media exam mock monday

1.A) Describe how your skills developed in digital technology over the whole course. Also evaluate how these skills contributed to your creativity

I have been doing media studies for two years now and i have learnt new ways of creating and using text within media. Along the progress i have used different technologies to help me in creating and editing these texts and this has expanded my skills with digital technology.

In the first year of Media studies (As) i was set a task to create a preliminary video and this included four shots that we had been told to incorporate and they are; long shot, close up, mid shot and a shot reverse shot. The narrative to this video was; person opens door sits down and conversation happens so there was no relevance to any conventions within this narrative. In the creation of the preliminary task i used the schools cameras that were dated and used old technology so this meant that i had to learn how to use them and this was done by us receiving a step by step talk by Mrs Sutton on how to use the cameras. This prelim set a bench mark for me on how well my camera skills were and they were proved to be quite good. Once i had all of the required filming i had to edit the clips using the schools Macs and this proved difficult as they lacked some of the required features that i needed to apply into the preliminary task, such as the internet connection so i could not download any new title sequences onto iTunes. i then went onto creating my film opening for the Media studies As level and for this i decided to use my own laptop with its own movie editing software on called SONY Vegas Pro 9, i have also used my own digital camera as i knew how to use all of its features and i could also apply all of the clips onto my laptop without having to change or edit the format of the clips. Because i used a different types of technology for my film opening than from my preliminary task my skills needed to be developed on using all of the new technology so i decided to record some clips with my camera such as filming cars passing by and then i experimented in many creative ways to edit the clips and i also used YouTube instruction clips to help me edit the video clips and this improved my skills for when i did my final version of my film opening.

In the second year of Media studies (A2) i was set the task to create a music video and then to create a digipak and a poster for the music video. I started off by selecting the same equipment that i used for my draft and final version of my film opening sequence in AS level, which were my laptop and computer with SONY Vegas Pro 9 on and also my own digital video camera and this meant that i had an advantage over all of the other students as i did not need to borrow any of the schools equipment and i could practice and improve my skills in my own time. In the music video that i have created my editing skills have improved by using shorter and faster clips to suite all of the conventions, all of the camera angles and shots were more advanced and more thought through such as the high angle shot of Rhys on the drums and there was a section of the drums on the right and bottom of the clip, i have used some of the transitions at the beginning of the video limiting it so the video looks more professional and suites the genre of the song more and i have met the editing with the tempo of the music. The digipak and poster that i have made also show how my skills have improved through the year as in As level i made a preliminary poster and i have used paint shop pro X2 and my laptop to edit the prelim poster, and i have followed all of this experience and knowledge through to my A2 digipak and poster, but i have also improved in many ways by using the technology by applying more special effects to the digipak and poster such as making the pictures taken look like the street artist Banksie’s work and colouring in some of the bricks in the picture to emphasise the effect of a derelict location and finally i have improved my lasso cropping by making the lines of the cut out image much more smoother and closer to the line than in my As Prelim.

1.B) Analyse one of your media products in relation to media language

In my A2 level music video i have followed all of the conventions for the rock genre of music videos and this is because my music video is of the rock genre. In the music video there is only a performance based and the member of the band that i play is the lead singer and we have amplified this member of the band by using a close up of my face singing them lyrics and showing the facial expressions of anger and regret which also follows the lyrics in the song, then there is Rhys on the drums and all of the camera shots of his band member are all mainly high angled close ups, this is to show that he is playing the most important instrument in the video. Next the shots of Nick on the guitar are mainly close-ups of him fingering the guitar or strumming it and there are also lots of mid shots showing him playing the guitar. Finally all of the shots of Tom are mainly concentrated on the keyboard and him pushing down on the keys, this is because the piano is not normally the main instrument in a rock band and it is therefore not important.

A theory that could be applied into our music video could be the reverse male gaze as we have been given feedback that suggests that Tom is wearing leather, fingerless gloves that suite the stereotype of fetish desires and being camp, although he was not wearing leather gloves they looked like they were leather in the video as the resolution of the video was not perfect, so this theory could be applied to the video depending on the audiences thoughts.

The editing that was used in the music video was all fast paced and the continuity was perfect as all of the

theory lesson 09th/May

- Maslo

- mcQuail +Katz

- effects model

- Mode of address

Maslo:

An audience question is not simple

- What you learnt from feed back

- Who watched it

- Whether people liked it

Hierarchy of needs why we use media texts

McQuail + Katz uses and gratification

- Information – learn about wider world

- Identity – create a sense of self

§ Celebrity driven

- Social interaction – how to fit into society à possibly negative

· (You could always challenge)

- Diversion – entertainment

Next theory

Entertain is the primary function because:
Music videos are primarily to promote an artist or ban. It should not be seen as an advert

Active audience theory

- Preferred/ dominant reading – what the producer wanted the audience to think e.g. McDonald’s burgers

- Oppositional reading – what counter views did e.g. McDonald’s are not healthy

- Negotiated reading – it is a bit of both (preferred and oppositional) e.g. we know McDonald’s are not healthy but we eat them because they are nice

Mode of address

Part of active audience model.

The way a text “speaks” to you

Elements within a text which appeal to an audience, you have to have created a specific target audience

1.

