Over the summer you need to watch several examples of Postmodern Films and television. And maybe ecven play some computer games.
This can be as a part of your general interaction with the Media - you need to start to put together an idea of what makes something Postmodern, and how can you apply Postmodern theories to film, television, music and videogames.
Consider ideas to do with the changing nature of reality and the way narratives develop, the declining importance of truth, the blurring of boundaries between truth and fiction, and between high and low culture, the increasing intertextual referencing between texts, the increasing distance between real and mediated communication - how often do you actually talk to anyone anymore? What are the positives to social networking, mobile 'phones and Skype? What are the downsides?
Blade Runner [1982] - 'more human than human' - if we can no longer discern human from robot - how can we judge what is humane? What's real? What's truth and what's fiction?
Atonement [2008] - a story about storytelling - think about how the ending changes everything that's gone before...
The Matrix [1999] - 'Welcome to the real world...'
A Cock & Bull Story [2006] / The Trip [BBC 2010] - where are the real Rob Brydon and real Steve Coogan? How are these hyperreal
Fight Club [1999]
Pulp Fiction [1994] / Inglorious Basterds [2009]
Scream [1997]
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang [2005]
Inception [2010] / Memento [2000]
Avatar [2010]
In This World [2002]
I’m Still Here [2011]
Exit Through the Gift Shop [2010]
Catfish [2011]
Life on Mars [BBC 2006-2008]
Source Code [2011]
The Adjustment Bureau [2011]
Scott Pilgrim vs the World [2010]
Kick Ass [2010]
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind [2004]
Adaptation [2002]
Being John Malkovich [1999]
Extras [BBC 2005-2007] / The Office [BBC 2001-2003]
Tuesday 28 June 2011
Wednesday 22 June 2011
Jean Baudrillard and the Theory of Hyperreality
Extracts from The Matrix - choose three of these extracts and explain IN YOUR OWN WORDS how they reinforce what you understand Baudrillard's theory to mean...
For next Tuesday...
1.Morpheus and Neo meet for the first time
Morpheus: Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know, you can't explain. But you feel it. You've felt it your entire life. That there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there...like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I'm talking about?
Neo: The Matrix?
Morpheus: Do you want to know....what it is....?
Neo nods
Morpheus: The Matrix is everywhere. It's all around us, even in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work, when you go to work, when you pay your taxes. The Matrix is the world that has been pulled over your eyes, to blind you from the truth.
Neo: What truth?
Morpheus: That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else, you were born into bondage, born into a prison that you cannot smell or taste or touch. A prison...for your mind....Unfortunately, no one can be...told what the Matrix is...you have to see it for yourself.
…
Morpheus: Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference, between the dream world...and the real world....?
2. Upon Neo being woken up for the first time
Morpheus: Welcome to the real world....
3. The program
Morpheus: Your appearance now is what we call residual self-image. It is the mental projection...of your digital self. Two chairs appear in front of them, and Neo reaches out to touch one. He runs his hand along its back.
Neo : This....this isn't real?
Morpheus looks at him
Morpheus : What is real? How do you define real? If you're talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then real is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain….
4. Upon Neo being shown the real world for the first time
Morpheus : Welcome.....to the desert of the real.
5. The Program 2
When Neo wakes up, Morpheus takes him into another program.
They walk down a busy street, full of people going to work. Morpheus casually walks through them, but Neo keeps on being hit or shoved aside. As they walk, Morpheus begins to walk.
Morpheus : The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around. What do you see? Business people, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system, and that makes them our enemy.
A woman walks by, standing out from all the people in suits, as she is wearing a bright red dress, and bright red lipstick. Neo stares.
Morpheus : You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inert, so hopelessly dependant on the system, that they will fight to protect it. Were you listening to me, Neo? Or were you looking at the woman in the red dress?
Neo : I was...
Morpheus : Look again..
Neo turns around, to see that the woman in the red dress has turned into an agent, and is pointing a gun at his head. Neo ducks, covering his head with his hands.
Morpheus : Freeze it.
6. Returning to The Matrix for the first time
They all walk out the room, leaving Switch and Apoc waiting for them to come back. As they head towards a black car, Cypher drops a cell phone into the bin and it begins to ring. They get into the car, and Morpheus begins to drive them to their destination. At a red light, he turns around to look at Neo, who is sitting in the back seat with Trinity.
