Wednesday 3 June 2015

Media theorists quiz

Tuesday 2 June 2015

My use of creativity within digital technology from my AS opening thriller to my A2 music video has developed and my skills have improved. This has allowed me to produce more original ideas and become more creative, through experiencing new technologies and intertextual references. 

Friday 29 May 2015

Sophie B Marked

Section B
Provide your definition of postmodern media and support it with with examples.

Postmodern media is an ideology which came about after modernity challenging the modern ideology, an era where progression and  grand narratives such as religion and marriage were more heavily believed. After world war 2 and the atomic bomb in Japan this is where believe and hope started to decrease, because people lost hope as you can end the world and begin war so easily. At this point there was still a lot DECLINE of belief, IN TRADITIONAL IDEAS as the 1960's came along strikes on human rights and the hippie revolution became popular, seeing people stand up for change, because they lost belief in the political systems and wanted to be 'free'. In the late --- 1970s/80s --- had immersed through development of technology, and then films such as Tron, seeing humans and technology combining, seeing a human in the film entering a game. Becoming immersed, which is happening now. The post modernist era is really just asking us to question everything around us, making us EMPTY SUPERFICIAL AND pessimistic. This is intriguing but not unless I look at texts and question this, looking at a theoretical approach, historical and stylistic at three texts Wreck it Ralph, Black Mirror's 15 million merits and Sims 4.

The Disney Film Wreck it Ralph, shows an immersive narrative, the cartoon hyper real character from arcade/video games are shown to enter each others games through a train station representing the WiFi router in the arcade. We start off in Fix it Felix, Felix the protagonist of his game is a feminine and comes across as friendly and traditional. Whereas there is also the villain of  the game, Ralph, who attends 'AA' like meeting with fellow villains from other games, they all come across as they have issues such as not liking themselves and wanting to be the hero of the games instead. SIMULATIONS OF REAL PEOPLE HAVING LIFE CRISISES Ralph wants this too, the games in this film are all 'retro' a trend which takes things from the late 1900's, such as video games, so this Disney film does not only target children but also there parents, giving them a feeling of nostalgia, and the film target the parents with more adult jokes such as the AA meetings. Ralph enters a fighting game, which is an intertextual reference of Halo. As he does not belong in this game things go wrong, he accidentally lets out robot bugs attacking the game, he ends up in an intertexual reference to Mario card and Candy Crush, a candy land where you race in candy carts to win.

Wreck it Ralph takes a more stylistic approach, using nostalgia, hyper reality, simulacra (the game is a simulation of reality and it is cartoon), the genres of the different games merge together making hybrid, it's a pastiche of the games giving homage to them, there presentation of gender is blurred, the many intertextual references creating a bricolage. Baudrillard's and Jameson's view on hyper reality and simulacra is heavily used in WIR, to not only make them look like the 'retro' games but to immerse their younger audience. The film still has some modern aspects to the theoretical approach, including grand narratives such as belief (when an out of order sign is placed on their arcade game it shows a high angle, a god like approach) which also crosses over with Foucaults theory of the panopticon, these arcade games are panopticons for the characters, constantly being watched by the children playing., marriage (Felix and Cowhorne get married, she is masculine whereas he is very feminine) and in an historical approach everyone is very happy and look to the future. Lyotard believed in the mistrust of grand narratives but this film uses these heavily because it is Disney and they use traditional values so parents are happy with their children watching the film immersing them in. Dubord sees how now days every thing is about consumerism, Disney is using nostalgia and grand narratives as well as hyperreality to sell to the audience. Out of the three texts this one is the least postmodern, and challenges post modernity agreeing more with modernity. Traditionally using so many intertextual references could be conceived as copying, but now it is the only way to create something slightly unique, because nothing is original anymore. ---- I WOULD RECOMMEND YOU PICKED ONLY JAMESON AND LYOTARD HERE. TOO MANY THEORISTS MEANS YOU CANNOT GIVE DEPT OF EXAMPLES. 

I have also looked at Black Mirror's 15 million merits, which is more heavily postmodern. The tv programme follows the main character, Bing, through his life at that moment, it is set near future making it seem raw and very realistic, that this could happen in years to come. Simulacra is used very heavily as well as hyper reality, making everyone empty and superficial,  They all have avatars and have to exercise to gain currency for their avatars allowing them to buy new costumes, buy toothpaste, buy food and even buy a ticket to enter talent tv show such as 'Hot Shots'. Following Dubords theory that everything is commodified and is style over substance. Even when he eats int he canteen out of the vending machine it is all chemically manufactured,  even an apple is artificial projecting a warning to the audience and society, that society is becoming more and more artificial. Consumerism in 15MM is pushed, even when Bing goes 'home' to his small flat/box his walls are TV screens advertising and disrupting whatever he is doing, even when he shuts his eyes he must watch if he does not he loses money. Traditionally TV was a way of spreading public opinion and reassuring people, this series shows that this is not what it is anymore this programme warns people and leaves them unsettled. CONSUMERISM IS THE ONLY VALUE WHICH LEADS TO OUR DISTOPIAN FUTURE WHERE THINGS BECOME CORRUPTED BY POPULARITY AND PROFIT GIVE EXAMPLE OF QUOTE BUYING SHIT THAT DOESNT EXIST FOR OUR AVATARS...