Ethnographic audience theory

a) Focus on domestic context of reception

a. YouTube (phone/PC/laptop) (wi-fi/internet)

i. Phone – smaller screen, sound quality – send forward link to friend

b. Music TV (TV, digital TV) to afford this they may be mid class

i. Specific channels for specific styles – reduces the chance of oppositional reading

b) Cultural competence of the audience (could create oppositional readings)

a. the more informed the more critical

c) Technology

a. “information rich” lots and lots of sources

b. “Information poor” not many sources

Using audience theory analyse your text

- Introduction à specify the one media text you are analysing, who you thought your target audience was

- Pont 1 – uses + gratification of your chosen text (McQuail + Katz) – why and how

- Point 2 – dominant, oppositional, negotiated (include mode of address in these examples)

- Point 3 – ethnographic

- Conclusion – how successful was your text?

Who is your target audience?

I have aimed the media text that I have created at the younger generation, this is because they way to experience a more upbeat song and also all of the members of the band are in fissionable rock clothing making it seem more inspiring to the younger audience and therefore this text is speaking to the audience by using the appearance and beats to the song.

active audience theory question answer

1. What is the preferred reading of your text?
How and why did you create this reading?
(Link this to McQuail + Katz)

2. What oppositional readings were made of your text?
Why was this possible?
What could you have done to prevent this?

3. what was the negotiated reading of your text?

Why did your audience arrive at this conclusion?

The preferred reading of my text is to show that there is a rock band that looks like the typical stereotype of a rock band performing their song and they are in the typical setting of a rock bands location as it is plain and simple and the area is just for one reason, to play music loud and hard, also the attitude of the band suggests that it is rock. This reading was created by applying McQuail and Katz theory by using the identity text and this shows that our bands appearance and attitude is celebrity driven creating a sense of self meaning and this gave the effect of our band being a proper rock band as all of the main features were copied from a pre-existing band.

The oppositional readings that are in our music video suggest that the location of the video is not correct for a rock band as the setting is in a summer log cabin and it looks too soft and friendly to fit in with the typical setting for a rock video, to challenge this convention we decided to put up a couple of rock poster in the background and this roughened up the background, but it did not give off the impression that we were looking for as it made the setting feel like a teenagers wall with all of the posters.

The negotiated reading of my text could be that although the audience know that the setting is not of an alternative rock genre and it makes the musicians seem lees of a rock band, all of the clothes, attitudes, editing speed and beats of the song show that the band is a rock band because their appearance and attitude is of a typical rock genre. The audience arrived at this conclusion because they were looking at my video and comparing it existing conventions and stereotypes and this is where they gathered the conclusions for my music video, also it is down to the audiences point of opinion because some would think different to others and won’t see what others see as being incorrect for the genre.

My view on the media project.

in my opinion I think that the music video that we created would fall under two of the four sections from McQuail and Katz theory that are; diversion and identity. Our video would fall under identity because we have gone for the rock band effect with all of the characters clothing and attitude so this is portrayed around what pre-existing rock bands already exist, our video also has a fast editing pace matching the beats to the song and this is also seen as being rock. Next our music video fits in with the diversion part of their theory and an example of this would be; the speed of all of the editing within the video as this improves the excitement that the audience feels.

(example of how to start) by the use of McQuail + Katz theory and my media text...

Kramers theory part 2

1. is not simply a repudiation of modernism or its continuation, but has aspects of both a break and an extension
2. is, on some level and in some way, ironic
3. does not respect boundaries between sonorities and procedures of the past and of the present
4. challenges barriers between 'high' and 'low' styles
5. shows disdain for the often unquestioned value of structural unity
6. questions the mutual exclusivity of elitist and populist values
7. avoids totalizing forms (e.g., does not want entire pieces to be tonal or serial or cast in a prescribed formal mold)
8. considers music not as autonomous but as relevant to cultural, social, and political contexts
9. includes quotations of or references to music of many traditions and cultures
10. considers technology not only as a way to preserve and transmit music but also as deeply implicated in the production and essence of music
11. embraces contradictions
12. distrusts binary oppositions
13. includes fragmentations and discontinuities
14. encompasses pluralism and eclecticism
15. presents multiple meanings and multiple temporalities
16. locates meaning and even structure in listeners, more than in scores, performances, or composers

1.

2. This is where the creator of the music leaves mocking humour somewhere in the song and they are playing with the perceptions of music, Timberland would be an example of this with the monkey screaming, birds tweeting and baby crying, another example would be in Eminem’s stay wide awake as there is a sound of a chain saw half way through.

3.

4. The high style will be classical and then the low style would pop. And a song would challenge these barriers by something like a modern pop/r ’n’ b song with a backing sound of classical music such as Kanye West, beastie boys

5. This is music that is just one genre with no intertextuality and an example of this would be rock just being rock

6. Elitist = classical and populist = pop music, this is to get an elitist track such as opera or Elvis Presley and then add a sweet tune onto of the original tune to make it more main stream such as Dan Black symphonies

7.

