Drive Big City (LA) seems empty Minimal characters Modern day Gangster/crime film pizzeria stereotypical Italian

ian hang out Retro style characters/music/setting Stylized characters No emotion Slow motion 80s style music Lack of dialogue All surface and no depth (Baudrillard) Grand Theft Auto Maps Night time Sinister psychopath No stereotypes What is his motivation/ what does he do? Irene unanswered questions doesnt look like a criminals wife Grease Drain location Lighting used is idyllic like a family (car and lift scene) Lack of sex are they lovers? Font pink 80s style Vice City GTA Urban sprawl (Blade Runner 1982) Ridley Scott Like GTA playground vulnerable City is used for characters shallow and oppressive its offers little comfort and no escape 80s style music synthesiser chromatics kavinsky feat love foxxx desire cliff martinez Utopian aspect link to the kid fitting in with the family standard seemingly accepts this (unusual)

Film Inglourious Basterds Intertextuality Chapter 1 Sound of Music structures narrative scenery makes it clear that it is a film Once upon a time (fairy-tale of WW2) unreal/fantasy (hyperreality) Spaghetti western and Blaxploitation music Farmhouse windows scenery painted/CGI? self reflexive refers to itself as a text Comparison of pipes at table - humour Yellow text common convention Classical/western music mixed Language change French to English playing with our expectations Jews hidden under the floorboards exposes set Fake backdrops Beams in ceiling clearly a construction making it clear that it is a film Shot of door The Searchers 1956 Shoshanna running away John Fords iconic scene Chapter 2 Brad Pitts humorous accent is exaggerated Tennessee hard to take seriously (OTT) His body language is very dominant and confident facial expressions Hitler parody angry OTT depiction pathetic wearing a cape and having portrait painted Hugo Stiglitz scene Samuel L Jackson narrates voiceover Link to Kill Bill text/deaths Link to spaghetti western films scalping on a stick British stereotypes Mike Myers, Michael Fassbender, Rod Taylor came out of retirement (no SAG card) Tarantino admired his work

Kill List Camera is always one step ahead Whistle music Disjointed narrative (no story) Slow motion creates tension Stylised murders Text on screen Looking at the camera breaking the fourth wall Masks intertextual to other horror films Zombies unexpected Bricolage black comedy/horror Change in language unusual Flashbacks Yellow/orange colours Unsteady camera Forest Mirrors horror convention Theme of fire No closure trap Sword fight significant to ending Sound and image overlaps Black cat Classical music Only one soundtrack The Client villain feel like youre being watched Murders get more graphic Smile before death Burnt picture Burnt librarian Dead animals Kettle boiling Sinister girl waving relevant Fats forwarded cogs

The film has a utopian (idyllic) heart scenes lit with golden hue fairytale The city and the characters are dystopian the kid is responsible for the deaths of standard and Shannon The kid is a hero saved Irene and Benicio (the only innocent ones) leaves the money securing Irenes safety he is defending himself and Irene and isnt a hit man or a hired gunman Villain the kids fault that standard is dead Irene is left a widow and Benicio is fatherless The Kid isnt a flawless Hollywood conventional hero He is a criminal getaway drive for villains Counter intuitive casting Psychopathic traits very angry Lack of dialogue dont know anything about him he is quiet because he is so insular, dark violent and psychopathic could be seen as a masculine trait No reaction Human life seemingly worthless st Film extended for 21 century existence? issues of masculinity and urban living Masculinity power Nino seems irrelevant roles provide, protect, comfort Hyperreal Deserted city no-one notices murders Police are irrelevant Lift scene self reflexive slow motion and light changes draws attention to the film as a text introduces emotion genuine human aspect (tender) music fades when

