Machine
Just to get High - Nickleback
Between two Lungs - Florence and the Machine
Underdog - Kasabian
Kid - Greenday
Goodnight, travel well - Killers
Tumble and Fall - Feeder
 Neon Noon - Kasabian
When Everydays the Weekend - Asking Alexandria
Revelry - Kings of Leon