POMO essay

"Postmodern media manipulate time and space." To what extent does this definition apply to the texts you have studied?

Postmodernism is the rejection of modernism. Modernism offers truth, hierarchy, order and improvement. Postmodernism rejects all absolutes and all grand narratives like the big bang and the existence of god. Industrialisation created the possibility for pop to exist because everything became identical which results into the loss of identity which can be linked with simulacrum which is where some artist play with ideas and images to create something new. Industrialisation allowed us to mass produce for the consumer, this in turn resulted in mass production of material things we don't need (do not help us stay alive).  They either represent themselves or play the part of a character which I will later give an example for.

An example of postmodern media within the film industry is the 2012 Quentin Tarantino film Django Unchained. Quentin is known for referencing other films. He pays homage to both Mandingo and the 1966 spaghetti western Django directed by Sergio Corbucci as he based the name of his film on both of these films. Tarantino pays pastiche at the Ku Klux Klan in one of the film’s funnier scenes in which a KKK group mount an inept attack on Django and Schultz. The attack is scored by The Ride of the Valkyries, undoubtedly inspired by its use in D. W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation. Where Griffith opted to celebrate the KKK and portray them heroically, Tarantino ridicules them and uses the music to directly parody Griffith’s cinematic representation of the Klan. Tarantino also undermines and ridicules Hollywood’s previous approach to civil rights when Django and Schultz enter Mississippi. The text ‘MISSISSIPPI’ fills the screen and scrolls from one side to the other. This is almost certainly a pardoy at the expense of Gone with the Wind, which opens with a very similar title sequence. Where Gone with the Wind portrayed a rather ideal view of the South, Tarantino lays the text over slaves trudging in mud. Django Unchained manipulates time and space because Tarentino takes references from different eras (time).

An example of simularcrum in the music industry is Miley Cyrus. She found fame on the hit Disney channel Hannah Montana. Miley Cyrus plays both Miley Stuart and Hannah Montana so we don't actually know who the real Miley Cyrus is or whether she is just playing a character. In recent years Miley has changed her image from 'Disney sweetheart' to someone who is more controversial. Hannah Montana was a TV programme on Disney where Miley Cyrus played a teenager called Miley Stewart who was secretly a pop artist which is postmodern because Miley Cyrus is a pop star in real life, so is she playing herself? We don't know. As her real name is Destiny Hope Cyrus then none of the above names are her own, making her a character in the media's eye. Miley Cyrus manipulates time and space because she takes music from different decades, for example she pays homage to Dolly Parton and covers her Jolene hit and also uses bricolage to take music from different genres so for example on her latest album 'Bangerz' she has a mixture of Country, Rap and RnB.

POMO essay plan

"Postmodern media manipulate time and space." To what extent does this definition apply to the texts you have studied?


POMO REJECTS ALL ABSOLUTES (THE TRUTH)


Topic- Pomo
viewpoint - manipulate time and space
Instruct  - To what extent (yes or no)
Aspect - apply to the texts you have studied


Topic:
Postmodernism is the rejection of modernism. Modernism offered truth, improvement, hierarchy and order.
Grand narratives rejected
Industrialisation created the possibility for pop to exist, because everything became identical.
Loss of identity - simulacrum


Viewpoint - Time = linear measurement
                    Space = an area or position in relation to something else


Remix
Bricolage
Homage
Pastiche


Instruct - Yes or No? Yes. Pomo changes everything because it allows artists to flourish and take ideas from others but the problem is we don't know what's real and what's not. Eventually no new music/film will be produced because snippets will be taken from other things.


We don't know what's real - holograms  and hyper reality - Tupac/Michael Jackson/Elvis Presley.


Aspect/Revision


BRIAN ENO - DEATH OF UNCOOL
EVERYTHING IS A REMIX


Django Unchained - released in 2012 by Quentin Tarantino
References:
Django (1966 spaghetti western, directed by Sergio Corbucci and starred Franco Nero)
Mandingo - directed by Richard Fleischer and released by Paramount Pictures in 1975.
Birth of a Nation
Gone with the Wind








5 paragraph lay out:


1- Intro - what is pomo?


2 - Film - Django - Quentin Tarantino (include 3 terminology points)


3 - Music - Miley Cyrus - Hannah Montana - Miley Stuart - who is the real Miley? (simulacrum)


4 - TV programme


5 - Conclusion - predict the future
                        - people will sue for sampling

Narrative - 1b

5 Screenshots

Beginning

The enigma code: The questions that would be asked would be who is the guitarist? Is this the lead? What does he look like?

The action code and what we expect to happen next is him to play the guitar. In this shot we can see feet at the right of the shot, we could expect to see who that is next. We could also asked what this artist looks like as we can only see his guitar as that is the focal point. 

The cultural code is that the target audience of young adults (16-21) will understand and recognise that it is an indie video because of the theme of the video and the editing (black and white) it is similar to videos of the same genre. The costumes are plain and stylish like that of the typical indie artist.

The semantic code: literal meaning that the guitarist will play the guitar and will be typically be 'indie' 

3 shots including chorus

Enigma

Action

Enigma code: Who is she? What is her connection to the band? Why is she dancing the way that she is?

Action - expect there to be a relation between her and the band. Expect to see shots of the band again.

Enigma - Will we see the band again? 

Action - See the band performing

End

Enigma - how old are these? Where are they from? Are they releasing new music after this one?

Action - The band releases more music