Text on screen informing audience of characters Goebbels Cutaway scene showing Goebbels having sex with his interpreter Electric guitar from Blaxploitation track used as a motif Spaghetti western music used in Bear Jew scene, Hugo Stiglitz scene, first scene in the Alps as Perrier LaPedite awaits the arrival of the Germans Music sets different tone older war films have less music Popular culture references relevant to the time that the film was set includes what everyone is talking about The British public information film about nitrate film Samuel L Jackson voiceover Michael Fassbender link to Noel Coward (In Which We Serve) witty opposite to Americans (Aldo Raine) Intertextuality Sergeant York 1941 Zoller Foot fetish in cinema Bowie soundtrack Cat People music 80s Shoshanna getting ready for premiere POV changes less biased develop relationship with characters Glamorised war more dramatic Killings are stylised (hyperreal) Music doesnt fit Shoshanna femme fatale dressed in red villain? Frederick in white good hero? unexpected shooting slow motion (extends death) Romeo and Juliet (unrequited romance) birds eye shot contrapuntal music plays with reality and image Consistent immaculate appearance The Good The Bad and The Ugly 1966 Sergio Leone

reconstruction Gathering, chanting, zombies Hot Fuzz Crowd clap when girl is hung, zombies, chased in tunnel The Descent Moon lit sky horror convention Hunchback slow motion and ending Religion Symbol Camera is unflinching whether you want to watch or not Intertextuality Masks (Scream, Silence of the Lambs) Change in language (Shel) The Descent (Tunnel) Hot Fuzz (ending) Slow motion (sword fight) text on screen (victims) The Sopranos (hit men) villains (The Client and Saw) 2 musketeers, Down Terrace gruesome murders Homage The Descent Bricolage black comedy and horror Reoccurring nightmares Hyperreality girl waving, zombies, gruesome murders, laughing, family environment, argument, unanswered questions Fragmentation society and identity economic issues no background info. strain on relationship Electronic

violence begins Kid has no physical interaction with Benicio strange Baudrillard simulacra and simulation - current society has replaced all reality and meaning with symbols and signs, and that human experience is of a simulation of reality like a movie - we cannot separate the image from the 'reality' Violence: A History Of Violence (2005) Dir. David Cronenburg - The style of violence is reminiscent to that in Drive. It is visceral and brutal. Is it real or hyperreal? literalness vs. figurativeness - modern Grimm fairytale music ideas pioneered by European electronic bands, such as Kraftwerk retro 80s style music - A Real Hero College feat. Electric Youth Cliff Martinez I Drive The Driver (1978) Dir. Walter Hill- Opening Title/The Getaway

Tarantino uses similar shots to the forest and cellar scene Blaxploitation 1970s African/American audience (mainstream) Shaft (2000) urban setting and revenge Odessa Steps Battleship Potemkin pram rolling away/ shot in eye Where Eagles Dare (1968) joy of killing Nazis Levi Strauss bricolage addition (Blaxploitation, Fairytale) Deletion common war conventions (journey, fear, emotion, human frailty) Substitution yellow text, title, David Bowie Transposition The Searchers, Spaghetti Western, framing , changes end of war Jacques Derrida hybrid (text with more than one genre) black comedy and war Gerard Genette transtextuality. Intertextuality, architextuality, metatextuality, hypotextuality John Fiske SPR is what youd expect IB is different is audience of unaware of war they can distinguish good and bad characters all knowledge comes from other films and media No emotion Hans Landas intelligence and language knowledge premiere True Romance 1993, Inglorious Bastards 1978, The White Hell of Pitz Palu , Mitchell and Webb /Nazis, Van Johnson and Nations Pride, Slaughter by Billy Preston (Introduces characters) The Devils Rumble by Davie Allen and The Arrows Disjointed narrative Recontextualising The title adapted from Inglorious Bastards

Chants Screaming Animal noises Reconstruction means reorganising Christian churches Victims thank Jay All of cult know each other Hot Fuzz librarian has pictures of partners at first murder Jay for Jesus? the chosen one crowned in ending Cut on hand doesnt heal Fiona picks Shel and her target is her son Hunchback client picks Jay so happier than Fiona Race to be known as the chosen one? Scenes do not link John Fiske The Descent relate to things we have seen Levi Strauss addition, deletion, substitution, transposition Talcott Parsons society has a structure the family has no structure financial issues, Jay out of work for 8 months Jacques Derrida black comedy/ horror abstract themes to focus on Baudrillard mislead by things that appear to be real but are not unanswered questions Feels like a dream The Wicker Man endings are very similar

