What is the story of my production?

Discuss two or more media texts that you would define as post modern and explain why you would give them this label.

The concept of post modernism is that it is the movement away from modernism and is applied to art, history, philosophy and fictions and culture.. Post modernism rejects any reality like faith and science. Theorists like Jean Francis Lyotard said that we create our own realities. Post modernism features pastiche, irony and self-referentiality and black humour. It is described now playful and open. Fredrick Jameson also described it as ‘perpetuant’ and ‘present’. Pop Culture and the film industry Post Modernism is seen in many media texts for example the film Quantin Tarintino. Another example of who presents post modernism is the very famous pop singer Lady Gaga.
Lady Gaga is known for being post modern, like in the video Telephone. She is known for her controversial songs and videos. Gaga has been known for her similarities with Madonna and how their music is very alike. In the video, it features many elements to post modernism. For example Pastiche which is where it references other media texts. The video telephone features Quantin Tarintino and Thelma and Louise. Pastiche rejects the idea of a parody. It also references Consumerism in other words product placement. Virgin Media and Coke Cola are shown in the video. Meta narratives are also shown in the video. It is difficult to know what the main narrative of the video is because of the many product placements and the overall pop culture you see. You also notice that she references other musicians like Michael Jackson and Cyndi Lauper in her music.
Another media text which features Post Modernism is the film Run Lola Run which is a German film and is directed by Tom Tykwer 1998.The film is about how the character Lola, who needs to find 100,00 marks in 20 minutes for her boyfriend Mani. Run Lola Run is a post modern text because of many reasons. Jean Bauldrillard says that we live in a hyper real culture and this is shown in the film and the idea of it being like a video game and Lola having more than one life and can restart the game whenever she wants. The soundtrack of the film uses fast techno music and it reflects on the theme of a video game. Lola is shown as cartoon in the opening sequence of the film. She is shown in the way that she is a superhero. The color red dominates the film. This is maybe representing danger or death. The film also rejects the idea of the Meta narrative. We mostly see the main characters; Lola, Mani and her father, although we see the minor characters which are shown in the runs. We see the characters sped up and their own narratives. Time is a big concept in the film and Tyker shows this by constantly reminding the audience by showing us clocks. We see a clock and a ticking in the opening scene. We then see scene where Lola screams so extraordinarily loud that she breaks a clock. This may represent the shattering of time. All these features make the film very surreal
In conclusion both Run Lola Run and Lady Gaga are both good examples of Post Modernism. The theory of Post Modernism has many explanations but the concepts are clear in the film and Lady Gagas ,music. for example Run Lola Run is shown like a video game and this links with Bauldrillard's ideas and theories. Lady Gaga uses the idea of Pastiche and product consumerism in her video Telephone

Modernism and Post Modernism

Run Lola Run

A young woman in Germany has twenty minutes to find and bring 100,000 Deutschmarks to her boyfriend before he robs a supermarket.

Director:

Tom Tykwer

Writer:

Tom Tykwer

Stars:

Franka Potente, Moritz Bleibtreu and Herbert Knaup

Budget:

 

1.75 Million

The film features two allusions to Alfred Hitchcock's film Vertigo. Like that film, it features recurring images of spirals, such as the 'Spirale' Cafe behind Manni's phone box and the spiral staircase down which Lola runs. In addition, the painting on the back wall of the casino of a woman's head seen from behind is based on a shot in Vertigo: Tykwer disliked the empty space on the wall behind the roulette table and commissioned production designer Alexander Manasse to paint a picture of Kim Novak as she appeared in Vertigo. Manasse could not remember what she looked like in the film and so decided to paint the famous shot of the back of her head. The painting took fifteen minutes to complete.
There are also several references to German culture in the film. The most notable is the use of Hans Paetsch as a narrator. Paetsch is a famous voice of children's stories in Germany, recognized by millions. Many of the small parts are cameo roles by famous German actors (for example the bank teller). Also, two quotes by German football legend Sepp Herberger appear: "The ball is round, the game lasts 90 minutes, everything else is pure theory," and, "After the game is before the game."
On several occasions the theme of free will vs. determinism is integrated into the film. The opening narration states the futility of asking questions, as one leads to another and we only travel in circles. Lola's interactions with other people are similar in that a small conversation or interaction with the people on the streets lead to other interactions. For example, the man on the bike can become a happy, married man or a bum. The concept of free will is also presented because she has three different realities to choose from.

