Post-modernity within media texts

In relation to the idea that pieces of media can be deemed post-modern or modern, i think that almost every piece of media contains elements of a post-modern state when looked at from different angles, as the way in which we use media is alone considered post-modern.
However, focusing solely upon the post-modern state within media, i analysed Lady Gaga's music video which accompanies her track 'Paparazzi'
post modern features litter the video, demonstrated immediately via pastiche seen in vintage style font used to introduce the music video, which pays homage to the style adopted during the 'Golden age' of Hollywood.
This is supported by the narrative reference to 'Sunset boulevard' within the lyrics, and also in Lady Gaga's video she replicates use of newspaper cuttings, the style of the house, and a scene shot to show a crowd of paparazzi.

However, the old fashioned,retro feel is quickly abolished by the introduction of modern elements seen in the music video such as the eccentric costumes. The costumes used in this music video also link to ideas outside the video, generally they are quite futuristic and whacky, but particularly the sunglasses Lady gaga adorns helps mimic the Disney company logo, referencing popular culture.
In other scenes, Lady Gaga wears costumes similar to those of Madonna such as the iconic cone shaped corsets previously seen Madonna's 'like a virgin' music video. The song lyrics also contain references to popular celebrity culture through constant repetion of 'paparazzi'which also ties in with the song name.The timing of the music video seems to switch quite frequently back and fourth from day to night also contributing to the post modern style.
Homage is paid to films such as James Bond and vertigo demonstrated by a constant use of hypnotising backgrounds and patterns such as the monochrome twirling background.
Furthermore,studying the realism, the use of a pink neck brace doesn't seem to effect her movement and she is seen as a mannequin at one point, which portrays her as almost robotic, thus breaking down the divide between binary opposites; human v's robotic.

The television programme 'The simpsons' regularly includes features of a post modern media text such as parodies of other films,artists,works,music etc. and the ideas that they parody are both high and low culture which breaks down the divide, thus adhering to the idea of post modernity.

Run Lola Run second run

Run Lola Run (Second run)
Summary: Main character; Lola receives a phone call from her boyfriend of one year, Mani. He has lost 100,000 marks on a subway train that belongs to gangster. Lola has 20 min to brainstorm an idea and find a way to raise this amount and meet Mani before he robs a convenience store or worse. Three different alternatives may happen depending on some minor event along Lola's run.

The scene repeats the events seen in the runs beforehand; the cartoon including an aggressive dog, her mother on the phone etc. and also the defining moments when Lola receives a phone call, the camera rotates and spins around her in a 360 motion accompanied with the non-dietetic sound of a ticking clock empathising the lack of, and importance of time.

The camera then shows her running down the road and she bumps into a lady with a pram who this time, becomes religious after that incident, which is shown on photographs after the hit. She then runs past the nuns and this time dodges them, does not make any contact with any of them.
The bike rider then does not offer his bike to Lola this time, instead he sees the tramp who has the money and sold it to him.
She then gets hit by a car and sees Mr Maya, a friend of her Father's.
Later, as she is running, Lola almost gets hit by a lorry outside a casino. After seeing the casino however, she enters it and is one frank short however gets allowe in to the casino. With everyone looking rich and dressed nice, she was getting a lot of stares dressed in a tracksuit and with red hair. She then won the roulette though after screaming very loud and then there was another reference to the clock in the casino.

Then, Lola enters the ambulance and see's a man in critical condition, in the meantime, her boyfriend Manni catches the tramp on the bike that has his money and he gets the money back.

Manni then gives the money to the gangster, and secures a ‘fairytale ending’

Do we live in a post-modern era?

Practise essay - Is it simply true that we live in a post modern era?

Post modernism can be identified in almost every field of life; philosophy, literature, media art,science,society, religion etc, the meaning of post modernism changes adapting to the subject which means it is often difficult to define.
For example, before we lived in a modern era, we lived in a ‘pre-modern’ era which based it’s reality upon religion and faith, then as society and the world progressed, we entered a ‘modern era’ which based it’s reality upon science and rationality. Now we are said to be in a ‘post modern’ era, as our sense of reality is based upon us as individuals, taking into account various other factors such as gender, age, religion etc. there is no single defining source for us as individuals.
But to describe the term loosely, we could say that if you are a post modernist, or an idea is described using this phrase, then you tend to be a great deal more open minded and less focused on rationality which is associated with modernity, and pre modernity.
However, post modernist and modernists approaches can be deemed similar in some respects; they both display formalist styles sharing features such as fragmentation,doubling,self-referntiality and irony.

Arguments that support the idea of us living in a post modern society would be the introduction and existence of huge public figures such as lady Gaga, who represents us as a society. she’s different, she steps outside the box that many artists like her and before her were in- she creates new ideas that excite and inspire the world around her, and she rebels against a lot of societies values; through Lady Gaga we could say we have an example of how our era is post modern.
However, although quirky, reinvent and seemingly ‘different’ many would argue that she has recycled past artist’s ideas, specifically Madonna. For example, her constant use of religious symbols such as the crucifix, provocative, exciting and innovative stage performances which seem to step out of the box, yet contain striking resemblances to Madonna’s past costumes, suggesting that Lady gaga is in fact a lot less original than one might first assume.