Sergeant York is a 1941 biographical film about the life of Alvin York, the mostdecorated American soldier of World War I. It was directed by Howard Hawks and was the highestgrossing film of the year. Sir Nol Peirce Coward (16 December 1899 26 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise". The Untouchables steps scene True Romance (1993) The Inglorious Bastards (1978) The White Hell of Pitz Palu (1929) The Dirty Dozen Where Eagles Dare (1968) The Good The Bad and The Ugly (1966) Hobo With a Shotgun 2011 Intertextuality- Grindhouses fake trailers - A grindhouse is an American term for a theater that mainly shows exploitation films. It is named after the defunct burlesque theaters located on 42nd Street in New York City, where 'bump n' grind' dancing and striptease were featured Initially a fake trailer made for an international contest to promote the release of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's double feature Grindhouse Intertextuality- Battleship 2011 Idea of the film as a game Battleships Electronic Talking Battleships audience feel more involved Taxi Driver The ending scene Mad Max 3 Beyond Thunderdome Similar to Drake the villain creates a

The Parallax View 1974 assassination trap focus on story and not expect what they see Race with the Devil took elements from what he could remember fire around the car takes aspects from 1970s and 1980s TV Nightmares trying to scare people think of the worst audience on edge Trap things happen when you least expect it

The IT Crowd Season 2 Episode 3 Moss and The German The theme tune sounds like 80s computer games (8 bit) It reminiscent of Gary Numans work (1980s synth pioneer) Hyperreality created own comedy universe Animation text on screen Surrounded by technology Parody piracy advert Scary laugh exaggerated - villain German cannibal playing cello hyperreal Soviet scenes taken as far as possible Russian accent march music and

show Trailer from imaginary film Battleships Transformers (based on game) Hyperreality enclosed world separated from reality ( own area and rules) tramps fighting parallel to real life Sign changed name of town Chaos one thing after another (cartoon) Man in white suit western (stand off ) gangsters Drake creates a show environment for each graphic death Hyperreality- girl dances in blood makes it seductive Different eras punk, gangster, western, tramp Fun house deaths dodgems, arcade (video game) almost normal Killing seems normal to them Deliberately sets out to be a bad film Constant change in tone graphic/emotive Black comedy TV Flight Of The Conchords Flight of The Conchords Prime Minister Self Reflexive Brett and Jermaine direct address to the camera quirky style graphics Intertexuality Prince, Daft Punk, Pet Shop Boys, Shaggy Bricolage sitcom, musical, music video and drama Cut and paste style graphics in title sequence Semi episodic structure (days of the week and parody) - 5 minutes later Parody and Pastiche music genres, music video conventions, romantic comedy, New Zealand, NZ tourist posters, cult of Simon and Garfunkel Elton John talks in lyrics Lookalikes Semi episodic structure Matrix Cultures Art Garfunkel as himself and lookalike Jermaine ex only has relationships with Garfunkels Parody of NZ prime minister shambolic idiot Intertextuality Elton John and Bono talkins in lyrics shell suit/dodgy hair/ glasses Charlies Angels Paul Simon Brett dressed as Graceland era Simon with African backing singers An actor playing a version

light changes costumes Talking about meeting new people psychiatrist Stereotypical german outfit, food, meat, sausage schweinefliesch Hannibal Lector bricolage Detective police interrogation Morecambe and Wise Fine Young Cannibals The Pink Windmill Kids Theres Somebody at the Door Rod and Emu Douglas Reynham Gorky Park Russia Oceans 11

the celebrities obsession with celebrities (Mel) Daryll Hall Hall and Oates pop/soul duo in 80s ZZ Top legs Donovan Hurdy Gurdy Man

of himself, pretending to be someone else, meeting real person he is impersonating Bright Eyes Garfunkel number 1 hit from 1970s Sings Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme Mocking themselves - NZ