He meets a woman he really likes, the most real thing there, after a while she enters 'Hot Shots' TV programme after being persuaded and being bought a ticket by Bing. She gets through but becomes taken advantage of, voyeristic adverts start to play of her, making Bing angry. He then dedicates his time to exercising every day as much as he can to gain point to get him a ticket toe enter. While they exercise they have screens in front of them where they can play games, watch porn and watch 'fat' people, who can't exercise like they do, being thrown foot at. His anger reaches a point where he breaks trying to smash the tv screens in his room, providing him with a shark glass blade. he brings that with him to the audition, the audience are made out of avatars, who are people watching in their homes, he gives a speech about how nothing is real and everything is fake, showing his real raw emotions, while he holds his blade against his neck. ''And the faker the fodder is the more you love it because fake fodder’s the only thing that works anymore, fake fodder is all that we can stomach'' this quote is taken from his speech, 'fake fodder' means is the commodified world he lives in everything superficial and artificial in it, all they can handle is that because thats how they have lived for such a long time. The judges respond to this positively offering him his own shows speaking like this, so the only truth and real stuff gets turned into a product, showing slightly how we live now. At the end you see a shot of him looking out the window in his new large apartment, to a lovely setting, but as everything has been so fake you don't believe what you see, it could just be a screen, so it makes you feel like you apart of this world, which we are. The show is different to others it does not reassure you as most programmes do, but unsettles you and makes out think warns you about what is happening with is a very postmodern pessimist way of thinking. The title 'Black Mirror' is the shiny black screen of a computer or phone, this cold empty box which is everywhere, when the TV is off is looks like a black mirror, which is cold and unsettling like the programme itself, which is a post modern way of thinking. GOOD

The show also uses intertextual references to X-factor, and Big Brother with it following what Foucault did of it begin a panopticon. As well as using what Bauldrillard and Jameson as well as Lyotard believed, disregarding grand narrative (there was not any sign of belief or families in this show), as well as it being very superficial and hyper real showing glamorous stars on the TV, as well it's simulacra the avatars are an exaggerated version of real life, showing a reference to the sims, the bricolage of these references make it relatable and real. Stylistically theoretically and historically this is very post modern, more so than WIR. It also ties in with Plato's theory, all that we know and understand is this, but there could be more, Bing was never seen to leave so he don't know that there is more. For all we know now there could be more but this is what we know now. GOOD

I also looked at Sims 4 which is extremely post modern, but not only postmodern. We may be in late post modernity, but after this is digi modernism, which could be where we are now. Sims 4 uses simulacra and hyper reality the most out of these three texts, the name 'Sims' is a shorter version of simulation, it is an exaggerated simulation of reality, allowing you to live out a life of an avatar. Similar to 15 Million Merits there was a virtual currency to buy virtual artificial 'stuff'. In Sims you can build houses, dress sims, go to school, go to work and you can even kill a sim showing a lack of reality and hope. This is similar to GTA which allows you to violently kill an avatar. Zizek believed that you are your real self online, also on games, so killing a sim is more yourself? He believed you can get lost in a virtual reality and that is your real you, your fluid identify. But he might not mean this so drastically, he means that outside your computer you are shy and socially autistic (not communicating with humans)but online you are yourself and can chat away with other people online. Again this idea of the panopticon (Foucault) is used, as the audience/gamers are controlling and watching the sims, this voyeristic action allows gamers to become very immersed int he game. GOOD, CONCLUDE THAT THESE TEXTS ARE MADE WITHIN POMO WHERAS TV AND FILM WERE NOT AND ARE TRYING TO ADAPT TO THE EXPECTATIONS OF A POMO AUDIENCE 

In China gaming is so popular people get addicted, they have set up boot camps to send these kids to to take away there addiction, they say that gaming can be as addictive as drugs. THIS IS INTERESTING BUT NOT RELEVANT TO THIS QUESTION

Sims 4 has got stuff packs and expansion packs allowing you to expand your world have possibilities for control, but these come at a price, people who become immersed buy into this, showing everything has a price tag agreeing with Dubord. The Sims appeals to all audiences, so it has grand narratives, not religion but marriage, appealing to the younger audience too. This high immersion, consumerism, hyperreality, simulacra and  breaking the boundaries between humans and technology and real and artificial make Sims in a state of both postmodernity and digimodernism, finding ourselves in Plato's cave to knowing what is real. DONT NEED THIS YOU HAVE ALREADY DISCUSSED HYPER REALITY
Traditionally this technology would have not been advanced, and kids would not be able to become so immersed in a game.

WIR is the least postmodern out of the three being only stylistically post modern, Black Mirror being second most post modern as it ticks all three approaches but is not able to combines technology and humans you cannot interact with the programme, and sims you can interact, it is the most as well as digimodern too. Ironically postmodernism is all about not looking forward, pessimistically thinking, no hope or belief and an empty work and there is not ideas or structures but postmodernity is its own ideology its own theory, making it seem unbelievable itself. From exploring these texts and postmodernism it seems like in 10 years time we will be deeply into digimodernism, without any belief or hope constantly gaining more technology advances to become immersed and lost in technology. A culturally autistic world, with consumerism, simulacra, hypereality, surveillance, bricolage, voyerism, emptiness, lack morality, lack of belief and superficiality, an exaggerated now.