8. Autonomous (a part), just music – this includes political, social and cultural music such as charity singles, MIA, Lady Ga-Ga. à diamonds from Ceria-Leone (this is about blood diamonds) and makes it a protest song

9. This is taking music from other cultures and other songs and an example of this would be Kanye West – Drunken hot girls (US R ‘n’ B/hip hop song) being a copy of Kraut rock – can, swing, swan song (German song)

10. This is when technology is used in a live performance or recordings to create a song by using auto tuning or cooping sounds and an example of this would be DJ shadow, Katie Tunstal, Imogene Heap - just for now

11. 77 boa drums

12.

13. This is a clever use of sampling such as the Black eyed peas, Vampire weekend or Dan Black

14.

15.

16. The meaning of the music is in us the audience rather than the song its self, the songs meaning is what we think of it e.g. walking on sunshine could be a sad song for the audience if it reminds them of someone close to them that has died and therefore the meaning has changed

Kramers theory

Timberland – if we ever meet again feat Katie Perry à

this song fits into Kramers theory because it uses elements of point ten with the lyrics of the singing (this is clear to hear as timberlands vocals are distorted and sound more electro), also some of the lyrics are jarred, repeated and looped to show an error in the track, this could also be linking to kramers theory of the creator implying irony into the song as it creates mocking humour.

Stockhausen - "Helicopter String Quartet" à

this song fits into Kramers theory because it blurs the lines between high performance and low performance music, this is shown with the classical instruments being played such as the violin, but then the musicians try to make it more modern by changing the speed and tempo at which they play the instruments and also the rotor blades from the helicopters give a more lower class of music effect as they provide a background beat, also they experiment with different ways of performing music as they are all in separate helicopters and they can hear what the other musicians are doing live through their headphones.

Alvin Lucier – i am sitting in a room à

this song fits into Kramers theory because it is using existing technology to record what he says and then playback what he has just said into the microphone and then he increases the rate that the recording is played every time by layering new ones on top of the first, then it gets so far and it is just a loud distorting sound and it becomes a piece of music in its self

Mix tape tracks

I have gone for mainly what my songs remind me of my favourite films (this is because some of the songs are for the films.

1. New divide - in transformers two

2. a view to a kill - in 007 a view to a kill

3. dirty harry - played through radio in car going to the hospital when i broke my arm at the age of 10

4. what i've done - in transformers and also reminds me that life isn't a smooth ride because of the A2 media music video, nothing went to plan...

5. black in black - in black hawk down

6. live and let die - in 007 live and let die this is the first 007 film i watched and i got hooked on 007 in my younger life

7. hell above water - off one of my favourite racing games (Motorstorm)

8. goldeneye - in 007 golden eye, brings memories of when me my bro and Damo made a film called 00Damon (fun times!)

9. hardnock - austin powers Goldmember

10. just the two of us - austin powers The spy who shagged me

11. stand up -

12. the reflex - reminds me of holidays when young

media exam question

How has your research and planning skills progressed and allowed you to make more creative decisions?

My research and planning skills have progressed since As media when i was set the task to create an introduction sequence for a film genre of my choice, i then researched into all of the different media examples and genres and this helped me form the film that i had made at the end. In A2 media studies i was set the task to create a music video of my choice and to make it appeal to an audience, then i had to make a digipak and a poster to go with the music video. When i was researching and planning for my music video and digipak my overall researching and planning had improved and i also became more creative by using more forms of media, ways of presenting my research and planning and different sources.

In As level i had used web 2.0 and the internet (David Gauntlett 2004) such as YouTube, blogger, scribd, slideshare, tube chop, Google and sound cloud. I used YouTube in my research and planning because it allowed me to upload, download, comment, feedback and review YouTube clips including my own and it also allowed me to get an accurate representation of the genre gathering information on the conventions, codes, signs and signifiers (Barthes 62) used. I then used blogger as it is a good example of web 2.0 as it allowed me to change the appearance and layout of the blog and also allowed me to receive comments and feedback on all of the research and planning that i had made (David Gauntlett 2004) (telling me how to improve on some elements) and also to receive an accurate representation of the genre. I also have used scribd as this allowed me to upload all of the word documents that i have made on the internet and by doing this i have managed to get feedback on all of the planning and research that has been made on the document.

In A2 i have also used web 2.0 and the internet for my planning and research and i have been using YouTube, tube chop, scribd, slide share, animoto, prezi, blogger, yowindow, Google, iTunes, texting, face book, twitter and an animatic. These have been used to aid me in researching and planning for my media production. This is where UGC (Andrew Keenan 2008) can be applied as he believes that there are sites promoting amateur media where it should only be for the professionals, and all of the media texts have to grip the audiences attention for it to be good (Michael Goldhaber 1997) and this applied to all of the research and planning that i have made for my As and A2 media products. In

creativity questions

3. Is creativity an inevitable social good, invariably progressive, harmonious and collaborative; or is it capable of disruption, political critique and dissent, and even anti-social outcomes?

Creativity is capable of disruption, this is because it can influence bad ideas on people and distract them from what they are doing, this is because the creativity of media can cause disruption by interrupting others, not working as hard as you can do, not listening to others and so on... a theory that suggests creativity can be disruptive is: “A process needed for problem solving...not a special gift enjoyed by a few but a common ability possessed by most people" (Jones 1993), this suggests that people do not always enjoy being creative, so it suggests that people will not work as hard and this will cause disruption within a group. An example of creativity being disruptive or even anti social would be Hitler, because he killed many in what could be classes as in a creative way, but could be seen as a bad creativity.

