Friday, 18 May 2012
Thursday, 17 May 2012
Friday, 4 May 2012
AS - A2
My creativity in AS through my digital technology skills were pretty basic, getting used to the equipment in my remake of "Reservoir Dogs"as I purely used inspiration from the frames in the film and thought of similar locations and getting my remake as close to the production as possible. My creativity for my final production in AS had been based around a certain scenery found in a house, after seeing that window, my storyline flowed and my characters appeared in my head. After asking for permission and touring the house, I saw scenes in my head that would help structure my opening. Throughout filming I tried sticking to my storyboard
Sunday, 15 April 2012
Wednesday, 11 April 2012
Friday, 23 March 2012
timed essay
Essay
Why is some media described as Postmodern?
Post Modernism is the after effects of modernism where it is described as an ideology of the future. Current media pieces are considered as postmodern as theorist Fredric Jameson says that what is considered as new media is just recycled material from old to create something that is seen as fresh to younger audiences. We are exposed to post modern media everyday on bus stops, billboard, television, newspaper, magazines and more. This is how the media is constructing our world as everywhere we turn there is a form of media directed our way.
Tv Drama 15 Million Merits is a media being represented as their virtual selves, still being an active being but in a simulation where they can achieve and experience more than they could in the reality of their own lives. People in the gym seem to prefer the simulated version of working out where the reality is that they are on an exercise bike, but the artificial version is that they can explore being outside riding a bike on a colourful sunny day, the idealistic version of working out, a lot like the latest games consoles, Nintendo Wii and Xbox Kinect where you actively progress your simulated avatar.
Another man in the gym has his fantasy interrupted by a reflection of a cleaner, he states "one minute I'm in slits ville and the next there's a pig gawking at me" this is his way of showing how the media portraits women as before he was enjoying a game show which ridicules larger ladies, revealing that some men are comparing the hyper real, media twisted version of women to the reality of how an average lady appears. This proves Baudrillards theory that "the effect of living simulacra is a distorted sense of reality or hyper reality" as the man prefers the artificial copy than the original.
Baudrillard also said that we are now living in a world developing more information and less meaning, this is apparent in their everyday life of cycling for merits, merits for what exactly? A new virtual haircut which has no relation to how you appear in reality, but in their world is the best it can get.
Guy Debord's theory of the world as we see it is now the world of the commodity proves right by the end result of Bing's outburst on the Hot Shot show, is that after trying to beat out the system, he is now recruited as a spectacle in the media and that his only way out of being a consumer in his reality, was to become part of the commodity which he wished to escape from in the first place. His character has developed from a consumer to a product which he is now being represented from the media's perspective as an entertainer with merchandise available for virtual avatars and his own show where he can rant on about how unfair the system is, therefore transforming their culture of the system into a commodity - selling out his beliefs and point of view for a fancy penthouse.
Alot like the Xfactor and Big Brother, 15 Million Merit's equivalent Hot Shot, the audience decides the fate of the contestants, Michel Foucault describes this as voyeurism being the act of control. This is apparent in the audience of Hot Shot full of the virtual avatars behind the panel of judges. The reality tv in relation to this program would be the Hot Shot entertainment show, where everyday individuals can save up their merits to participate in the glamorous show. What makes this show appealing is how the media has represented the auditions and how the judges have critiqued the performers. It's a lot like Dennis McQuail's theory of escapism where you can watch the tv and get away from your life and problems.
This show can be considered as either modernist for its structure of being a grand narrative and the audience taking a passive part, or this could be a post modern piece for it’s self reflectivity and it’s unusual way of portraying our everyday lifestyle.
Scott Pilgrim Vs the World is a post modern context of what our future could look like. The storyline is that the boy meets a girl however the plot twists when the post modern theme of having to defeat her exes to be in a relationship with her. This media could be either modernist again for its passive audience and grand narrative of boy meets girl, good defeats evil and the whole story fixated on a basic structure. It could also be considered as post modern for it’s blurring of genres and stylistic themes, also the involvement of having homosexual characters is a twist on grand narrative of just boy and girl.
Although this media could seem brand new, Jameson’s theory behind the film is that all of these traits have been recycled from other media, for example the root of the film relies on the computer game stylistic approach as this hasn’t been featured in many media works.
The use of style of substance in this film is the storyline is very basic however effects and use of hyper reality create a surreal world.
Both media texts could be considered as either modernist or post modern for the audience sake of it being a passive show and don’t interact with the audience like todays popular reality tv shows such as the X factor and Big Brother as their audience is plays a major part in their show. Other shows like The Only Way Is Essex could be considered as reality tv with both active and passive audiences, some who soak up the entertainment and those who use social networking sites to interact with the cast giving an insight of what they think of the show. It could however be a modernist tv show as most of the drama caused is scripted and acted out for the audiences pleasure.