VERY WELL DONE SOPHIE. THIS HAS ALMOST BEEN A WRITE UP OF THE WHOLE COURSE! LOTS HERE THAT MEETS THE CRITERIA IN TERMS OF THEORISTS. I RECOMMEND HOWEVER YOU LEAVE MORE ROOM FOR YOUR ARGUMENT AND ANALYSIS OF EXAMPLES - YOU ALMOST HAVE TOO MUCH TO BE ABLE TO GO INTO DEPTH IN YOUR EXPLANATION. I WOULD SUGGEST YOU KEEP TO 4 THEORISTS (LYOTARD JAMESON BAUDRILLARD PLUS 1 MORE) TO SLIM DOWN AND GIVE YOU MORE ROOM TO ELABORATE ON YOUR EXAMPLES AND MAKE IT FLOW MORE EFFECTIVELY. ALSO I WOULD SUGGEST GO IN WITH A THESIS ABOUT THIS IN YOUR INTRO. YOU HAVE DEFINED POMO WELL BUT MAY BE YOU COULD APPROACH IT WITH YOUR OWN DEFINITION THAT IT EXCUSES PEOPLE FROM HAVING ORIGINAL IDEAS OR THAT ITS A MEANS OF JUSTIFYING EVERYTHING BECOMING A PRODUCT OR THE END OF MORALITY. SOMETHING PERSONAL THAT YOU APCAN THEN USE THE TEXTS TO BACK UP.

AAE 17/20 (use of theorists, analysis)
Examples 14/20 (main cases studies but specific examples are very rushed - cut back on theorist and streamline so you can include more discussion of the specific example)
T 8/10 all terms correct and applied

Low A 

1B - Apply the concept of representation to one of your coursework projects.

In my AS project I created a thriller opening sequence called 'The Red Caller', a psychological thriller about a promiscuous woman who blackmails a business man. The opening is a flash forward to the dis-equilibrium, using the enigma code the opening makes you question who this woman is and why is she blackmailing this man?

Our main character was 'The Red Caller', represented by red, I used an effect which highlighted the red, she was wearing red and we shot in London so phone boxes and buses were also highlighted red too. She was promiscuous shown by her red coat and low angles, she was also the villain blackmailing the victim, according to Propp's theory. We wanted to include male gaze to sell to our target audience as they were aged 18-29 and our intertextual references, Salt, did this too, following what Mulvey thought. This voyeuristic technique is what many thrillers use, as this was myself and my partners first project we were less confident so we didn't take as many risks as we did in A2. MULVEY ALSO SUGGESTED THAT SHE WAS ONLY THERE TO BE LOOKED AT WHILE THE MEM DROVE THE PLOT. DID YOU USE CLOSE UPS ON HER TO OBJECTIFY?

We also wanted to appeal to a female audience, although not heavily or the most popular audience for thrillers, men aged 18-29, would not want to see our thriller. So we made our villain a women, challenging Berger's theory that ''Men act, women appear'' in out thriller this was the other way round with 'The Red Caller blackmailing to Business man'. YOU NEED TO DISCUSS THIS A BIT MORE ABOUT THE PASSIVITY OF WOMEN IN FILM ACCORDING TO THIS THEORY. WERE YOU SUPPOSED TO LOOK AT HER AND SHE WAS POWERFUL - THIS MEANS SHE IS EITHER A POSTMODERN FEMINIST CHARACTER TYPE OR POSSIBLY A FEMME FATALE TYPE

We challenged Baudrillards idea of hyper reality and simulacra, out thriller was extremely traditional in terms of style, apart from out effect we used, but we used this to promote danger and highlight our antagonist and location. GOOD BUT ELABORATE ABOUT WHY - CONFORMING TO THE CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF A TRADITIONAL THRILLER

We used stereotypes of our location, London, such as red hones boxes and red buses (which were highlighted through the Pleasant Ville effect), as well as through our stereo typically business man, wearing a stereotypical suit and located on a train. GOOD BUT HOW WERE YOU TRYING TO REPRESENT LONDON, WHAT ASSOCIATIONS ARE THERE WITH THESE SYMBOLS IE BRITISHNESS 

This follows Klapp's theory that we must have a clear distinction between stereotypes and social types, we have a clear distinction with our stereotypes, making our target audience see our familiar worldwide known location in our opening, the social type is also clearly shown threw the suit and the familiarity of suits being linked with a middle class. ' How we are seen determines how we are treated, how we treat others is based on how we see them, and how we see them is determined by representation' Dyer, which we followed the representation of the characters is very stereotypical so we can make our minds up on them straight away, which is what we wanted so the film, which is physiological, will build suspense and creates a plot twist. GOOD BUT DID YOU SUBVERT THESE CHARACTER TYPES IE WHAT IS SHE BLACKMAILING HIM ABOUT AND IS THIS TYPICAL FOR MEN OR WOMEN TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS.

Overall we followed traditional/modernist theories and challenged some of the more postmodern in terms of representation. We challenged Baudrillards theory and followed the rest, making our thriller more traditional. This was because it was our first project so we were new to creating opening sequences to thrillers, therefor we did not take so many risks and in order for it to sell to our target audience we had to follow conventions of a thriller.

GOOD EFFORT, WELL APPLIED THEORIES. YOU COULD ELABORATE ON THE EXAMPLES TO DEMONSTRATE FURTHER UNDERSTANDING.

B


1A - Explain how your skills in creative use of digital technology developed over time. Refer to a range of examples from your media productions.

