Postmodern media essay (Ford).

Why are some media prodcuts described as post modern?

Media products' means the 3 films that you have studied. Read through the posts on my blog (especially the theory), your presentations, your Inglourious Basterds essay and any research you have completed. Remember to refer to modernism at the start of the essay and keep referring back to the words from the question.

The three films that i looked at as post modern films were Inglorious Basterds, Drive, and scream. All of these films have post modern aspects in them. Post modern aspects within them can be the music, the costume or the way of filming.

Inglorioious Basterds has many post modern aspects in it for example at the start of the film there is a spaghetti western music used which was out before the time of the film is based. The music used is on some level ironic. This is because it works with the film and how the film is represented. Therefore this is a postmodern aspect to the film as the time periods do not mix together. This spaghetti western music is used throughout the film. Another postmodern feature to this film is the use of the chapters in that it goes through the film as though it was a book. This shows it is most modern as i shows that it is only a film and isn't real and so relate to the audience by doing this. There are many parts of inglourious basterds that are seen to be post modern like the simple bit of the uniform for the characters. This is Post modern because in normal war films the soldiers are all messy with mud and blood everywhere and their uniform is all scuffed up. However a in this media product all the soldiers uniform stays pristine even after they have been fighting. Therefore Tarrentino goes aginst what is a stereotypical war soldier look and so this is another bit of most modern that has been described in the film.

As for the film drive again the music is a type of spaghetti western music in that the soundtrack links to the name and story of the film. This is because the name of some of the songs are about cars and danger and so links to the film well even though they were set in different time periods. For example one of the songs on the track list is called 'after the chase' by Cliff Martinez who was an 80's style artist however the film drive seems to be more modern than this music so the time periods are different. Again with the use of font for 'Drive' is like a game and so people are able to react to recognising it. Another post modern aspect that is describe in drive is the lack of dialogue that the main character has. This is post modern as it links for the real life in that you are able to watch a story without hearing much dialogue but still understand it. it is post modern as we are used to have the main character talk the most but he hardly says anything, he more narrates the film rather than speaks within it. A way in which INglourios basterds connects to drive is the use of bold colours for the title of the credits. For example in Drvie a bright pink is used which is not to be expected, whereas in inglouious bastered the yellow is used throughout which is another post modern element.

The third film that i research that has post modern aspects described within it is Scream. Scream was the first horror movie to create a new type of genre of horror called 'post modern slasher flick'. This is because the directors knew what people wanted and what people were expecting from a horror movie and so he changed i up. He did this by actually have the characters within the story tell the story. For example one quote from the main character about horror movie was that 'They are all the same, some stupid killer stalking some big breasted girl who cant act, who is always running up the stairs, when she should be going out the front door, its insulting'. This show that the film is post modern  because it actually tells the audience that they know who all horror stories go and that the characters within the horror story know what normally happens. Therefor it is postmodern because the audience then know that it is only a film. Scream also took a new approach to how horror movie are shown in that instead of have a dark and scary caste like normal horror stories, Scream actually took the story closer to the audience by including the safe place of a home being the main scare place instead of the stereotypical castle. This then bring the post modern reality to the audience. This links to Inglourious Basterds in that both films use the set to show that it is only a film. The music used in scream also connects to the film drive in that the name of the songs connect to what the film is about for example the song 'Dont fear the reaper' by Gus. By using the songs to connect with the film it is expected. However inglouious basterds do not do this and so this shows the post modern element to it.

The reason that some media products are described as post modern is because they are not what you would class as a say a normal media product. this is because they differences that are post modern. For example the music that goes with the film may not seem to fit with the type of film or the time period it is set in. But for the director it fits in well and so could be used as a type of bricolage. Music within a film can have a big impact of if it is post modern or not. For example in Inglourios Basterds the spaghetti western music is used throughout the film and so seems to fit but really it doesn't and so is a form of post modernism. Media products are usually decribed as post modern because it is not what an audeince would expect or it is different to the norm of what that type of film should be like. for example in inglourious basterds, for a war film and audeince would expect more gore and dirt. Also for a war film it is quite slow. The main post modern aspect of it is that it change history and so changes what the audience expects completly. This is the same with Scream in that the horror movie stereotype is completly changed and so it is not what an audience would normally expect.