In my project of making a music video with Damon and Nick in a group creativity was disruptive at times, this is because we joked a lot about some of the creative suggestions and we all also had many different points and we spent a lot of time arguing what to do, this falls into the disruptive side of creativity as it prevented us from doing the project at times.

4. What does the notion of creative teaching and learning imply?

We need guidelines to be creative as we do not enjoy being creative and we will not know where to start. An example of this would be when we were set our project for media and we had do create a music video of any genre and use whatever techniques we wanted to use, but they had to follow the conventions of a music video. At the beginning of the project we were struggling to select a song and genre to use, but we knew what we were doing and all of the creativity revolved around that. This shows that we need to be set a task in order to be creative.

further helpful websites

http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/alevkeyconcepts/alevelkeycon.php

alien ant farm postmodern?

Alien ant farm

View more presentations from darren king.

helpful link

http://www.eng.fju.edu.tw/Literary_Criticism/postmodernism/mtv_theory.htm#Wollen

In what ways can Inglourious Basterds and Fight Club be considered postmodern?

I have been studying the two films: Inglourious Basterds and Fight Club, i think that both of these films are post modern as they both include aspects of what makes a postmodern film.

The film Inglourious Basterds is post modern, because it uses the story telling plot of a fairy tale (this is when it says: “a long time ago” and the story ends in a forest and this is the most common ending in a fairy tale), also the story is broken up into chapters and this strengthens the point of the story plot being based on a fairy tale, this also emphasises that the film is a fairy tale (never happened) and it is being told to a child by their parents or grandparents and the story is told in a personalised way as everything goes to plan and Hitler is killed in a horrific manor, glorifying the death of Hitler. I think that some of the scenes in this film were aimed towards Jews such as the killing of Hitler (this scene is about one of the Inglourious Basterds over-killing Hitler corpse on the floor and he was shooting Hitler in the face, this is bloody violence and gore. Another point to suggest that some of the scenes in the film are aimed at Jews is the humiliation of Hitler as there is a scene when Hitler has a paddy and screams: Nien, nien, nien.... like a little child.

The next point for why Inglourios Basterds is postmodern is the violence that is used, this is because the violence in the film is so exaggerated that it makes the audience laugh, which is a postmodern thing to do as it forces the audience to laugh at something that we would not normally laugh at e.g. when the Bear Jew smashes the Nazi’s skull in with a baseball bat, this violence is pushed so far that it does not seem to be real and it make the audience laugh. Another example would be Hugo Stiglitz in the bar scene when he stabs a German in the back of the head repeatedly, although this clip is horrific it seems to be so far away from reality it is comical.

Next the songs that are played in the film are postmodern as they were all made after the time period of the film (WWII) and also some of the songs genres do not fit in with the story of a war, an example of this would be the spaghetti western (Mystic and Severe by Ennio Morricone) song, this song is out of its year time line. This makes the audience confused as they notice that the song does not fit the film and it gives the effect of the time line being mixed up and the effect of the music creates an atmosphere of the music genre.

Another point that suggests that Inglourious Basterds is postmodern is the personalisation of tarantion’s foot fetish, this is shown in scenes such as when Col. Hans Landa puts on Bridget’s shoe and this is also a link to the fairy tale as it is similar to Cinderella.

In the film there is a film within a film and this is called: ‘The Nations Pride’ and it celebrates Frederick Zoller’s triumph over the Americans, the film within a film is an extremely postmodern thing to do as it reminds the audience that they are watching a film, and another post modern element in Inglourious Basterds that reminds that audience that they are watching a film is when the set walls are revealed and this is typical of Tarantino as he uses this technique in Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction (two of his other films). The method of telling the audience / reminding them in a film is a postmodern method.

The next film that can be considered post modern is Fight Club and this is because it includes elements such as: subliminal messages, breaks the fourth wall, self reflexive, copy of a copy of a copy and so on...

The first post modern point about Fight Club is that it is a film that is not trying to be real, but by adding all of the elements and the effects of realistic topics, like the sound of a punch it is therefore realistic. This is post modern because it is something that is real but it is not and it is not trying to be realistic so therefore it is realistic.

The next post modern point in this film is the subliminal messages that are used as they show the audience a brief clip for something like 2 milliseconds and this makes the audience remember that message later on in the film. The subliminal messages that we see as an audience are of Tyler Durden and as the story progresses the audience is introduced to Tyler and they remember him from the film although he has not been in the story yet, this is a post modern thing to do as it is challenging the audience and deliberately confusing them.

Next there are intertextualities in the film for example when Tyler shouts ‘Run Forrest Run!’ at the back of the store, this is taking a text from a pre existing film and then using it in a different text in Fight Club and this is also known as ‘a copy of a copy of a copy’

Another postmodern point in this film would be when Ed Nortons character looks around his flat and there are labels of all of the furniture giving their name and the price that they cost, this is a postmodern aspect as it is displaying unreal elements and it is reminding the audience that they are watching a film and it also fits into the moral of the story and it is all about what we will tolerate as being real or unreal and this is tolerated as being unrealistic.