Music Jonathan Kramer 16 characteristics of postmodern music Bright Eyes At the bottom of everything DON T FLOP - Rap Battle - Blizzard Vs Mark Grist Malcolm McLaren-Buffalo Gals M.I.A.-Bad Girls Vampire Weekend-Giving Up The Gun / The Very Best-Warm Heart Of Africa / Brenda Fassie-Vulindlela / Bhundu Boys-Jit Jive Warm Heart of Africa The Very Best Brenda Fassie Vulindlela Bhundu Boys Jit Jives Prince Raspberry Beret When Doves Cry - Kiss Lady Gaga Influences Motley Crue Girls Girls Girls AC/DC T.N.T Boys Boys Boys echoes classic 1980s pop and 1990s europop The Fame Monster 2009 pastiche seventies arena glam, perky ABBA disco and sugary throwbacks like Stacey Q Born This Way 2011 English, French, german, Spanish love, sex, religion, money, drugs, identity, liberation, sexuality and freedom opera, heavy metal, disco and rock and roll Fashion personal dropped by Def Jam directed Marry The Night controversy Judas biblical figures constantly reinvents sound and image different genres (bricolage) Telephone, Chillin, Lady is a Tramp, Video Phone, Gnomeo and Juliet recontextualises material Queen name Radio Gaga Lady Starlight burlesque dancing (found niche audience) incorporated pop melodies and included Bowie and Queen into their work charity work Alexander McQueen, Deepak Chopra unique style performance to Bill Clinton copied Marilyn Monroe to JFK Bowie, Iggy and Egon Schiele Bowie - Studio albums: The Man Who Sold the World (1970) Hunky Dory (1971) The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972) Aladdin Sane (1973) Pin Ups (1973) Diamond Dogs (1974) Young Americans (1975) Station to Station (1976) Low (1977) "Heroes" (1977)

Lodger (1979) Live albums: David Live (1974) Stage (1978) Compilations: Changesonebowie (1976) David Bowie Heros DJ Summer Camp-Round The Moon - Summer Camp's musical style has been described as "21st-century alt.pop", but also draws influence from 60s girl group and 80s synth pop. The lyrics are often quite dark and deal with failed relationships, conflicts and teenage obsessions. The lyrics, along with the band's artwork and music videos, also draw heavily from American culture from the 1960s-1980s. Jay-Z, The Beatles and Dangermouse-99 Problems/Helter Skelter A track from The Grey Album by Danger Mouse. The Grey Album is a mashup album by Danger Mouse, released in 2004. It uses an a cappella version of rapper Jay-Z's The Black Album and couples it with instrumentals created from a multitude of unauthorized samples from The Beatles' LP The Beatles (more commonly known as The White Album). The Grey Album gained notoriety due to the response by EMI in attempting to halt its distribution, despite the fact that both Jay-Z and Sir Paul McCartney said they felt fine with the project. The death of uncool so bad its good Old material Niche/mainstream audiences Technology ipod, phones DAB Sampling Led Zeppelin borrowed heavily from old bluesmen and it took years for the songwriters to be credited and paid royalties. The sane group took a hard line stance initially to be sampled by hip hop groups Access to music spotify, xfactor, itunes, downloading from internet, free CDs Pick n mix culture Surface over depth New status for art culture Bricolage: The 2 Bears-Church The video for The 2 Bears track Church utilises clips from the Care Bears cartoons. The Care Bears were a 1980s phenomenon, particularly popular with young girls. The 2 Bears are a London-based musical duo formed in 2009 composed of Joe Goddard (of electronic band Hot Chip) and Raf Rundell. The duo produces original material amalgamating various styles including 2-step, house, hip-hop and soul and also host a radio show on Ministry of Sound Radio entitled "Follow the Bears Tupac Hologram Coachella 2012 future of music? Reinventing artists and bringing them back to life. Band Aid Do They Know Its Christmas / Pulp Bad Cover version remake of Band Aid celebrities singing but get lookalikes in video to copy original video R Kelly Trapped in the closet 22 song sets tells story same melodic tune with varying lyrics relating an ongoing narrative / Weird Al Yankovic Trapped in the drive-thru parody 3 chapters original R Kelly video - "brilliant and wonderful and ridiculous all at the

same time"
Postmodernism opening Modernism started around the 1850s. Preceded postmodernism characterised by constant innovation. Modern art was driven by social and cultural agendas appropriate to the time(s). For example industrialisation, emancipation of women, universal education and the impact of war/ religion/science on everyday life. The modernist perspective was often utopian. Modernism is viewed as having ended at some point in the 1960s. Simply put, once Andy Warhol began painting pictures of soup cans, postmodernism became the term to use. Postmodernism reached its zenith in the 1980/90s. But it is still a useful catch all term. It is used and misused to describe whatever you choose.