Morpheus : Unbelievable....isn't it?
Neo looks out at the street they are driving down.
Neo : God...
Trinity turns to look at him
Trinity : What?
Neo points to a restaurant.
Neo : I used to eat there....really good noodles.
He stops to think about it
Neo : I have these memories from my life, none of them happened. What does that mean?
Trinity : That the Matrix cannot tell you who you are.
7. The Oracle
Neo looks around the room, and sees he is the only adult there. Most of the children's heads are shaved. Some are playing, others meditating, or practising their gift. Neo watches in amazement, as a little girl levitates wooden alphabet blocks. He turns around, and sees a skinny bald boy sitting on the floor, holding a spoon, which sways and twists as he bends it with his mind. Neo crosses over to him, and sits in front of him, interested. The boy looks at Neo as he picks up a spoon and tries to imitate the boy's actions. Despite his best efforts, Neo cannot make it bend.
Spoon Boy : Do not try and bend the spoon...that's impossible. Instead only try to realize the truth...
Neo : What truth?
Spoon Boy : There is no spoon.
Neo : There is no spoon?
Spoon Boy : Then you will see, it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself.
For next Tuesday...
1.Morpheus and Neo meet for the first time
Morpheus: Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know, you can't explain. But you feel it. You've felt it your entire life. That there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there...like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I'm talking about?
Neo: The Matrix?
Morpheus: Do you want to know....what it is....?
Neo nods
Morpheus: The Matrix is everywhere. It's all around us, even in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work, when you go to work, when you pay your taxes. The Matrix is the world that has been pulled over your eyes, to blind you from the truth.
Neo: What truth?
Morpheus: That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else, you were born into bondage, born into a prison that you cannot smell or taste or touch. A prison...for your mind....Unfortunately, no one can be...told what the Matrix is...you have to see it for yourself.
…
Morpheus: Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference, between the dream world...and the real world....?
2. Upon Neo being woken up for the first time
Morpheus: Welcome to the real world....
3. The program
Morpheus: Your appearance now is what we call residual self-image. It is the mental projection...of your digital self. Two chairs appear in front of them, and Neo reaches out to touch one. He runs his hand along its back.
Neo : This....this isn't real?
Morpheus looks at him
Morpheus : What is real? How do you define real? If you're talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then real is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain….
4. Upon Neo being shown the real world for the first time
Morpheus : Welcome.....to the desert of the real.
5. The Program 2
When Neo wakes up, Morpheus takes him into another program.
They walk down a busy street, full of people going to work. Morpheus casually walks through them, but Neo keeps on being hit or shoved aside. As they walk, Morpheus begins to walk.
Morpheus : The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around. What do you see? Business people, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system, and that makes them our enemy.
A woman walks by, standing out from all the people in suits, as she is wearing a bright red dress, and bright red lipstick. Neo stares.
Morpheus : You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inert, so hopelessly dependant on the system, that they will fight to protect it. Were you listening to me, Neo? Or were you looking at the woman in the red dress?
Neo : I was...
Morpheus : Look again..
Neo turns around, to see that the woman in the red dress has turned into an agent, and is pointing a gun at his head. Neo ducks, covering his head with his hands.
Morpheus : Freeze it.
6. Returning to The Matrix for the first time
They all walk out the room, leaving Switch and Apoc waiting for them to come back. As they head towards a black car, Cypher drops a cell phone into the bin and it begins to ring. They get into the car, and Morpheus begins to drive them to their destination. At a red light, he turns around to look at Neo, who is sitting in the back seat with Trinity.
Morpheus : Unbelievable....isn't it?
Neo looks out at the street they are driving down.
Neo : God...
Trinity turns to look at him
Trinity : What?
Neo points to a restaurant.
Neo : I used to eat there....really good noodles.
He stops to think about it
Neo : I have these memories from my life, none of them happened. What does that mean?
Trinity : That the Matrix cannot tell you who you are.
