Urban mixtape

Mixtape music

Postmodernism: Deconstructed past questions.

Task 1:

Previous postmodernism questions: Deconstructed…

Q: What is meant by ‘postmodern media?’

·         The topic: Postmodernism.

·         The aspect: Postmodern media.

·         Instruction: Define and explain how and why the used examples of media texts are postmodern.

·         Viewpoint: That certain qualities of a media text make it postmodern.  

Q: Why are some media products described as ‘postmodern’?

·         The topic: Postmodernism.

·         The aspect: Postmodern media.

·         Instruction: Define and explain how and why the used examples of media texts are postmodern.

·         Viewpoint: That postmodernism is becoming increasingly significant in media.

Q: Explain how certain kinds of media can be defined as postmodern.

·         The topic: Postmodernism.

·         The aspect: Postmodern media.

·         Instruction: Define and explain how and why the used examples of media texts are postmodern.

·         Viewpoint: That postmodernism is becoming increasingly significant in certain areas of media.

Q: Explain why the idea of ‘postmodern media’ might be considered controversial.

·         The topic: Postmodernism.

·         The aspect: Postmodern media.

·         Instruction: Define and explain how and why the used examples of media texts are controversial.

·         Viewpoint: That postmodernism is damaging the quality of production in the media. (Jameson argues that postmodernism and postmodern media is pointless and trapped in circular references)

Q: “Postmodern media blur the boundary between reality and representation.” Discuss this idea with reference to media texts that you have studied.

·         The topic: Postmodernism.

·         The aspect: Postmodern media.

·         Instruction: Use examples of postmodern media to explain how and why they blur the boundary between both representation and reality. (Refer to the idea that modernism is about ‘purpose’ and postmodernism is about ‘play.’)

·         Viewpoint: Postmodernism in media has decreased the separation between reality and representation.

Q: Discuss why some people are not convinced by the idea of postmodern media.

·         The topic: Postmodernism.

·         The aspect: Postmodern media.

·         Instruction: Define and explain how media texts which are controversial such as Hobo with a shotgun and Scott Pilgrim hinder the idea in the people that postmodern media is not a legitimate ideology. (Refer to the complaints of Jameson)

·         Viewpoint: People generally possess disbelief in the idea of postmodern media being a genuine and significant idea associated with media.

Jon Kramer's music theory: examples.

Song: Gangnam style.

·         This song is ironic due to its success despite the tune and lyrics possessing mediocre quality. It is still the most watched YouTube video.

·         It challenges barriers as it status as a successful worldwide MV is exceptionally high despite its low quality of production in contrast to other mainstream music.

·         It questions the mutual exclusivity of elitist values. Since the video is supposedly intended to be bad, at least arguably, its presence as mainstream music argues against other elitist high production, high quality no. 1 singles.

·         Music is considered relevant to the social context of women as objects of the male gaze. Hence the ‘sexy lady’ lines in English.

·         The music embraces contradictions as it is some fat, short, unattractive man starring as the main image in the video, yet despite subverting a media convention, it works.

·         It distrusts binary oppositions by disregarding the fact that a short, fat middle aged man is trying to dance around and hit on sexy ladies.

·         It encompasses pluralism quite literally by having a lot of people in the video serving different performance or narrative purposes.

Song: Dan Black’s Symphonies.

·         It is ironic as it uses intertextuality and bricolage to progress the narrative with new meaning evolved from previous texts. Despite its unoriginality, the lyrics praise the creation of the song itself.

·         It does not respect the procedures of the past as it is a pastiche of various media texts, blatantly ripping them off to progress its own narrative forward.

·         Questions exclusive elitist and populist values by using texts of such famous prestige and creates a pastiche/parody of these uses of bricolage. It questions what makes these media texts so great to most cultures and demographic groups by mocking them.

·         Music is relevant to the western culture as it takes various classic texts from it to create a pastiche which they should recognise and read.

·         Considers and uses the technology used from media filmography to create the effects required to make an effective postmodern pastiche video.

·         Includes discontinuities by suddenly having the protagonist of the music video appear in different locations sometimes without even any transition. Just to create bricolage.