Throughout the film, Lola bumps into people, talks to them, or simply passes them by, and the sound of a camera flash warming up can be heard. Their resulting futures are then conveyed in a series of still frames. The futures are widely divergent from encounter to encounter. In one scenario, a woman whom Lola accidentally bumps into remains poor and kidnaps an unattended baby after her child was taken away by social workers. In another scenario the woman wins the lottery and becomes rich. In the third scenario, the woman experiences a religious conversion. The sound of the camera flash warming up is repeated a final time at the end of the film, when Lola smiles at Manni's question about what's in her bag.

How has the word 'Post Modern' been used by different 'theorists'

There are many different theorists who believe in post modernism for example Jean Bauldrillard or Fredrick Jameson. These theories might be linked to art, history, philosophy or politics.  Bauldrillard came up with the idea of ‘Simulacra’ and ‘Simulation’. Bauldrillard says that simulacra is an image that makes no reference to reality and simulation is. Baulrillard ask "It is no longer a question of imitation, nor duplication, nor even parody. It is a question of substituting the signs of the real for the real"  An example of Simularca is the Gulf War. Bauldrillards exact words are that ‘The Gulf War did not take place’. He said that the Gulf war was not ineffectual. Other theories came up was. He also associated with marxism which is situationism. Other ideas that Bauldrillard came up with was the four ways an object can obtain value. The first is the objects functional value of an object; its instrumental purpose for example a pen is there for writing and fridge is there for cooling. The second is the exchange value of the object meaning the economy. Again an example of this is the pen may be worth 3 pencils. The third is the symbolism of the object; the pen is a symbol of someone’s education. Fourthly a sign of the object: a diamond ring may be a sign of class and taste.

Other theorists like Jean Francis Lyotard who was known for his articulation of postmodernism. Lyotard was also know for is opposition to universals, meta-narratives and generality. According to Lyotard a Meta narrative is a big story and is represented in a shortened explanation for everything in society, for example feminism and Marxism.  He argues that ‘Meta narrative or otherwise known as ‘grand narratives’, we have ceased to believe that narratives of this kind are adequate to represent and contain us all. We have become alert to difference, diversity, the incompatibility of our aspirations, beliefs and desires’. Meaning we have created our own realities. Other ideas of Lyotard are ‘moral relativism’ meaning we no longer know what is wrong and what is right. The book The Postmodern condition outlines meta narrative and the ‘grand narrative’ and also elements of the post-industrial economy and the related postmodern culture, which had risen at the end of the 1950s after the reform of western Europe. This resulted with the idea that Lyotard came up with; ‘Language games’

Lastly, Fredric Jameson who argued against post modernism, who worked a lot with Marxism. He also believed that Post Modernism was pastiche and quotes ‘people tend to get this confused with parody’.

Overall you can see there are many theorists who use Post Modernism to present their views and who have come up with different ideas for instance Bauldrillard idea of simulacra and simulation. There are also some theorists who argue against Post Modernism like Jameson who thought it was pastiche.