7. The Oracle
Neo looks around the room, and sees he is the only adult there. Most of the children's heads are shaved. Some are playing, others meditating, or practising their gift. Neo watches in amazement, as a little girl levitates wooden alphabet blocks. He turns around, and sees a skinny bald boy sitting on the floor, holding a spoon, which sways and twists as he bends it with his mind. Neo crosses over to him, and sits in front of him, interested. The boy looks at Neo as he picks up a spoon and tries to imitate the boy's actions. Despite his best efforts, Neo cannot make it bend.
Spoon Boy : Do not try and bend the spoon...that's impossible. Instead only try to realize the truth...
Neo : What truth?
Spoon Boy : There is no spoon.
Neo : There is no spoon?
Spoon Boy : Then you will see, it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself.
Tuesday 14 June 2011
Trailer Research - AM LEGG
PLEASE COMPLETE THESE NOTES AND POST ON YOUR BLOGS FOR Tuesday 21st JUNE
Watch this trailer and make notes on the questions beneath
1) What cinematic techniques are used to establish mood and tone?
2)How does the trailer establish the themes and narrative?
3) How does the trailer establish genre?
4) Who is the target audience and how is this audience targeted in this trailer?
5) What is the reason/ effect for using the director's name and previous work?
SALT
Watch this trailer and make notes on the following questions:
1) How does this trailer promote and focus on the big star? (look at camera work, editing, sound...etc..)
2) Action films are thought to appeal to a predominately male audience. How does this trailer target both a female and male audience separately?
3) How does this trailer use editing to create atmosphere?
Heartbreaker
Look at these different trailers and make notes on the difference between them and the reasons for these differences
- Look at the different tone - the editing, sound (especially v/o), camera shots
The UK release trailer:
The very different European release Trailer
French Teaser Trailer
Monday 6 June 2011
Vajazzled! How chavs have replaced working class people on Britain's TV
The Only Way is Essex is must-see television, but this mixture of reality show and scripted situations gives a one-sided view of Britain's chavland...
What is a chav? I ask a man called Paul. He's standing having a fag outside the Hare & Tortoise on Brentwood High Street, Essex, and he answers with absolutely no hesitation at all.
"A chav is someone who wears a tracksuit, has an earring, and a haircut which is grade zero on the sides, grade three on the top. A chav is someone who does his top button up. That gentleman over there," and he gestures down the pavement, "in the Ralph Lauren shirt? He's a chav."
Everybody knows what a chav is, it seems, but no one is a chav. But then it's a word unlike any other in current usage. Not just because no one is exactly sure what it means, or if they are sure, they all have a different answer, or even because it's still not entirely certain where it suddenly came from, although theories abound – from the Romany for child, as an acronym for "Council House And Violent" – but there's not even any agreement on whether or not it is or isn't a term of abuse. Whether it's snobbish. Or not. Is it a harmless bit of fun? Or a vicious class-based insult?
Click on the link to find out more about the 'demonisation of the working class' on TV, in film and when you're sat round the dinner table...
What is a chav? I ask a man called Paul. He's standing having a fag outside the Hare & Tortoise on Brentwood High Street, Essex, and he answers with absolutely no hesitation at all.
"A chav is someone who wears a tracksuit, has an earring, and a haircut which is grade zero on the sides, grade three on the top. A chav is someone who does his top button up. That gentleman over there," and he gestures down the pavement, "in the Ralph Lauren shirt? He's a chav."
Everybody knows what a chav is, it seems, but no one is a chav. But then it's a word unlike any other in current usage. Not just because no one is exactly sure what it means, or if they are sure, they all have a different answer, or even because it's still not entirely certain where it suddenly came from, although theories abound – from the Romany for child, as an acronym for "Council House And Violent" – but there's not even any agreement on whether or not it is or isn't a term of abuse. Whether it's snobbish. Or not. Is it a harmless bit of fun? Or a vicious class-based insult?
Click on the link to find out more about the 'demonisation of the working class' on TV, in film and when you're sat round the dinner table...
Friday 3 June 2011
Are video games now more sophisticated than cinema?
Video games such as LA Noire have led to claims that games are overtaking films in terms of sophistication. But can they ever really go as deep as cinema?