However, as a final note, we can safely assume that Lady Gaga represents our era and generation, symbolising reinvention, fashion exploration and thinking outside of the box. Recently, she introduced an 'alter ego' via her male version, something which has been demonstrated by other artists,and again highlights her post modern approach to her image, and inevitable direct effect on our society today through the media.
Although it can be argued that Lady Gaga does or does not represent a post modern domination through the media, the term itself is difficult to apply to our era on such a large scale because our perception of the term tends to vary on the indivual and therefore no concrete conclusion can be made.

Postmodernism

Music video analysis- Kings of Leon

I chose to analyse a song by Kings of Leon called'Use somebody'.The genre of the bands music is indie/rock.
There are shots of the band used throughout, which is genuine tour footage and they can be seen in live performances,empthasised by close ups.
There are also shots of cities used to highlight the fact that they were on tour and travelling. These were also fast shots and used many different camera shots, for example: panning shots, long shots and birds eye view shots.
A close up of the singer is used as he begins miming the song. When the line 'You know that I can use somebody' is sang the first shot of the singer is straight cut to a shot of him and a woman. The shot is very short, suggesting that it is a flashback.

At the start of the chorus the colour of the shot is instantly turned black and white again indicating the past.
They are also seen doing everything they do in preparation for the concert including: arriving at the venue, in the dressing room, on stage, looking at the arena before concert and having fun. Real shots of the band are used which allow the audience to get a sense of the bands personality by seeing them when not performing. Also by using black and white and colour on certain shots, it shows the difference between the past and present.
The theme of love seems apparent via the shot of the singer and the woman kissing,and overall I think this is a fairly typical video for the genre of the music as a lot of rock music videos tend to use actual footage as part of their videos as apposed to pop videos.

Diary week 1

I'm looking forward to beginning the process of creating my music video- i have made rough plans, and gathered some music videos which I'd like to take inspiration from. Hopefully over summer i will begin to put these ideas into action and finalise plans for actors and locations.

Post production

Post-production is part of the filmmaking process. It occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs, advertising, videos, audio recordings, photography, and digital art. It is term for all stages of production occurring after the actual end of shooting and/or recording the completed work.
Post-production is, in fact, many different processes grouped under one name. These typically include:
Editing the picture / television program
Writing, (re)recording, and editing the soundtrack.
Adding visual special effects - mainly computer-generated imagery (CGI) and digital copy from which release prints will be made (although this may be made obsolete by digital-cinema technologies).
Sound Design, Sound Effects, ADR, Foley and Music, culminating in a process known as sound re-recording or mixing.
Transfer of film to Video or Data with a telecine and Color grading in a color suite.
Typically, the post-production phase of creating a film takes longer than the actual shooting of the film, and can take several months to complete.
Wikipedia

Creativity

Creativity refers to the phenomenon whereby a person creates something new (a product, a solution, a work of art, etc.) that has some kind of value. What counts as "new" may be in reference to the individual creator, or to the society or domain within which the novelty occurs. What counts as "valuable" is similarly defined in a variety of ways.
Scholarly interest in creativity ranges widely: Topics to which it is relevant include the relationship between creativity and general intelligence; the mental and neurological processes associated with creative activity; the relationship between personality type and creative ability; the relationship between creativity and mental health; the potential for fostering creativity through education and training, especially as augmented by technology; and the application of an individual's existing creative resources to improve the effectiveness of learning processes and of the teaching processes tailored to them.
-Wikipedia

Digital technology

Digital technology has improved over recent years enabling access to many new programmes and products which enhance the experience the audience recieves. Editing software allows films to become much more realistic and exciting, and developments in equiptment such as cameras and lighting increase clarity and realistic settings. I will be using a green screen and umbrellas in order to create useful foundations for my music video to be built, and the green screen will allow ease via editing

Skill Development

Skill development is important in any path of life that you choose, if you have the ability to develop a skill quickly then that saves time and effort in your work and can benefit you in many ways. Last year I managed to develop skills in Photoshop CS3 quite quickly which helped me manage my time better with my work as I knew more of what I was doing. With my music video if I can learn to handle the camera well and handle the technology well it will make things a lot easier for me. Developing a skill does not just come easily though, it takes lots of time and practice as "Practice makes perfect." I will practice on editing softwares and try out different camera angles so that I know I have the right shot and this will get better as I keep on doing it.

Post modernism

"A general and wide-ranging term which is applied to literature, art, philosophy, architecture, fiction, and cultural and literary criticism, among others. Postmodernism is largely a reaction to the assumed certainty of scientific, or objective, efforts to explain reality. In essence, it stems from a recognition that reality is not simply mirrored in human understanding of it, but rather, is constructed as the mind tries to understand its own particular and personal reality. For this reason, postmodernism is highly skeptical of explanations which claim to be valid for all groups, cultures, traditions, or races, and instead focuses on the relative truths of each person. In the postmodern understanding, interpretation is everything; reality only comes into being through our interpretations of what the world means to us individually. Postmodernism relies on concrete experience over abstract principles, knowing always that the outcome of one's own experience will necessarily be fallible and relative, rather than certain and universal." - Wikipedia