During my AS portfolio and my A2 portfolio I have developed my skills in digital technology. In my AS portfolio I created an opening sequence to a thriller, I used a range of new technology in this project. As it was my first project I researched a lot into conventions of a thriller so watching thrillers on the TV and clips from thriller of YouTube was key, to gain intertextual references to gain inspiration. I used Blogger to present my work which I had never used before so I learnt how to navigate my way through that website. Once we had our narrative planned out, we then had to gather our props, costumes, locations and actors. We used Microsoft word to plan out mood boards and lists to do this, after we had used Google to gain inspiration and information. Using Google I researched our location, Leicester Square, to gain permission, as well as ordering tape for our cameras and other props, we also used social medias such as Facebook to gather our two actors, we didn't get as professional actors as we could of because we started to run out of time. In order to plan for the shot we made a call sheet, health and safety sheet and a schedule so things would run smoothly we used Microsoft Word for this too. TRY AND SELECT ONLY A FEW KEY EXAMPLES AND DRAW MORE CONNECTION BETWEEN HOW YOU DID THIS DIFFERENTLY ACRISS THE 2 YEARS

In our thriller we had to practice our skills in editing, WHAT WERE THE BASICS - SEQUENCNG, ADDING SOUND, ADDING TITLES, CUTTING, TRIMMING, COLOUR GRADING ETC so we would not be new to it as we came to do post production, as we wanted to use an effect called the Pleasant Ville effect, highlighting the colour red the rest being black and white, I had to research on Youtube how to do this then practice this on After effects. As well as this we took some practice footage to practice editing using Final Cut Pro. We also did some primarily tasks, were we re made Dextor opening sequence, Napoleon Dynamite opening sequence, Parity (an old thriller opening a previous student had made) and a video displaying camera techniques, this allowed us to develop our skills and match those skills that had been done more professionally.

In our advanced portfolio we had this knowledge so we knew what we had to do straight away therefor it took us less time. We made a music video, so we used Youtube more to gain intertexual references, as well as using a new website called Starnow GOOD BUT PUT THIS EARLIER SO YOU CAN COMPARE THE SKILLS as well as email to find suitable actors, we learnt from our mistakes in time management from the year before. We also did some preliminary tasks in A2 editing footage, taking test footage and editing, making a digi pak from another artist, using Photoshop so we could develop our skills before we did  the real thing. We also had to find our own song from an unsigned artist, so we used Youtube, email and unsignedartists.com so we could find artists and then contact them to get permission to use their song. We also made drafts for our website on WIX.com which was new to me so I had to get used to using this, we also made several drafts on Photoshop for our final digi pak, because we had to make a whole campaign we had more to do than last year, but because we had gained those skills from last year we had more time to learn more. IN EACH PARAGRAPH DISCUSS HOW YOU HAVE BECOME A STRONGER MORE CONFIDENT OR CREATIVE PRACTITIONER

In my thriller opening sequence I used Final Cut Pro and After effects, to edit, colour grade, create the Pleasant Ville effect and motion track titles, these were all new to me so I had to learn these skills using Youtube to watch tutorials and google to search up some techniques. Whereas in A2 I had these skills so I took more risks, we used a green screen to have our character fall into a train track, because I had more time as I had experience I was able to learn how to replace the green screen with train track footage. GOOD NOW CONCLUDE HOW HAS THIS MADE YOU MORE CREATIVE. Because it was a music video we beat edited our video as well as adding jump cuts to makes our character look more masculine so we could show the juxtaposition between his struggle inside and his hard masculine exterior. Because I was confident with using After Effects with my AS project I was able to learnt this easily. We also had to create our digi pak and a website for our campaign, so after learning and developing my skills on Wix and Photoshop I was able to create a campaign which all coinside with each other. 

In AS we had more questions to answer in the evaluation, and used a range of different websites and tools to present our opinions and answers. We created director comments using Final cut pro to create and Youtube to upload it, Prezi, screenshots and photos. Which allowed us to express and present our answers in a creative way. In A2 we wanted to expand our presentation skills more, and with less questions we were able to do this. We used Prezi, Survey Monkey, using a white board to draw our answer then adding commentary over the top, directors comments and Go Animate. These were very hyper real ideas which went well with our hyper real music video making it creative. 

Using these programs and tools allowed our work to be more creative, HOW - EXPERIMENTING. INFLUENCED BY MORE IDEAS. although in AS we were new to this subject and we didn't take many risks because we were new we were able to learn new technologys and present our work in a creative way. We also were making a thriller opening sequence so in order for it to be successful we had to follow conventions of a thriller. These technologies along with others, which we had developed our skills in, we then used in our A2 project allowing us to be more creative and make more risks. GOOD BUT THIS CONLCUISON NEED TO BE THROUGHOUT.

EAST FIX HERE, YOU HAVE MOST OF THE CONTENT.

PARAGRAPH 1 and 2 RESEARCH AND PLANNING AS AND A2 COMPARE AND CONCLUDE
PARAGRAPH 3 and 4 PRODUCTION
PARAGRAPH 5 and 6 POST EDITING COMPARE AS AND A2 AND CONCLUDE HOW YOU BECAME MORE CREATIVE 

THE COMPARISON AND ANSWER TO THE QUESTION NEEDS TO RUN THROUGHOUT YOUR STORY AND EXAMPLES SO COMPARE DIRECTLY. REMEMBER TO START BY ESTABLISHING WHY DIGITAL TECHNMAKES YOU MORE CREATIVE - EXPERIMENTING AND INFLUENCES THROUGH WIDER RESEARCH 

GOOD EFFORT

C

Monday 25 May 2015

Sophie G Practice - Section B

Provide your definition of postmodern media and support it with with examples. 


