Django Unchained.

Bricolage theory.
Django Unchained (A Western)

Addition:
- Slavery
- Humour
-The German
- Black lead
- White bad guy (in a western they normally fight indians).
- Extreme violence
- Modern music
Deletion:
- Native Americans
- The West
- Cowboys
- Traditional Western music.
Substitution:
- Location
- Steven is an 'Uncle Tom' character, he's embraced by the white people almost as an equal.
- He also refers to the black slaves as niggers in a derogatory manner (He's black himself).
Transposition:
- Links to the german myth of Broomhilda.

Ennio Morricone
Utilises Spaghettti Western themes/ Hip-hop (Rick Ross)/Folk/Tupac v James Brown (mash up) to create the soundtrack for Django Unchained.

Potential Q's.

1. Why are some media products described as 'postmodern'?
2. "Postmodern media blur the boundary between reality and representation". Discuss this idea with reference to media texts that you have studied.
3. Explain how certain kinds of media can be defined as postmodern.
4. Discuss why some people are not convinced by the idea of postmodern media.
5. How do postmodern media differ from other media?
6. How far do you accept the idea of postmodern media.
7. Define postmodern media, with examples.
8. "Postmodern media manipulate time and space". To what extent does this definition apply to texts you have studied?
9. "Postmodern media break the rules of representation". Discuss.
10. Assess the arguments for and against postmodernism, in relation to media examples.
11. Explain why the idea of 'postmodern media' might be considered controversial.
12. What is meant by postmodern media?
13. Provide your definition of postmodern media and support it with examples.
14. To what extent do postmodern media challenge the relationship between text and audience?

Q's mainly consist of...

- What is it? (Arguments for and against)

- Issues with it

- Reality, representation

-Time and space

Postmodern Media is...

My statement: Postmodernism refers to media products that challenge and/or conform to modern conventions, often referencing products that have already been made, in a stylised way/approach. (Weird for the sake of being weird).

Postmodernism has no absolutes, nothing is original and therefore copies others.

Art constructed from/inspired by other work, therefore being influenced by others.

Paradox* with no absolutes.

Mr Ford's statement: A reaction to and a rejection of modernism.

Modernism: Grand narratives (War, religion, science etc...) and a utopian** view of the world. Modernism strove to be modern, rooted in the now.

Theories of Genre

Claude Levi-Strauss

French Structuralist***, 1970s

Levi-Strauss saw any text as constructed out of socially recognisable 'debris' from other texts. (Bricolage)

He saw that writers/film makers construct texts from other texts by a process of:

-Addition

-Deletion

-Substitution 

-Transposition****

One of the 'problems' is that you have to be culturally literate to understand if something is postmodern or not.

Postmodern media plays with our perception of what is possible/allowed. 

Everything is allowed, no aspect of culture is off limits. Everything is source material.

*Paradox: A seemingly absurd or contradictory statement or proposition which when investigated may prove to be well founded true. 

**Utopian: modelled on or aiming for a state in which everything is perfect; idealistic.

***Structuralism: structuralism is the methodology that elements of human culture must be understood in terms of their relationship to a larger, overarching system or structure.

****Transposition: The cause of two or more things to exchange places.

The Lego Movie (POMO)

The Lego Movie

Lots of intertextual references.

An understanding depends on the 'type' of intertextual reference.

The Lego Movie has more recent/obvious references and are therefore easier to understand.

The character of President Business brings reality into the fantasy (blurs the lines).

Lots of famous characters:

- Batman

- Superman

- Wonder Woman

- Green Lantern

- Hello Kitty

- Star Wars

Stereotypical characters // Generic action film characters.

All of them are voiced by famous actors.

Drive - Film.

Characters: Red if they die in the film.
-Driver (name is never given) referred to as 'kid' a lot.
-Shannon
-Bernie Rose (Killed by Driver)
-Nino (Killed by Driver)
-Irene (Relationship with Driver was over before it began)
-Standard 
-Benicio
-Blanche 
-Cook
-Thug in Elevator (Killed by Driver)
-Two Men in Motel (Killed by Driver)
-Nino's Driver (Killed by Driver)

Not many characters survive the film, a lot of deaths occur.

Location:
Sparsely populated Los Angeles (hyperreal - Self contained world).
Night time long shots of the city (From Helicopters).
Birds eye views.
City as a character?
Music:
Love scene - Oh my love (doesn't fit).
Electronic/80's/Retro sounding
Genre: 
Crime/Gangster
Psychological/Thriller
Romance
Neo Noir* (In drive we're on the side of the bad guys and see their perspective)
-Noire films often featured an inspector who was on a similar level of intelligence to the criminial they're pursuing, however they do finally catch up on them.
Drama
Action
Hyperreal**:

Director: Nicolas Winding-Refn (Bronson, Pusher (I, II, III), Valhalla Rising, Drive, Only God Forgives.)

*Neo-noir (English: New-black; from the Greek neo, new; and the Frenchnoir, black) is a style often seen in modern motion pictures and other forms that prominently use elements of film noir, but with updated themes, content, style, visual elements or media that were absent in filmnoir of the 1940s and 1950s.

**In semiotics and postmodernism, hyperreality is an inability of consciousness to distinguish reality from a simulation of reality, especially in technologically advanced postmodern societies.

Representation of Characters - The Strays.

Character Typing

There are three different kinds of character typing:

1. An archetype is a familiar character who has emerged from hundreds of years of fairytales and storytelling.

2. A stereotype is a character usually used in advertising and marketing in order to sell a particular product to a certain group of people. They can also be used ‘negatively’ in the Media – such as ‘asylum seekers,’ or ‘hoodies’.

3. A generic type is a character familiar through use in a particular genre (type) of movie.

Louis Hopkins // Lead Singer x Guitarist

Generic

Joe Loomes // Lead Guitarist

Generic

Alex Mugglestone // Bassist 

Generic

Max Allen-Taylor // Drums

Generic

What is being represented?

The band consists of four young men who utilise their musical talents, innovative fashion sense and dashing good looks to sell their products. The band reach out to the target audience for these three reasons, how they are represented helps their success. The four of them fall under the generic type as they are all presented to fit into the indie-rock genre through what they look like and what they wear.

How is it represented? Using what codes? Within what genre?

How is the representation made to seem 'true', 'common sense' or 'natural'?

Whose representation is it? Whose interests does it reflect? How do you know?

At whom is this representation targeted? How do you know?

What does the representation mean to you? What does the representation mean to others? How do you account for the differences?

How do people make sense of it? According to what codes?

With what alternative representations could it be compared? How does it differ?

A reflexive consideration - Why is the concept of representation problematic?

Genre Analysis.

Genre theory from HeworthMedia