Also another post modern element in this film is near the end when the audience find out what Ed Nortons characters name is (Tyler Durden), this then sends his memory back into a flash back of all of the events that have happened with him and Tyler and it has replaced all of Tylers actions with Ed Norton and it shows the audience that he is a skitso and has a split personality with Brad Pit as what he wants to be, this then confuses that audience and makes them rethink about the whole story and this is a postmodern technique because it is challenging the audiences knowledge.

post modernism

Dan Black

- participation (anyone can make this song by using garage band and having the star man song)

- modification (anyone can modify the beats per second in the tunes)

- authenticity disrupter (the song can be remade, but the lyrics and the tune will be out of sync)

- originality (this is a copy of two songs and the video is a copy of a series of films so therefore it is a brickolage and a copy of a copy.

- knowing how to make it and knowing that it is easier to produce, makes it less impressive as anyone can make the song and the tune

DJ Shadow

- participation (

- modification (

- disrupter (

- originality (this is original as there are short 10 second sound from songs pre-existing so they all mix into one original song

- knowing how to make it does not affect how impressive it is as it is extremely difficult to mix all of the tunes together at once.

Daft Punk

family guy intertextuality

why scott pilgrim vs the world failed at the box office

Scott Pilgrim vs the world failed at the box office and this was because of the nature and intertextuality that is in the film. Scott Pilgrim is aimed at a the nerdy teenaged being, but there is a problem with the target audience of this film as most of the references are too old for most of the aimed audience to know what it is and an example of this would be Seinfeld (this was an American hit comedy TV series), but it was cancelled and removed off of the air before the target audience for the film was even born and this means that the audience to understand this intertextuality would have to be 20 – 30 years of age and this is not the target audience for the film. Another reason for why Scott Pilgrim flopped in the box office is because people have a special hate for the actor who plays Scott and he is Michael Cera, people hate Michael because he plays the same character in all of the films that he has starred in and there is no difference in Scott Pilgrim vs the world. Then the film does not have a clear story line as it is basically Scott plays in band, finds a girl he likes and then has to kill 7 evil ex’s and all of the evil ex’s have ridiculous weaknesses such as being a super vegan and Scott gives him a bottle of cow’s milk to kill him, this storyline is not clear to anyone in the audience as it seems to be random and stupidly pointless. In the film there are too many references to other existing media, this is clear as there is even a pee bar when Scott goes to the toilet, also the super vegan is a reference to the animated TV series called Dragon Ball Z and in all of the fights there are speed lines used in all animated TV series. Most of the audience is put off of the film because of the geeky stereotype that has grown on the reputation of this film and this means that everyone who is not a geek thinks that the storyline is all about geeks / nerds playing card games, world of war craft in a dark sweaty basement, but the storyline of the film is not about that at all it is about 20-ish year old douche bags performing songs and Scott is trying to decide what girl to sleep with and he is planning all of his spare time working out what evil ex he will be killing next.

Scott Pilgrim vs the world flopped at the box office because of there being such a narrow / specific target audience that does not exist as the target audience does not understand any of the intertextualities because they are too young to understand the references.

theorists for postmodernism

Jacques Derrida proposed that a text cannot belong to no genre, it cannot be without... a genre. Every text participates in one or several genres, there is no genreless text

(Derrida 1981, 61).

Levi Strauss and his theory of 'binary opposites', he also however developed the theory of 'bricolage'.

Baudrillard's idea of hyperreality was heavily influenced by phenomenology, semiotics, and Marshall McLuhan who coined the phrase 'the medium is the message'. By this he means that the manner in which the message is shown becomes more important than the meaning of the message itself.
Some examples are simpler: the McDonald's "M" arches create a world with the promise of endless amounts of identical food, when in "reality" the "M" represents nothing, and the food produced is neither identical nor infinite.

Frederic Jameson sees postmodernism as vacuous and trapped in circular references. Nothing more that a series of self referential 'jokes' which have no deeper meaning or purpose.

Jean-François Lyotard

rejected what he called the “grand narratives” or universal “meta-narratives.”

Grand narratives refer to the great theories of history, science, religion, politics. For example, Lyotard rejects the ideas that everything is knowable by science or that as history moves forward in time, humanity makes progress. He would reject universal political ‘solutions’ such as communism or capitalism. He also rejects the idea of absolute freedom.

In studying media texts it is possible also to apply this thinking to a rejection of the Western moralistic narratives of Hollywood film where good triumphs over evil, or where violence and exploitation are suppressed for the sake of public decency.

Lyotard favours ‘micronarratives’ that can go in any direction, that reflect diversity, that are unpredictable.

Rosenau (1993)
1. Its anti-theoretical position is essentially a theoretical stand.
2. While Postmodernism stresses the irrational, instruments of reason are freely employed to advance its perspective.
3. The Postmodern prescription to focus on the marginal is itself an evaluative emphasis of precisely the sort that it otherwise attacks.
4. Postmodernism stress intertextuality but often treats text in isolation.
5. By adamently rejecting modern criteria for assessing theory, Postmodernists cannot argue that there are no valid criteria for judgment.
6. Postmodernism criticizes the inconsistency of modernism, but refuses to be held to norms of consistency itself.
7. Postmodernists contradict themselves by relinquishing truth claims in their own writings.