Postmodernism was an idea created after modernism, to challenge the ideologies that modernism had created. A postmodernism structure was formed around the lack of belief that others had started to lose, an example of this being World War Two and the effect of the Atomic Bomb. It gave that sense of there being no morality, nobody knew what to believe anymore, this also came from other structures being broken, an example of this being the idea of a perfect family (two parents, two children) with divorce and family separation being more of a common normality, this showed how the boundaries that modernism was had started to break, allowing postmodernism to be a prominent ideal.

Wreck It Ralph is a film that shows a great deal of postmodernism, without showing too much due to being created by Disney. With the main character being an villain in the arcade world, the film brings nostalgia to older viewers, with other games and intertexual references including Sonic and Mario being mentioned and featured, it would give a sense of being young again. With again the world being based on a sense of there being no morality, an issue with nostalgia could occur, with the audience wanting to go back to a time when they had less troubles. Nostalgia is powerful as you're looking back and not looking forward and developing. It is encouraging a way of escape.

Dystopia is featured within the film, this is created by the game 'Hero's Duty' - based off the game Call of Duty. This is shown within in the film when the world created by the arcade characters is taken over by pixelated bugs. The dystopia provides the fact of how bad things can happens and take over the good. This could be an idea of war and how one country goes to fight another.

Another factor shown within Wreck It Ralph is Morality, showing that good beats evil. This is shown when by accident Ralph ends up ruining a party he wasn't invited to, to celebrate the anniversary of his game. Others involved leave him, making it so he is alone is a lonely penthouse. Disney is showing how good can beat evil and showing by him being alone there is that sense of him getting what he deserves. But due to the lack of belief there is the factor of is this being shown purely being it is a children's film, in reality due to there being no morality would good really beat evil. Or could evil really win and be the one who is victorious.

A positive resolution is also shown within the film this is shown when Ralph visit an AA meeting for being bad. It showing that there is a positive resolution as he's deciding to turn up to change his life and make himself good. This is an example of morality and that something good is happening.

Another media text which is based on postmodernism is Black Mirror. The TV show is created by Charlie Brooker, showing how by living in a post modernism world can effect us. He is creating a warning of what could be. Black Mirror and Wreck It Ralph are similar types of texts, as they are both post modern, but only to certain extents.

The episode of Black Mirror I decided to look into was '15 Million Merits' a world based on the theory Baudrilliard produced of simulacra. The Tv show showed how nothing was real, creating a sense of emptiness. It showed how there was this world where really everything was based on money. Their everyday job was to produce electricity by cycling on exercise bikes, this showed a sense of a superficial, as those who were deemed skinny and active were allowed to cycle, with those who weren't having to do other jobs which would be quite demeaning to them.

The only way out of this bland simulated and hyperreal world was to be a contestant on a TV show named 'Hot Shots' - a produced talent format similar to the X Factor or Britain's Got Talent. Hot Shots showed Jameson's theory of style, as those picked to go further in the show where based on looks not ability, this shows a sense of style over substance. 

Another media text which shows post modernism is the Sims 4, an online world  hugely created through Baudrilliard's theory of simulation and hyperreality. With Sims 4 with the game being post modern, due to it being a gaming structure it is also digimodernism, this is due to you being able to control what is happening.

The game allows you to be who you want to be, this shows fluid identity as you allowed to express yourself without a superficial viewed being placed upon you by others in society. The game allows you to look and behave how you want, for example you could drown another sim just because you felt like it, in reality you'd be put in prison, in the game world you'd just live your normal everyday life. The game holds no consequences. 

Another factor that the game provides is panpoticon, the fact of the sims allows you to everything. Other example being Big Brother and in a way prison, as you're always being watched. 

Run out of time, didn't get to write everything that I had planned to do.

Thursday 21 May 2015

Sophie Bishop - practice paper

Section B
Provide your definition of postmodern media and support it with with examples.

Postmodern media is an ideology which came about after modernity challenging the modern ideology, an era where progression and  grand narratives such as religion and marriage were more heavily believed. After world war 2 and the atomic bomb in Japan this is where believe and hope started to decrease, because people lost hope as you can end the world and begin war so easily. At this point there was still a lot of belief, as the 1960's came along strikes on human rights and the hippie revolution became popular, seeing people stand up for change, because they lost belief in the political systems and wanted to be 'free'. In the late 1960's and 70's video games had immersed through development of technology, and then films such as Tron, seeing humans and technology combining, seeing a human in the film entering a game. Becoming immersed, which is happening now. The post modernist era is really just asking us to question everything around us, making us pessimistic. This is intriguing but not unless I look at texts and question this, looking at a theoretical approach, historical and stylistic at three texts Wreck it Ralph, Black Mirror's 15 million merits and Sims 4.