·         Encompasses pluralism by using bricolage to create new meanings from previous texts to create a pastiche or parody and develop different readings from the audience.

·         Presents multiple meanings regarding the uses of bricolage. Maybe it is a pastiche, or a parody. Arguably, it might even be a homage.

Song: Kanye West’s Gold Digga.

·         It is a repudiation of modernism by containing an extension from a previous media text; I got a woman by Ray Charles. This was also an extension from It must be Jesus.

·         It is ironic because the song contains a subject regarding a woman using the male artist for his money. Its predecessor, however, praises the idea of a man having a woman.

·         Does not respect procedures of the past by containing the same soundtrack as I got a woman and it must be Jesus despite the soundtrack already being established with those songs.

·         Sows disdain for unquestioned structural unity by presenting the message to its audience that females are evil, manipulative, thieves. This argues against feminist ideals.

·         Relevant to the political issues regarding feminism and political and social equality currently praised and supported by the political system.
-          Embraces the contradiction that other music videos and media are postmodern and take references from previous texts, while being this itself.
-          Includes discontinuities because the character/protagonist just moves from location to location with little or no inclusion of visual transition.
-          It locates meaning from its listeners.

Why Ted is postmodern:

Ted is postmodern for a number of reasons:
* It is making the audience develop an emotional attachment to a stuffed teddy bear which is not really alive and could not exist in reality.
* It deconstructs the themes of 'children's wish' stories such as A Christmas Carol and makes the audience come to the realisation that these themes and events are not realistic. In reality, these events do not happen to people in the way these children's wish stories imply. Hence the teddy bear growing up into a pot smoking casanova.
* It develops cynicism into the audience by showing them a more relatively 'realistic' view of how one of these stories would likely occur. It shows us the negativity behind the unrealistic narrative portrayed in modern fiction, and just like the effects theory implies, makes us more cynical people who demand to be in on the joke.
* In the uncut DVD of Ted, extra footage that was left out the original DVD was being included as a bonus to promote capitalist ideals by having gullible audiences purchase the DVD for the purpose of watching extra unseen footage with a CGI bear on a talk show. The bear not being real when the footage was taken and when broadcast on TV, Jimmy Kimmel was talking to a sound, also contributes to how this use of extra bonus footage is PoMo because audiences are paying to see footage of an interaction that does not exist between a teddy bear and a talk show host. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=IuzzA3046C8)
* Ted, despite being just a sound when the actual footage was taken, appeared at and presented the oscars. The actual event witnessed mark Walberg speak with nothing and a sound being generated through equipment. Yet when shown on TV or on DVD, the footage contains CGI so that Ted can become visually present at the event. In this respect, Ted is as alive as Mark or any of the other 'real life' celebrities at the event. The inclusion of Tupac and other dead celebrities being brought into the oscars further extends this by having the dead be as alive as the alive themselves. (http://youtu.be/ztyqsRX_64M)
* Ted deconstructs media conventions from the genres of comedy (the use of jokes), fantasy (the intro at the beginning resembling a children's story book opening), romance (by using a binary opposte between romance and bromance to form a hybrid between the romance and comedy genres) and action (the chase scene at the end) to create new meanings and defy the meanings of traditional conventions by replacing them with cynical, circular, intellectual references and bricolage.

Postmodernism practice tasks:

Postmodernism revision tasks by JackKerryASMedia

Modernism vs postmodernism:

Modernism vs Postmodernsim by JackKerryASMedia

Bricolage:

In lesson, task was to use material from the texts I have learned thus far to create a new meaning.

I used the Hobo with a shotgun poster, added a pitcure of Brad Pitt in his Inglorious basterds attire using Photoshop elements. Other features I added include:

- The amalgamation of the Basterds title, made the title of this poster 'Basterd with a shotgun.'
- The impossible staircase used in the movie Inception.
- The spinning top is in the top left in the background, also from the movie Inception.

So using this material, I have transformed a poster about a movie with a hobo with a shotgun, intended to be poorly produced, into a Brad Pitt on a rampage narrative movie with a lot of impossible twists and elements featured.