Theory Jean Baudrillard simulacra and simulation Jonathan Kramer music theory John Fiske relate to things weve seen Jacques Derrida genres Claude Levi-Strauss bricolage Gerard Genette sub groups Talcott Parsons Marshall McLuhan Lyotard grand narratives Frederic Jameson Laura Mulvey Male Gaze Barthes 5 codes We frequently hear it said that we are living in a postmodern world. Are we? How do we know? And how is postmodernism as a theoretical perspective applicable to Media Studies? Where do we start? How about some definitions? George Ritzer (1996) suggested that postmodernism usually refers to a cultural movement postmodernist cultural products such as architecture, art, music, films, TV, adverts etc. Ritzer also suggested that postmodern culture is signified by the following: The breakdown of the distinction between high culture and mass culture. Think: drama about Dame Margot Fonteyn, a famous prima ballerina, on BBC4. The breakdown of barriers between genres and styles. Think: Shaun of the Dead a romcom-zom. Mixing up of time, space and narrative. Think Pulp Fiction or The Mighty Boosh. Emphasis on style rather than content. Think: Girls Aloud. The blurring of the distinction between representation and reality. Think, Katie Price or Celebrity Big Brother. The French theorist Baudrillard argues that contemporary society increasingly reflects the media; that the surface image becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish from the reality. Think about all the times you have heard an actor on a soap-opera say, that when they are out and about, people refer to them by their characters name. Look at The Suns website and search stories on Nicholas Hoult when he was in Skins: he is predominantly written about as though he is Tony, his character in Skins.

Key terms Among all the theoretical writing on postmodernism (and you might like to look up George Ritzer, Jean Baudrillard, Jean-Francois Lyotard, Frederic Jameson and Dominic Strinati), there are a few key terms that youll find it useful to know. These terms can form the basis of analysis when looking at a text from a postmodern perspective: intertextuality one media text referring to another parody mocking something in an original way pastiche a stylistic mask, a form of self-conscious imitation homage imitation from a respectful standpoint bricolage mixing up and using different genres and styles simulacra simulations or copies that are replacing real artefacts hyperreality a situation where images cease to be rooted in reality fragmentation used frequently to describe most aspects of society, often in relation to identity 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-Franois 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 .

Barthes 5 codes Linguist Roland Barthes described Five Codes which are woven into any narrative.

The Hermeneutic Code (HER)

The Hermeneutic Code refers to any element of the story that is not fully explained and hence becomes a mystery to the reader. The full truth is often avoided, for example in: Snares: deliberately avoiding the truth. Equivocations: partial or incomplete answers. Jammings: openly acknowledge that there is no answer to a problem.

The purpose of the author in this is typically to keep the audience guessing, arresting the enigma, until the final scenes when all is revealed and all loose ends are tied off and closure is achieved.

The Proairetic Code (ACT)

The Proairetic Code also builds tension, referring to any other action or event that indicates something else is going to happen, and which hence gets the reader guessing as to what will happen next. The Hermeneutic and Proairetic Codes work as a pair to develop the story's tensions and keep the reader interested. Barthes described them as: "...dependent on ... two sequential codes: the revelation of truth and the coordination of the actions represented: there is the same constraint in the gradual order of melody and in the equally gradual order of the narrative sequence."

The Semantic Code (SEM)

This code refers to connotation within the story that gives additional meaning over the basic denotative meaning of the word. It is by the use of extended meaning that can be applied to words that authors can paint rich pictures with relatively limited text and the way they do this is a common indication of their writing skills.

The Symbolic Code (SYM)

This is very similar to the Semantic Code, but acts at a wider level, organizing semantic meanings into broader and deeper sets of meaning. This is typically done in the use of antithesis, where new meaning arises out of opposing and conflict ideas.

The Cultural Code (REF)

This code refers to anything that is founded on some kind of canonical works that cannot be challenged and is assumed to be a foundation for truth. Typically this involves either science or religion, although other canons such as magical truths may be used in fantasy stories. The Gnomic Code is a cultural code that particularly refers to sayings, proverbs, clichs and other common meaning-giving word sets. giving word sets.