The Disney Film Wreck it Ralph, shows an immersive narrative, the cartoon hyper real character from arcade/video games are shown to enter each others games through a train station representing the WiFi router in the arcade. We start off in Fix it Felix, Felix the protagonist of his game is a feminine and comes across as friendly and traditional. Whereas there is also the villain of  the game, Ralph, who attends 'AA' like meeting with fellow villains from other games, they all come across as they have issues such as not liking themselves and wanting to be the hero of the games instead. Ralph wants this too, the games in this film are all 'retro' a trend which takes things from the late 1900's, such as video games, so this Disney film does not only target children but also there parents, giving them a feeling of nostalgia, and the film target the parents with more adult jokes such as the AA meetings. Ralph enters a fighting game, which is an intertextual reference of Halo. As he does not belong in this game things go wrong, he accidentally lets out robot bugs attacking the game, he ends up in an intertexual reference to Mario card and Candy Crush, a candy land where you race in candy carts to win.

Wreck it Ralph takes a more stylistic approach, using nostalgia, hyper reality, simulacra (the game is a simulation of reality and it is cartoon), the genres of the different games merge together making hybrid, it's a pastiche of the games giving homage to them, there presentation of gender is blurred, the many intertextual references creating a bricolage. Baudrillard's and Jameson's view on hyper reality and simulacra is heavily used in WIR, to not only make them look like the 'retro' games but to immerse their younger audience. The film still has some modern aspects to the theoretical approach, including grand narratives such as belief (when an out of order sign is placed on their arcade game it shows a high angle, a god like approach) which also crosses over with Foucaults theory of the panopticon, these arcade games are panopticons for the characters, constantly being watched by the children playing., marriage (Felix and Cowhorne get married, she is masculine whereas he is very feminine) and in an historical approach everyone is very happy and look to the future. Lyotard believed in the mistrust of grand narratives but this film uses these heavily because it is Disney and they use traditional values so parents are happy with their children watching the film immersing them in. Dubord sees how now days every thing is about consumerism, Disney is using nostalgia and grand narratives as well as hyperreality to sell to the audience. Out of the three texts this one is the least postmodern, and challenges post modernity agreeing more with modernity. Traditionally using so many intertextual references could be conceived as copying, but now it is the only way to create something slightly unique, because nothing is original anymore. 

I have also looked at Black Mirror's 15 million merits, which is more heavily postmodern. The tv programme follows the main character, Bing, through his life at that moment, it is set near future making it seem raw and very realistic, that this could happen in years to come. Simulacra is used very heavily as well as hyper reality, making everyone empty and superficial,  They all have avatars and have to exercise to gain currency for their avatars allowing them to buy new costumes, buy toothpaste, buy food and even buy a ticket to enter talent tv show such as 'Hot Shots'. Following Dubords theory that everything is commodified and is style over substance. Even when he eats int he canteen out of the vending machine it is all chemically manufactured,  even an apple is artificial projecting a warning to the audience and society, that society is becoming more and more artificial. Consumerism in 15MM is pushed, even when Bing goes 'home' to his small flat/box his walls are TV screens advertising and disrupting whatever he is doing, even when he shuts his eyes he must watch if he does not he loses money. Traditionally TV was a way of spreading public opinion and reassuring people, this series shows that this is not what it is anymore this programme warns people and leaves them unsettled.

He meets a woman he really likes, the most real thing there, after a while she enters 'Hot Shots' TV programme after being persuaded and being bought a ticket by Bing. She gets through but becomes taken advantage of, voyeristic adverts start to play of her, making Bing angry. He then dedicates his time to exercising every day as much as he can to gain point to get him a ticket toe enter. While they exercise they have screens in front of them where they can play games, watch porn and watch 'fat' people, who can't exercise like they do, being thrown foot at. His anger reaches a point where he breaks trying to smash the tv screens in his room, providing him with a shark glass blade. he brings that with him to the audition, the audience are made out of avatars, who are people watching in their homes, he gives a speech about how nothing is real and everything is fake, showing his real raw emotions, while he holds his blade against his neck. ''And the faker the fodder is the more you love it because fake fodder’s the only thing that works anymore, fake fodder is all that we can stomach'' this quote is taken from his speech, 'fake fodder' means is the commodified world he lives in everything superficial and artificial in it, all they can handle is that because thats how they have lived for such a long time. The judges respond to this positively offering him his own shows speaking like this, so the only truth and real stuff gets turned into a product, showing slightly how we live now. At the end you see a shot of him looking out the window in his new large apartment, to a lovely setting, but as everything has been so fake you don't believe what you see, it could just be a screen, so it makes you feel like you apart of this world, which we are. The show is different to others it does not reassure you as most programmes do, but unsettles you and makes out think warns you about what is happening with is a very postmodern pessimist way of thinking. The title 'Black Mirror' is the shiny black screen of a computer or phone, this cold empty box which is everywhere, when the TV is off is looks like a black mirror, which is cold and unsettling like the programme itself, which is a post modern way of thinking.

The show also uses intertextual references to X-factor, and Big Brother with it following what Foucault did of it begin a panopticon. As well as using what Bauldrillard and Jameson as well as Lyotard believed, disregarding grand narrative (there was not any sign of belief or families in this show), as well as it being very superficial and hyper real showing glamorous stars on the TV, as well it's simulacra the avatars are an exaggerated version of real life, showing a reference to the sims, the bricolage of these references make it relatable and real. Stylistically theoretically and historically this is very post modern, more so than WIR. It also ties in with Plato's theory, all that we know and understand is this, but there could be more, Bing was never seen to leave so he don't know that there is more. For all we know now there could be more but this is what we know now. 