The appearance of pioneering new adventure game LA Noire has reignited a debate among gamers and film lovers which has been bubbling under for years. Not least for Guardian columnist Charlie Brooker, who asserted last week that video games display an intelligence and imagination well beyond the majority of contemporary cinema. Gaming's huge commercial success, he argued, is "the equivalent of films of the intelligence and quality of 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Maltese Falcon not just being released to great fanfare in 2011, but actually going on to smash box office records."
It's likely the gaming community stood up and cheered this assessment when it appeared – that was certainly the sentiment expressed by a huge number of those who commented online. At the same time, film fans were moved to defend their passion for cinema. Many agree that the studios are spewing out too many knucklehead superhero movies, cliche-ridden genre pics and feeble-minded multi-sequels, but still firmly believe that cinema refreshes the parts that even the best games in the world can't reach.
Hollywood has long regarded itself as the billion-dollar big daddy of the image entertainment world. It has the glamour, the iconography, the big brands, the A-listers and lots of cold, hard cash. In 2010, the US box office was worth $10.6bn. But for a supposed subculture, the gaming industry is just as impressive a market player, if not more so – outshining the movie moguls with an estimated annual revenue of around $18.6bn in the US last year. The biggest hit of 2010, Call of Duty: Black Ops has already grossed more than $1bn for its publisher Activision – less than 10 films released in the last decade can claim the same. The gaming industry is no longer the snot-nosed little punk of the entertainment world – little wonder fans and creators alike are calling for serious critical recognition of the medium....
Click on the title to read more...
It's likely the gaming community stood up and cheered this assessment when it appeared – that was certainly the sentiment expressed by a huge number of those who commented online. At the same time, film fans were moved to defend their passion for cinema. Many agree that the studios are spewing out too many knucklehead superhero movies, cliche-ridden genre pics and feeble-minded multi-sequels, but still firmly believe that cinema refreshes the parts that even the best games in the world can't reach.
Hollywood has long regarded itself as the billion-dollar big daddy of the image entertainment world. It has the glamour, the iconography, the big brands, the A-listers and lots of cold, hard cash. In 2010, the US box office was worth $10.6bn. But for a supposed subculture, the gaming industry is just as impressive a market player, if not more so – outshining the movie moguls with an estimated annual revenue of around $18.6bn in the US last year. The biggest hit of 2010, Call of Duty: Black Ops has already grossed more than $1bn for its publisher Activision – less than 10 films released in the last decade can claim the same. The gaming industry is no longer the snot-nosed little punk of the entertainment world – little wonder fans and creators alike are calling for serious critical recognition of the medium....
Click on the title to read more...
Thursday 2 June 2011
Hollywood shuns intelligent entertainment. The games industry doesn't. Guess who's winning?
LA Noire and Portal 2 are video games that challenge the mind instead of the thumbs.
Do you remember the days when you used to be able to head out to the cinema safe in the knowledge that even if the film you wanted to see had sold out, there'd be something else worth watching? I'm talking about 10,000 years ago, obviously, because here's what's on at your local multiplex.
Screen one: a 3D CGI cartoon about a wisecracking badger with attitude you'd quite happily reverse a six-tonne tractor over. Screen two: a 3D superhero theme park ride that thinks it's King Lear. Screen three: a rom-com so formulaic you suspect it was created from a template on Moonpig.com. Screen four: The Very Hungry Caterpillar 3D. Screen five: all of the above, randomly intercut with one another because no one's paying attention anyway. Screen six: a lightshow for cattle. And so on.
About once a month there's a film actually worth bothering with: either something with a quirky sensibility and a modest budget, or the occasional decent blockbuster the studios have made by mistake. There seems to be something missing from cinema: big budget dramas with panache, aimed at an adult audience. Where are they? They migrated to television. And – don't snort with derision here – to video games....
Click on the title to find out more...
Do you remember the days when you used to be able to head out to the cinema safe in the knowledge that even if the film you wanted to see had sold out, there'd be something else worth watching? I'm talking about 10,000 years ago, obviously, because here's what's on at your local multiplex.
About once a month there's a film actually worth bothering with: either something with a quirky sensibility and a modest budget, or the occasional decent blockbuster the studios have made by mistake. There seems to be something missing from cinema: big budget dramas with panache, aimed at an adult audience. Where are they? They migrated to television. And – don't snort with derision here – to video games....
Click on the title to find out more...
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