• Pastiche. The video has it in spades. It references other forms of media (Tarantino, exploitation films, Thelma & Louise) left and right, while parodying none of them. This is because parody relies on an underlying normative standard, which postmodernism categorically rejects. Instead it merely shows the audience a barrage of media, almost a celebration of how clever the director is for cramming so many references into a single video.
• Consumerism. The product placement is obvious, but it is not portrayed as humorous. The camera lingers too long on each product, and the video knows it, but it still manages to avoid parody. Rather, the video uses these consumer images as an integral part of its aesthetic without any comment on their social context.
• Self-reference. The blatant product placement shows a self-awareness in the video, but this particular brand of ironic detachment harms the video’s ability to make any sort of overall message on its own. Instead it implies that celebrating consumer culture is fine as long as we’re appropriately ironic about it, but this is a largely unintended consequence of the video’s aesthetic.
• Appropriation of identity-based struggle. Lady Gaga is interesting for turning the male gaze back on men, and for portraying women as subjects rather than objects in her videos (albeit still scantily-clad subjects). However, the resistance to power on Lady Gaga and Beyonce’s part is purely individual and brief (it’s very telling that Lady Gaga is bailed out of prison rather than escaping) Behind this initial layer of feminism there is still an individuated desire to become rich, given that Lady Gaga was saved from prison by money. She maintains her glamorous image inside and outside the prison’s walls, an implicit message that “excessive materialism is empowering to women, somehow,” as Alyx Vesey observed. Therefore her kind of feminism is integrated neatly into the agenda of neoliberals, who love to talk about glass ceilings being shattered while heaping disdain on poor women. 
• Incredulity towards metanarratives. Lyotard’s famous description of the postmodern condition applies even here, as it’s difficult to find an overall message or narrative in the video. There is a sequence of events interspersed with pop culture references and product placement, but little else.

How has the word 'Post Modern' been used by different 'theorists'

Theodor Adorno, Hermann Broch and Clement Greenberg all used Kitsch art

• Adorno perceived this in terms of what he called the cutlure industry where the art is controlled and formulated by the needs of the market and given to a passive population which accepts it. He claimed that kitsch is parody of catharis and a parody of aesthetic experience.
• Broch called kitsch "the evil within the value-system of art"—that is, if true art is "good", kitsch is "evil".
• This position is adopted by both defenders of modernism such as Clement Greenberg as well as radical opponents of modernism such as Félix Guattari, who calls it modernism's "last gasp".

The term "Pop Art" was used by Lawrence Alloway to describe paintings that celebrated consumerism of the post World War II era.

Telephone by Lady Gaga featuring Beyonce

The Video Telephone

Lady Gaga - Telephone ft. Beyoncé

Lady Gaga's video Telephone featuring Beyonce
This song I think is more like a mini film. We see a beginning and end. Again her outfits are even more outragous like her glasses which are made out of cigaretts.

Lady Gaga - Just Dance ft. Colby O'Donis

Lady Gaga's video Just Dance.
This is one Gaga's first videos which made her popular. I think we can see from from this video everything is a bit crazy especially Gaga. Her dress sense is very different and unique. I think this video brought her into the pop world and made her popular.

Lady Gaga

Real name: Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta
Genre of Music: Pop-Dance
Inspired by: Madonna, Elton John, Michael Jackson
Biggest Hits: Born This Way,  Bad Romace, Telephone and Alejandro.

Gaga started off singing in local bars and clubs in New York City. She got her name from the Queens well know song Radio GaGa.

Her career lifted and she made her first big album Fame Monster in 2008. Gaga also had a very Unique sense of style and soon became a style icon. She concentrates her outfits on art for example the raw meat she wore to one of the awards ceromony. Her focus was  human rights but instead it caused some havok and some people saw it as disrespectful.