david fincher - fight club

Filmography

• Alien 3 (1992)
• se7en (1995)
• the game (1997)
• fight club (1999)
• panic room (2002)
• zodiac (2007)
• the curious case of benjamin button (2008)
• the social network (2010)
• the girl with the dragon tattoo (2011)

The Dust Brothers

inglourious basterds paragraphs

in inglourious basterds there are many different links intertextualities to other films, all of the clothing and setings are spotless, the scene is revealed and so on... all of these elements make the film postmodernism. in the film Aldo's clothing at the end are spotless and he has been dragged on the floor and also sat in the back of a truk that would have been used for trnasporting troops, this would mean that the inside of the truck would be filthy, but when he gets out his suit is spotless and also not a single hair is out of place, this is postmodern as it is not true becuase Aldo's clothes would be filthy and it contrasts to what the typical idea for war is as it is a dirty and mucky job.




the film is mainly a Homage to the war as it does not take the mick out of anyone exept for hitler, who no one likes as he started the war trying to wipe oput all of the jews. Although the film does not follow the direct path of what happened it ends in the killing of hitler.

the storyline of this film seems to be more of a fairytale as it begins with once upon a time and it also has an ending in a forrest, which is stereotypical for a fairytail. this is a nother postmodern element as it is contradiction the typical war film story plot.

inglourious basterds hitler pastiche

the next element of postmodernism in inglourious basterds is when hitler has a big paddy like a child and this is a complete cntrast to what the war is as hitler is acting like a child not getting what they want (this is taking the piss out of hitler)

another example of a pastiche to hitler would be when he gets the red ring of death on his xbox 360

link to youtube film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J_1yEXrWtk

herer is the clip of hitler having the paddy from inglourious basterds:

song in inglourious basterds

Inglourious basterds is postmodern because it has intertextuality in it such as the songs as there is elements of there being spaghetti western songs as shown below:




here is the song in a spaghetti western:



this song that is in inglourious basterds seems out of place and this is a postmodern thing to do as it tells the audience how clever and origional the director is

Inglourious Basterds theory applied

the theorist Fiske could be applied to Inglourious Basterds as the 35MM Nitrate film print is originally used for entertaining an audience, however it is used as a weapon to kill all of the nazis in the cinema and this is taking the original contextual meaning of a nitrate film print and giving it a new meaning, in this case for a weapon and that is one of Fiske's theories.

inglourious Basterds Homage or Pastiche?

although inglourious basterds does not follow the correct path of what happened in WW2 they have followed the main story line and that is that Hitler is killed and his top officers were also killed, this finished the war.

so this means that Inglourious Basterds is a homage, making a tribute to all of the people who lost their lives to hitler and the nazi army, this is shown when the two american jewish soldiers are over killing hitlers corpse as shown below:

this could be shown as their revenge to hitler as you can see all of the anger in the mans face when he is shooting

Inglourious Basterds post modern elements

Quentin Tarantino's foot fetish is shown when Bridget Von Hammersmark is being interrogated by LT. Aldo Raine and also when she is killed by Col. Hans Landa as seen below in the YouTube clip

another postmodern element would be when Samuel Jackson is giving a small introduction to the nitrate tapes

also when there is the scene of Shosanna getting ready the camera reveals the set letting the audience know that they are watching a film and this is very postmodern

here is the link to the youtube clip, (play the video from 2:00 into the youtube clip) and you will see the set being revealed to the audience:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBk0-43GIdY

task 3 a look into kick ass songs

originally from:

task 3

the film kick ass uses intertextuality of varios media, but i will be looking into the songs / sound tracks that are used. below is an example of the song from when big dady is killing all of frank domeagos men in the ware house:

task 2 - key words

simulacra

simulation

hyperreality

bricolage

addition

deletion

substitution

transposition

pastiche

homage

grand narratives / meta narratives

paradox

pluralism

relativism

task 1 (Levi Strauss)

Bricolage:
this is when traditional objects or language are given a new meaning and context

an example of this would be in inglorious baserds as there is a baseball bat that has a meaning of sprotsman ship and fun, but it is being used as a weapon to kill nazis.

task 1 (Jacques Derrida)

a text cannot be genreless and that every text participates in one or several genres

this means that the text will always have a genre, even if it has several like a postmodern film pastiche or hommage

an example of this would be scary movie as this is supposed to have no genre because it is a postmodern pastiche and it has references form almost every genre of films that are out, although it falls into the comedy side of the genre

this is what Derrida means as the film is aimed at being genreless, but it fits in to the comedy genre so the text of scary movie is comedy



another example would be the waiters in inglourios basterds

lesson 1 (Fiske)

"we make codes to create the meaning."

this means that we use other examples of media to create the meaning of something that is happening or has already hapened. For example:

when drey is talking about some body who stole all of their coke and the gang members think say that he looked like bat man

example of a postmodern film (pasteche)

theory lesson 1

Fiske
The viewer of a film knows what a car chase scene is by relating it to a car chase scene that they have previously seen, therefore although they have not experianced a car chase they know what one is

derrida


Levi - Strauss
Writers constructed texts form other texts (intertextuality) by a proccess of:
addition, deletion, substitution, transpostion

Baudrillard
developed the idea of simulation and simulacra simulation
- the representations become more important than the real thing

the order of simulation:

1. signs thought of as refelecting reality:re-presenting "objective"Truth
2. signs mask reality: reinformces notion of reality
3. signs mask the absence of reality, e.g. disney world, watergate, LA life, jogging Phychotherapy, organic food
4. signs become....

simularcra - have no relation to reality (simulate a simulation)

the gulf wars has became a video game, 9/11 has become a coverage
- they are not the events anymore

A look into Quentin Tarantino

Bibliography
At the age of 16 Tarantino left school to join a full time acting class, he then gave up the acting class and said that he admired directors more than actors. He also worked in a video rental store before becoming a film maker, he paid close attention to the genres of films that people liked.
He was born on March 27, 1963, in Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.


