Wednesday, 14 March 2012

Five ways to spot and post modernistic product

Playfulness and self reference: this is this the way in which the characters and the world of the media product itself knows that the world it takes place in is only fictional. This often occurs when the characters of will talk directly to the audience thus breaking what is known as the fourth wall. A good example of this is the Marvel hero known as Dead pool who is known for being fully aware that he is only a comic book character and will often talk to the audience and skip panels in the comic because he already knows what will happen next.
Postmodern products sometimes end up having many cross media references a recent example was night at the museum 2 where Darth Vader from star wars appeared alongside Grouch from Sesame Street.
Generic blurring and intertextuality: Many media products will cross from one genre into others but postmodern ones will do it to a greater degree and the end product will often be a mish mash of multiple genres. A good example of this is the video game dues ex human revolution in which you play as gritty security officer who becomes a sort of film noire style detective but the setting and plot is that of a science fiction media product.
Aspects of postmodern media: Postmodern products often mix high brow things with low brow. A good example is the go compare advert which mixes highbrow opera with lowbrow cheap jokes and car insurance.
Fragmentation and the death of representation: Postmodernism uses a number of fragments from other media products and cultural influences. It says the audience see things through their media representation not the actual thing themselves. A good example is the way that people see the London bombings.
Uncertainty and the loss of context: This is the way in which postmodernism throws the rule book out the window and causes the audience to view things from a different perspective. Inception is a really good example of this as you don’t know what is reality or not at the end of the film.

Wednesday, 7 March 2012

Foundation Portfolio media language

For the foundation portfolio we had to create the opening sequence to film while working in a group. Our piece was a stalking scene for a slasher/thriller film that a hard news report set the following morning.
When looking into media language in my portfolios we will look at semiotics. Semiotics are the study symbols meaning that they. These meanings can be a direct representation of the physical thing, it could be hinting to something related to that object or the object itself could symbolise something different which requires the viewer to have additional knowledge.
The victim in our piece is a signifier or innocence and normality in society this symbol is used to make the audience identify with her and feel greater unease when her death is shown (putting the audience in a situation that they themselves could easily be in.)
The shadowing and lighting used in the piece is used to signify the sinister and evil nature of the killer this is coupled by the fact that the killer is never shown on camera in focus during the opening sequence further symbolising the mystery/enigma to the killers identity.
The newspapers shown flashing quickly on screen are used as an index; they work as a symbol of further murders committed by the films antagonist over a space of time without the need for the audience to be shown the murders themselves.
The hazard tape in the background symbolises that a crime has been committed and it is one of the icon of the genre because the most common place the audience is likely to have seen in is in media products in the same genre the further drills home to the audience that they are viewing film that falls into the slasher genre.
The use of semiotics throughout films is needed as they help to further engross the audience of the media piece into the world of the production piece.