Scott Pilgrim and 15 Million Merits are prime examples of how everything is hyper real for example the computer effects in Scott Pilgrim, and the future of style over substance in 15 Million Merits where we are doomed to be controlled by the media.
Friday, 16 March 2012
Friday, 2 March 2012
Homework : Jason Mittell
Theorist Jason Mittell argues that 'genres are cultural categories' and that the industries use the typical conventions of their bands genre to sell to their audience. We applied this technique to our music promotion campaign as we, the media producers, sold our bands image to their pop rock genre audience, mostly teenagers and young adults. Our designs for our campaign were to use dark colours in each ancillary product and to fit the narrative in our music video along with film genres our audience would associate with. To relate to genders of our audience, our band recycled the 'typical boy band' convention consisting of four members carrying out the roles of lead singer, drummer, bass and guitarist. Appearing in the music video was a femme fatal character, which we thought would fit the plot of our narrative and sell to male and females in our audience. The editing of our music video fit the 'cutting to the beat' technique used in most rock videos consisting of fast paced beats, this would also categorize the genre and familiarize the audience to accept the product.
Thursday, 1 March 2012
Wednesday, 29 February 2012
Homework : Jameson
Our music promotion campaign is the produce of recycled conventions found in other media products. These traits included the transformation after our band members 'deaths' where they resume to playing their instruments as zombies, the blurring of fiction and reality as the video progresses and the homage and pastiche we gave to 1960s fashion. Our video is based upon a bricolage of influences found in other media where we took ideas from horror film genres such as 'Shrooms' and 'The Blair Witch Project' to base our narrative on. The way we edited our video was to separate our narrative from our performance where we used a black and white effect over the narrative, this technique has been recycled since the 19th century and the first movie in colour not arriving until the 1930s. I would agree with Jameson that stylistic innovation has the inability to create something original, as post modern society could argue that all products are being recycled from history. However a product created through a bricolage of genres could be considered as original, for example the 2005 Oscar winning 'Brokeback Mountain' is a hybrid of genres with a storyline of two cowboys who fall in love.
Friday, 10 February 2012
Half Term Homework piece 1: Reading Comprehension
1. What does Post Modernism suggest about the value of high art (e.g opera) and popular culture (e.g TV)
Post modernism suggests that anything can be art. The thought or idea that any media product is of greater value than another is rejected and that the distinction between media and reality has collapsed
2.What does Post Modernism suggest about the ideas of truth or reality - how is this linked to the Media?
2.What does Post Modernism suggest about the ideas of truth or reality - how is this linked to the Media?
It is suggested that we live in a reality that is defined by a state of simulacrum where our idea of reality is being lead by images and text lead by the media.
3.Who were the 2 big thinkers and what concept do their theories share?
French philosophers Jean-Francois Lyotard and Jean Baudrillard both share the concept that the idea of truth needs to be deconstructed so that we can challenge dominant ideas that people claim as truth.
4.Give an example of 3 "Grand-narratives" or "Meta-narratives" (2 will need to be your own not listed in the chapter)
a story explaining another story, for example the edge of love world war 2
5.What is significant about Disneyland and simulacrum?
Disneyland is a real physical space where our sense of pure reality is replaced with a simulation of a fictional hyper reality.
6.How is our understanding of the events of 9/11 hyper-real?
The absolute event, 9/11 was global media witnessed in a state of hyper-reality with the endless television repeats of the live footage taken in a mixture of close-ups, long shots, multiple angles and ground images. These were edited and replayed mixed in with commentary, speculation, political reaction and adrenaline of the live moment. Our understanding was electronically hyperralised and presented through the media.
7.What is significant about the Matrix as an example of Baudrillards ideas of simulation & hyper-reality?
The character Neo, is seen reading Baudrillard's books, Simulation and Simulacra. The film has also been interpreted by Baudrillard's notion of postmodern simulation as the human race is plugged into a network of machines.
8.Why are Post-modern elements of the Mighty Boosh?
The Mighty Boosh is post-modern for its mixture of conventions, influences, genre traits, parody and intertextual references, making it impossible to situate the product into a single style.
9.Why are Post-modern elements of Extras?
Extras is seen as post modern for its self reflective approach and their way of using parody and pastiche towards the conventions of genre.
10.Why is Grand Theft Auto Post-modern?
The game Grand Theft Auto is a virtual game based upon a simulation of reality where the audience can experience further limits, for example the flow of the game leads the player to an enhanced state of hyperreality.
11.Why is the Cadburys Gorilla ad Post-modern?
The Cadbury Gorilla Ad is being promoted to focus on the fact that the product is a guilty pleasure and the advert is to promote the sensation of consumption. The advert is to also highlight their brand from other competition and remind us of their quality and taste.
12.What does FLOW and IMMERSION mean?
Immersion - Is the amount of imagination the gamer invests into the game and is subsequently absorbed into the gameworld.