Filmography
1987 My Best Friend's Birthday

1992 Reservoir Dogs

1994 Pulp Fiction

1995 Four Rooms

1997 Jackie Brown

2003 Kill Bill: Vol. 1

2004 Kill Bill: Vol. 2

2005 Sin City

2007 Death Proof

2009 Inglourious Basterds


TV series
1995 ER

2004 Jimmy Kimmel Live!

2005 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation


Reviews of Inglourious Basterds
It has an 88% rating
Audience rating: A brilliant rebound with a wonderfully complex story, a great cast, and a score that's really up to par with Tarantino's standards...

If you love Quentin, get ready for a hell of a ride!

Magnificent

By far the best World War II film I've ever seen.


Music used in the film.

• The Green Leaves of Summer – Nick Perito – From the movie The Alamo
• The Verdict – Ennio Morricone – From the movie The Big Gundown
• L’incontro Con La Figlia – Ennio Morricone – From the movie The Return of Ringo
• White Lightning – Charles Bernstein – From the movie White Lightning
• Il Mercenario (Reprisa) - Ennio Morricone – From the movie Il Mercenario
• Slaughter - Billy Preston – From the movie Slaughter
• Algiers, November 1954 – Ennio Morricone & Gillo Pontecorvo – From the movie The Battle of Algiers
• The Surrender (La resa) – Ennio Morricone – From the movie The Big Gundown
• One Silver Dollar (Un Dollaro Bucato) – Gianni Ferrio – From the movie Blood for a Silver Dollar
• Bath Attack – Charles Bernstein – From the movie The Entity
• Davon geht die Welt nicht unter – Zarah Leander – From the movie Die große Liebe
• The Man With The Big Sombrero – June Havoc – From the movie Hi Diddle Diddle
• Ich wollt ich wär ein Huhn – Lilian Harvey and Willy Fritsch – From the movie Glückskinder
• Main Theme From Dark of the Sun – Jacques Loussier – From the movie Dark of the Sun
• Cat People (Putting Out Fire) – David Bowie – From the movie Cat People
• Mystic and Severe – Ennio Morricone – From the movie Death Rides a Horse
• The Devil’s Rumble – Mike Curb and The Arrows – From the movie Devil’s Angels
• Zulus – Elmer Bernstein – From the movie Zulu Dawn
• Tiger Tank – Lalo Schifrin – From the movie Kelly’s Heroes
• Un Amico – Ennio Morricone – From the movie Revolver
• Eastern Condors – Sherman Chow Gam – Cheung – From the movie Eastern Condors
• Rabbia e Tarantella – Ennio Morricone – From the movie Allonsanfàn

From: http://reelsoundtrack.wordpress.com/2009/08/21/inglourious-basterds-soundtrack/

Description of Blaxploitation.
Blaxploitation is a film genre that emerged from the united states, 1971. Blaxploitation was aimed at the black, urban population. They were the first genre of films to feature sound tracks of funk and soul music. The stars in the main cast were either all or mainly black.


Description of Spaghetti Western and Western.
The spaghetti western genre of film is all about cowboys and Indians, the main set for a cowboy western is either in a desert or in Texas and the storyline is always about a treasure such as gold
Spaghetti Western, also known as Italo-western, is a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western film that emerged in the mid-1960s, so named because most were produced and directed by Italians, usually in co-production with a Spanish partner and in some cases a German partner. The partners would insist some of their stars be cast in the film.
Originally, spaghetti westerns were characterized by their production in the Italian language, low budgets, and a recognizable highly fluid and minimalist cinematography which eschewed (even "demythologized") many of the conventions of earlier Westerns. This was partly intentional and partly the context of a different cultural background.


Ennio Morricone

Mini biography

A classmate of director Sergio Leone with whom he would form one of the great director/composer partnerships (right up there with Eisenstein & Prokofiev, Hitchcock & Herrmann, Fellini & Rota), Ennio Morricone studied at Rome's Santa Cecilia Conservatory, where he specialized in trumpet. His first film scores were relatively undistinguished, but he was hired by Leone for A Fistful of Dollars (1964) on the strength of some of his song arrangements. His score for that film, with its sparse arrangements, unorthodox instrumentation (bells, electric guitars, harmonicas, the distinctive twang of the jew's harp) and memorable tunes, revolutionized the way music would be used in Westerns, and it is hard to think of a post-Morricone Western score that doesn't in some way reflect his influence. Although his name will always be synonymous with the spaghetti Western, Morricone has also contributed to a huge range of other film genres: comedies, dramas, thrillers, horror films, romances, art movies, exploitation movies -making him one of the film world's most versatile artists. He has written nearly 400 film scores, so a brief summary is impossible, but his most memorable work includes the Leone films, Gillo Pontecorvo 's The Battle of Algiers (1966) , Roland Joffé's The Mission (1986), Brian De Palma's The Untouchables (1987) and Giuseppe Tornatore's Cinema Paradiso (1988), plus a rare example of sung opening credits for Pier Paolo Pasolini's Uccellacci e uccellini (1966).