I also looked at Sims 4 which is extremely post modern, but not only postmodern. We may be in late post modernity, but after this is digi modernism, which could be where we are now. Sims 4 uses simulacra and hyper reality the most out of these three texts, the name 'Sims' is a shorter version of simulation, it is an exaggerated simulation of reality, allowing you to live out a life of an avatar. Similar to 15 Million Merits there was a virtual currency to buy virtual artificial 'stuff'. In Sims you can build houses, dress sims, go to school, go to work and you can even kill a sim showing a lack of reality and hope. This is similar to GTA which allows you to violently kill an avatar. Zizek believed that you are your real self online, also on games, so killing a sim is more yourself? He believed you can get lost in a virtual reality and that is your real you, your fluid identify. But he might not mean this so drastically, he means that outside your computer you are shy and socially autistic (not communicating with humans)but online you are yourself and can chat away with other people online. Again this idea of the panopticon (Foucault) is used, as the audience/gamers are controlling and watching the sims, this voyeristic action allows gamers to become very immersed int he game. In China gaming is so popular people get addicted, they have set up boot camps to send these kids to to take away there addiction, they say that gaming can be as addictive as drugs.

Sims 4 has got stuff packs and expansion packs allowing you to expand your world have possibilities for control, but these come at a price, people who become immersed buy into this, showing everything has a price tag agreeing with Dubord. The Sims appeals to all audiences, so it has grand narratives, not religion but marriage, appealing to the younger audience too. This high immersion, consumerism, hyperreality, simulacra and  breaking the boundaries between humans and technology and real and artificial make Sims in a state of both postmodernity and digimodernism, finding ourselves in Plato's cave to knowing what is real. Traditionally this technology would have not been advanced, and kids would not be able to become so immersed in a game.

WIR is the least postmodern out of the three being only stylistically post modern, Black Mirror being second most post modern as it ticks all three approaches but is not able to combines technology and humans you cannot interact with the programme, and sims you can interact, it is the most as well as digimodern too. Ironically postmodernism is all about not looking forward, pessimistically thinking, no hope or belief and an empty work and there is not ideas or structures but postmodernity is its own ideology its own theory, making it seem unbelievable itself. From exploring these texts and postmodernism it seems like in 10 years time we will be deeply into digimodernism, without any belief or hope constantly gaining more technology advances to become immersed and lost in technology. A culturally autistic world, with consumerism, simulacra, hypereality, surveillance, bricolage, voyerism, emptiness, lack morality, lack of belief and superficiality, an exaggerated now.

1B - Apply the concept of representation to one of your coursework projects.

In my AS project I created a thriller opening sequence called 'The Red Caller', a psychological thriller about a promiscuous woman who blackmails a business man. The opening is a flash forward to the dis-equilibrium, using the enigma code the opening makes you question who this woman is and why is she blackmailing this man?

Our main character was 'The Red Caller', represented by red, I used an effect which highlighted the red, she was wearing red and we shot in London so phone boxes and buses were also highlighted red too. She was promiscuous shown by her red coat and low angles, she was also the villain blackmailing the victim, according to Propp's theory. We wanted to include male gaze to sell to our target audience as they were aged 18-29 and our intertextual references, Salt, did this too, following what Mulvey thought. This voyeuristic technique is what many thrillers use, as this was myself and my partners first project we were less confident so we didn't take as many risks as we did in A2. 

We also wanted to appeal to a female audience, although not heavily or the most popular audience for thrillers, men aged 18-29, would not want to see our thriller. So we made our villain a women, challenging Berger's theory that ''Men act, women appear'' in out thriller this was the other way round with 'The Red Caller blackmailing to Business man'. We challenged Baudrillards idea of hyper reality and simulacra, out thriller was extremely traditional in terms of style, apart from out effect we used, but we used this to promote danger and highlight our antagonist and location.

We used stereotypes of our location, London, such as red hones boxes and red buses (which were highlighted through the Pleasant Ville effect), as well as through our stereo typically business man, wearing a stereotypical suit and located on a train. This follows Klapp's theory that we must have a clear distinction between stereotypes and social types, we have a clear distinction with our stereotypes, making our target audience see our familiar worldwide known location in our opening, the social type is also clearly shown threw the suit and the familiarity of suits being linked with a middle class. ' How we are seen determines how we are treated, how we treat others is based on how we see them, and how we see them is determined by representation' this is a quote said by Dyer, which we followed the representation of the characters is very stereotypical so we can make our minds up on them straight away, which is what we wanted so the film, which is physiological, will build suspense and creates a plot twist.

Overall we followed traditional/modernist theories and challenged some of the more postmodern in terms of representation. We challenged Baudrillards theory and followed the rest, making our thriller more traditional. This was because it was our first project so we were new to creating opening sequences to thrillers, therefor we did not take so many risks and in order for it to sell to our target audience we had to follow conventions of a thriller.

1A - Explain how your skills in creative use of digital technology developed over time. Refer to a range of examples from your media productions.

During my AS portfolio and my A2 portfolio I have developed my skills in digital technology. In my AS portfolio I created an opening sequence to a thriller, I used a range of new technology in this project. As it was my first project I researched a lot into conventions of a thriller so watching thrillers on the TV and clips from thriller of YouTube was key, to gain intertextual references to gain inspiration. I used Blogger to present my work which I had never used before so I learnt how to navigate my way through that website. Once we had our narrative planned out, we then had to gather our props, costumes, locations and actors. We used Microsoft word to plan out mood boards and lists to do this, after we had used Google to gain inspiration and information. Using Google I researched our location, Leicester Square, to gain permission, as well as ordering tape for our cameras and other props, we also used social medias such as Facebook to gather our two actors, we didn't get as professional actors as we could of because we started to run out of time. In order to plan for the shot we made a call sheet, health and safety sheet and a schedule so things would run smoothly we used Microsoft Word for this too.