Flow - is the state of someone participating in an activity whilst facing pleasurable and achievable challenges while providing regular feedback.
3.Who were the 2 big thinkers and what concept do their theories share?
French philosophers Jean-Francois Lyotard and Jean Baudrillard both share the concept that the idea of truth needs to be deconstructed so that we can challenge dominant ideas that people claim as truth.
4.Give an example of 3 "Grand-narratives" or "Meta-narratives" (2 will need to be your own not listed in the chapter)
a story explaining another story, for example the edge of love world war 2
5.What is significant about Disneyland and simulacrum?
Disneyland is a real physical space where our sense of pure reality is replaced with a simulation of a fictional hyper reality.
6.How is our understanding of the events of 9/11 hyper-real?
The absolute event, 9/11 was global media witnessed in a state of hyper-reality with the endless television repeats of the live footage taken in a mixture of close-ups, long shots, multiple angles and ground images. These were edited and replayed mixed in with commentary, speculation, political reaction and adrenaline of the live moment. Our understanding was electronically hyperralised and presented through the media.
7.What is significant about the Matrix as an example of Baudrillards ideas of simulation & hyper-reality?
The character Neo, is seen reading Baudrillard's books, Simulation and Simulacra. The film has also been interpreted by Baudrillard's notion of postmodern simulation as the human race is plugged into a network of machines.
8.Why are Post-modern elements of the Mighty Boosh?
The Mighty Boosh is post-modern for its mixture of conventions, influences, genre traits, parody and intertextual references, making it impossible to situate the product into a single style.
9.Why are Post-modern elements of Extras?
Extras is seen as post modern for its self reflective approach and their way of using parody and pastiche towards the conventions of genre.
10.Why is Grand Theft Auto Post-modern?
The game Grand Theft Auto is a virtual game based upon a simulation of reality where the audience can experience further limits, for example the flow of the game leads the player to an enhanced state of hyperreality.
11.Why is the Cadburys Gorilla ad Post-modern?
The Cadbury Gorilla Ad is being promoted to focus on the fact that the product is a guilty pleasure and the advert is to promote the sensation of consumption. The advert is to also highlight their brand from other competition and remind us of their quality and taste.
12.What does FLOW and IMMERSION mean?
Immersion - Is the amount of imagination the gamer invests into the game and is subsequently absorbed into the gameworld.
Flow - is the state of someone participating in an activity whilst facing pleasurable and achievable challenges while providing regular feedback.
Half term Homework piece 2: Written analysis on Modern Modern features
Family Guy is an example of post modern media, along with similar animated series such as The Simpsons, The Cleeveland Show and American Dad. These shows are post modern due to all characters being the average everyday people that are portrayed in their events as hyper real and simulated. For example, when they experience a hyper real state of pain, by the next scene or episode, they are back to normal health with no recollection of it happening. In one episode, Peter is sent to prison for no longer for a week to star in the next episode and points it out as a self-reference to the camera. The outline of the Griffin family is being the ideal nuclear family, however every episode they are revealed to be far from perfect.
The opening sequence to Family Guy explains how there are no family values aired on television any more, however this can seem a sarcastic parody on what peoples views are of a traditional family after seeing how disfunctional the Griffin family actually are. One of Family Guy's best traits are the intertextual references in nearly every episode, often created in a parody style and mostly including celebrities and elements of current television shows. Flashbacks start with the character referring their experience with the line "like the time..." or "like when" this is a recurring theme within the series.
The clip I have chosen from episode 'PTV', shows an intertextual reference from the Osama Bin Laden recordings. It is created as a parody effect to replace the opening sequence with a blooper reel effect. For example, he laughs continuously at the crew and messes his lines up. For further comic effect he includes props that aren't found in Afghanistan, a rubber chicken and green sunglasses.
Half Term Homework piece 2: Match up the Terminology
Theoretical Terms
1. Post-modern
C - The semiotic landscape of a society dominated by consumer culture and information technology
2. Post-modernity
E - A historical period in Western culture after the Second World in which society became dominated by information technology
3. Parody
E - to copy something in a humorous and tongue in cheek way - post modern style
4. Pastiche
H - To copy something without humour, irony or anything else that communicates difference - tribute
5. Hyper-reality
K - The collapse of the distinction between the real and the simulated - post modern theme and style
6. Consumer culture
B - a culture and society in which individual and collective identity is constructed in material acts of economic exchange (e.g shopping)
7. Simulacrum
D - a copy without and original - post modern theme
8. Cultural capital
F - The knowledge and information that informs people's cultural consumption in a post-modern society
9. Signifier and the signified
G - the basic units of semiotic analysis
10. Multi-accentuality
L - The way in which meaning changes according to context and over-time
11. Ideology
J - A system of belief or ideas
12. Hegemony
I - The dominant way of thinking about society and culture enforced by the ruling class
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