Prizes and awards:

• 1965 — Nastro d'Argento for A Fistful of Dollars
• 1967 — Diapason d'Or
• 1969 — Premio Spoleto Cinema
• 1970 — Nastro d'argento for Metti una sera a cena
• 1971 — Nastro d'argento for Sacco e Vanzetti
• 1972 — Cork Film International for La califfa
• 1979 — Oscar Nomination for Days of Heaven
• 1979 — Premio Vittorio de Sica
• 1981 — Premio della critica discografica for Il prato
• 1984 — Premio Zurlini
• 1985 — Nastro d'argento and BAFTA for Once Upon A Time In America
• 1986 — Oscar Nomination, BAFTA and Golden Globe Award for The Mission
• 1986 — Premio Vittorio de Sica
• 1988 — Nastro d'argento, BAFTA, Grammy Award and Oscar Nomination for The Untouchables
• 1988 — David di Donatello for Gli occhiali d'oro
• 1989 — David di Donatello for Nuovo Cinema Paradiso
• 1989 — Ninth Annual Ace Winner for Il giorno prima
• 1989 — Pardo d'Oro alla carriera (Locarno Film Festival)
• 1990 — BAFTA, Prix Fondation Sacem del XLIII Cannes Film Festival and David di Donatello for Nuovo Cinema Paradiso
• 1991 — David di Donatello for Stanno tutti bene
• 1992 — Oscar Nomination for Bugsy
• 1992 — Pentagramma d'oro
• 1992 — Premio Michelangelo
• 1992 — Grolla d'oro alla carriera (Saint Vincent)
• 1993 — David di Donatello and Efebo d'Argento for Jonas che visse nella balena
• 1993 — Globo d'oro Stampa estera in Italia
• 1993 — Gran Premio SACEM audiovisivi
• 1994 — ASCAP Golden Soundtrack award (Los Angeles)
• 1995 — Premio Rota
• 1995 — Leone d'Oro Honorary award (Venice Film Festival)
• 1996 -- Premio citta' di Roma
• 1996 — Premio Cappelli
• 1996 — Premio Accademia di Santa Cecilia
• 1997 — Premio Flaiano
• 1998 — Columbus Prize
• 1999 — Erich Wolfgang Korngold Internationaler Preis für Film
• 1999 — Exsquibbidles Film Academy lifetime achievement award
• 2000 — Golden Globe Award for The Legend of 1900 (1998)
• 2000 — David di Donatello for Canorne inverso
• 2000 — Oscar nomination for M alèna
• 2002 — Honorary Degree by the "Seconda Università" of Rome
• 2003 — Golden Eagle Award for 72 Meters
• 2003 — Honorary Senator of the Filmscoring Class of the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München
• 2006 — Grand Officer award from President of the Italian Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
• 2007 — Honorary Academy Award for career achievement
• 2007 — The Film & TV Music Award for Lifetime Achievement
• 2008 — Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental, performed by Bruce Springsteen
• 2008 — Knight in the Order of the Legion of Honor
• 2009 — Medal of Merits for Macedonia
• 2009 — America Award of the Italy-USA Foundation
• 2010 — Polar Music Prize of the Royal Swedish Academy of the Arts

A simple WW2 Timeline:

1939

• Hitler invades Poland on 1 September. Britain and France declare war on Germany two days later.

1940

• Rationing starts in the UK.
• German 'Blitzkrieg' overwhelms Belgium, Holland and France.
• Churchill becomes Prime Minister of Britain.
• British Expeditionary Force evacuated from Dunkirk.
• British victory in Battle of Britain forces Hitler to postpone invasion plans.

1941

• Hitler begins Operation Barbarossa - the invasion of Russia.
• The Blitz continues against Britain's major cities.
• Allies take Tobruk in North Africa, and resist German attacks.
• Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, and the US enters the war.

1942

• Germany suffers setbacks at Stalingrad and El Alamein.
• Singapore falls to the Japanese in February - around 25,000 prisoners taken.
• American naval victory at Battle of Midway, in June, marks turning point in Pacific War.
• Mass murder of Jewish people at Auschwitz begins.

1943

• Surrender at Stalingrad marks Germany's first major defeat.
• Allied victory in North Africa enables invasion of Italy to be launched.
• Italy surrenders, but Germany takes over the battle.
• British and Indian forces fight Japanese in Burma.

1944

• Allies land at Anzio and bomb monastery at Monte Cassino.
• Soviet offensive gathers pace in Eastern Europe.
• D Day: The Allied invasion of France. Paris is liberated in August.
• Guam liberated by the US Okinawa, and Iwo Jima bombed.

1945

• Auschwitz liberated by Soviet troops.
• Russians reach Berlin: Hitler commits suicide and Germany surrenders on 7 May.
• Truman becomes President of the US on Roosevelt's death, and Attlee replaces Churchill.
• After atomic bombs are dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrenders on 14 August.