Tzvetan Todorov Equilibrium All stories start in a state of equilibrium, which is then disrupted, setting in a motion a chain of events. The resolution of the story is the creation of a new/different equilibrium. Equilibrium>Disruption>Resolution/Re-Equilibrium Vladimir Propp Propp was essential interested in the narrative of folk tales. He identified a theory about folk tales were similar in many areas. They were about the same basic struggles and they appeared to have Stock Characters. He identified a theory about characters and actions as narrative functions; they provide a structure for the text The hero a character that seeks something The Villain who opposes or actively blocks the heros quest The Donor - Who provides an object with magical properties

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The Dispatcher - who sends the hero on his/her quest via a message The False hero who disrupts the heros success by making false claims The helper - who aids the hero The princess acts as the reward for the hero and the object of the villains plots Her father who acts to reward the hero for his effort Christopher Vogler Chris Vogler is a story analyst for Disney, Warner Bros, 20th Century Fox, and many more Hollywood production companies. He explored the construction of narrative from a character driven perspective. His theory is called The Heros Journey. 1. Ordinary world 2. Call to Adventure 3. Refusal of Class 4. Mentor 5. First Threshold 6. Test, Allies, enemies 7. Approach to the inmost cave 8. Ordeal 9. Rewards (seizing the sword) 10. The road back 11. Resurrection 12. Return with the Elixir 13. Vogler also claimed that there were eight Archetypes within Hollywood narratives Hero Mentor Heraid Shape Shifter Allies Shadow Trickster Threshold Guardians Levi Strauss-Binary Oppositions Meanings, including narrative, depend on binary oppositions he explores these in terms of underlying typical themes rather than events. Conflict helps to drive the narrative. Man White Young Hero West Good Vs Woman Vs Black Vs Old Vs Villain Vs East Vs Bad

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Roland Barthes Enigma Codes Enigma/hermeneutic code anything that sets up a question in the narrative

Semic Code the way in which the character, actions, events, settings take place on meaning; mise-en-scene, semiotic analysis, psychoanalytical theory Symbolic code Signifying binary oppositions or psychological symbols

Action code Codes of behaviour in the diegetic world that are universally understood, from our de-coding of other narratives. Cultural/Referential Code Codes that are defined by the world outside the narrative diegesis, with are understood through our interaction with the wider world Robert McKee Robert McKee has a simple 5 part structure for narratives: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Inciting incident Progressive Complications Crisis Climax Resolution

The death of uncool Brian Eno 25th November 2009 Its odd to think back on the timenot so long agowhen there were distinct stylistic trends, such as this seasons colour or abstract expressionism or psychedelic music. It seems we dont think like that any more. There are just too many styles around, and they keep mutating too fast to assume that kind of dominance The kinds of thing you might use as case studies include: How post-modern media relate to genre and narrative computer / video games, virtual worlds, augmented reality and and new forms of representation, post-modern cinema, interactive media, social media and social networking, reality TV, music video, advertising, post-modern audience theories, aspects of globalisation, parody and pastiche in media texts or a range of other applications of post-modern media theory. It is pretty open in terms of what you might have studied, so I would expect answers to draw upon very different case study material. This part of the exam asks you to do three more specific things, whatever topic you answer on: 1. You MUST refer to at least TWO different media 2. You MUST refer to past, present and future (with the emphasis on the present- contemporary examples from the past five years) 3. refer to critical/theoretical positions

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So for 1. you might compare and contrast examples from film and TV or from games and the web. For 2. the main thing is to ensure you have a majority of material from the past five years. There were a number of answers last year which were dominated by older examples, so beware of this if you are writing about games or the web, you can be pretty up to date, but the same is true of examples from TV, music video or cinema. This is not to stop you referring to historical examples, just encouraging an emphasis on recent ones. For the point about the future, you could say something about how as we all live more of our lives online, more and more texts take on elements of postmodernism For 3. You will hopefully have been introduced to some theory and your teachers will have tried to make it accessible- some key names are Baudrillard and Lyotard and their ideas are summarised quite neatly here

http://fordmedia1112.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/postmodernism-theories-and-texts.html

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