Genre Music Video Analysis

Genre is content, sound and image. It also links with Strucure like the lyrics and style.  Also genre catogories dictate textual characteristics

Genre and Representation
Genre
Race
Stardom
Tend to reinforce domiance

• Hegemonic values
• Audience
• Musical genres create audiences expectations
• Mode of Address

Anaysis of a music video
Narrative structure
Place and role of artist
Function like a mini film (Eminem-Stan)
Artist as character of narrative

Chorus can dictate visuals-Repitition

Anaylysis of Eminems video Stan

• Looks like a mini film.
• Chorus always go back to Didos lyrics. Shows her as the victim-Feminist.
• Mix of genres-rap and romantic ballad
• Looks like a horror film (heavy rain, lightening, mirror shot)
• Shows Eminems stardom. Video potrays him as sensible and a good person
• 'Your picture on my wall' lyrics in song. Potrays Stan like he is obsessed with his idol and not his own lover.
• Diegetic sound (screaming, weather)
• Although Eminem is shows as a good person, he seems a little homophobic.

Adele Rollin' in the Deep

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYEDA3JcQqw

Adele's Rollin' in the Deep video shows Adele sitting in a chair where there are lots of different things going on around her for a example someone throwing plates at a wall, a person dancing and karatying through white powder. From Adele's body language she gives us the feeling she is angry and frustrated by  waving her arms around and in someways shouting the lyrics She is wearing a all black outfit; this could be a connotation of mourning and negativity. When we see the part of the video where there is thousands glasses of water. The sound of the drums gives the water a rippling affect. When we see the person dancing in the powder it looks fanatasing because of all the powder just floating around the room. We then see the plates being thrown accross a room. Again there is lots and lots of broken plates, mugs and bowls. This empahasises the agressiveness of the video.

The video is set in what looks like a abandoned house. The walls look like they have ancient pictures painted on them. Because some walls are being covered by plastic coverings it could be a sign of change. Next we see close ups of a man playing the dums. When we see him playing the drums it gives a better effect on the music and makes it more clear. All the different cuts in the video makes everything more in rythm because the music also gets faster. The shots we see from Adele become more snappy and she seems to become more frustrated as the video goes on especially as she repeates the words 'we could of had it all'. Lastly a replica of what seems to be a city made out of card board boxes is slowly put into flames because of the sparks. This may represent what Adele could of had and what it is now.

Research and Planning

For my research and planning I used many example like NME and VIBE magazine which showed me what a real Music magazine should look like. I saw other front covers, double page spread and contents pages. This allowed me to see the codes and conventions of a magazine like mains images, mastheads, sell lines and plugs.

Post Production

In the Post Production of my AS courswork this is where I used photoshop to edit my magazine for example my photos, masthead and general layout of all four pages of my magazine. I used tools like brushes and and background effects.
We also used Adobe premiere to create our DVD which shows our planning documentry.

Digital Technologies

I used many digital technologies to create my AS coursework for example the cameras we used to make our photoshoot, which was a SLR Digital camera. This let my photos look more realistic and proffesional. Using the digital cameras was quick and easy. It also allowed me to produce more photos which was good because I had a more of a variety of photos to pick from. We also had the white screen and lighting for our photoshoots to make them look better. Secondly we used Adobe Photoshop to create our magazines. Having Photoshop allowed us to edit our magazine pages like using the tools for example brushes.

Narrative

AS Music Magazine

Exciting new video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL8MhYq9owo

Media theory

Critical media theory looks at how the corporate ownership of media production and distribution affects society, and provides a common ground to social conservatives (concerned by the effects of media on the traditional family) and liberals and socialists (concerned by the corporatization of social discourse). The study of the effects and techniques of advertising forms a cornerstone of media studies.

Audience

An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, or literatre theatre music or academics in any medium.

Genre

Is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time as new genres are invented and the use of old ones are discontinued. Often, works fit into multiple genres by way of borrowing and recombining these conventions.

So what is postmodernism?

Well...
A general and wide-ranging term which is applied to literature, art, philosophy, architecture, fiction, and cultural and literary criticism, among others. Postmodernism is largely a reaction to the assumed certainty of scientific, or objective, efforts to explain reality

Example?
Postmodernist film upsets the mainstream conventions of narrative structure and characterization and destroys (or, at least, toys with) the audience's suspension of disbelief to create a work in which a less-recognizable internal logic forms the film's means of expression.