In our thriller we had to practice our skills in editing, so we would not be new to it as we came to do post production, as we wanted to use an effect called the Pleasant Ville effect, highlighting the colour red the rest being black and white, I had to research on Youtube how to do this then practice this on After effects. As well as this we took some practice footage to practice editing using Final Cut Pro. We also did some primarily tasks, were we re made Dextor opening sequence, Napoleon Dynamite opening sequence, Parity (an old thriller opening a previous student had made) and a video displaying camera techniques, this allowed us to develop our skills and match those skills that had been done more professionally.

In our advanced portfolio we had this knowledge so we knew what we had to do straight away therefor it took us less time. We made a music video, so we used Youtube more to gain intertexual references, as well as using a new website called Starnow as well as email to find suitable actors, we learnt from our mistakes in time management from the year before. We also did some preliminary tasks in A2 editing footage, taking test footage and editing, making a digi pak from another artist, using Photoshop so we could develop our skills before we did  the real thing. We also had to find our own song from an unsigned artist, so we used Youtube, email and unsignedartists.com so we could find artists and then contact them to get permission to use their song. We also made drafts for our website on WIX.com which was new to me so I had to get used to using this, we also made several drafts on Photoshop for our final digi pak, because we had to make a whole campaign we had more to do than last year, but because we had gained those skills from last year we had more time to learn more.

In my thriller opening sequence I used Final Cut Pro and After effects, to edit, colour grade, create the Pleasant Ville effect and motion track titles, these were all new to me so I had to learn these skills using Youtube to watch tutorials and google to search up some techniques. Whereas in A2 I had these skills so I took more risks, we used a green screen to have our character fall into a train track, because I had more time as I had experience I was able to learn how to replace the green screen with train track footage. Because it was a music video we beat edited our video as well as adding jump cuts to makes our character look more masculine so we could show the juxtaposition between his struggle inside and his hard masculine exterior. Because I was confident with using After Effects with my AS project I was able to learnt this easily. We also had to create our digi pak and a website for our campaign, so after learning and developing my skills on Wix and Photoshop I was able to create a campaign which all coinside with each other. 

In AS we had more questions to answer in the evaluation, and used a range of different websites and tools to present our opinions and answers. We created director comments using Final cut pro to create and Youtube to upload it, Prezi, screenshots and photos. Which allowed us to express and present our answers in a creative way. In A2 we wanted to expand our presentation skills more, and with less questions we were able to do this. We used Prezi, Survey Monkey, using a white board to draw our answer then adding commentary over the top, directors comments and Go Animate. These were very hyper real ideas which went well with our hyper real music video making it creative. 

Using these programs and tools allowed our work to be more creative, although in AS we were new to this subject and we didn't take many risks because we were new we were able to learn new technologys and present our work in a creative way. We also were making a thriller opening sequence so in order for it to be successful we had to follow conventions of a thriller. These technologies along with others, which we had developed our skills in, we then used in our A2 project allowing us to be more creative and make more risks.

Friday 1 May 2015

1b, theorists

Audience:
McDougall - Niche, mass, mainstream and alternative audiences. In this online age it has become hard to identify an audience.

Hall - Encoding and decoding.

McQuail - Uses and Gratification theory, Information, Personal identity, social interaction, entertainment, aesthetic dimension and  thrilling dimension. High low culture.

Ang - ''Audiences only exist as an imaginary entity, an abstraction , constructed from the vantage point of the institution, in the interest of the institution.''

Hartley - They must know their audience in order to to target them effectively.

Representation:
Klapps - Distinction between stereotypes and social types(representations of those who 'belong' to society) is helpful.

Mulvey - Woman are objectified for the camera, in order to sell to a male audience using male gaze (voyeurism). The audience are positioned in a male POV so we HAVE to accept this.

Berger - Way's of seeing 'men act, women appear' ' men look at women, women look at themselves being looked at'

Baudrillrd - Hyper reality and simulacra. He argues we are now in a place of simulacra, e.g Disney land.

Dyer - 'How we are seen determines how we are treated, how we treat others is based on how we see them. How we see them comes from representation.' The matter of images. 

Media Language:



Genre:
Abercrombie- The boundaries between genre are changing/shifting, he is concerned with modern television dismantling genre.

Altman - Set of pleasures, Visceral (gut), emotional and intellectual puzzle.

Mittel - Argues that genres are cultural categories and are used to sell to an audience. Allows an audience to make a choice.

Neal - Not a structure but a process, no pleasure without difference.

Chandler - Genre is instances of difference and repetition, how we define genre depends on the purpose. The setting (mise en scene), contributes to the purpose therefore the genre.

Buckingham - 'genre is not simply given by the culture, rather, it is a constant negotiation of change' -  Genre is constantly changing

Narrative:
Todorov - Equilibrium, Dis-equilibrium and New equilibrium.

Cook - Cause and effect within an engima resolution (Hollywood narrative).

Levi-Strauss - Binary Opposites, e.g Evil vs Good, Villian vs hero, Colour vs black and white and light vs dark.

Barthes - Enigma/Hermeneutic code and The Proairetic code - Action that implies a further narrative (suspense). We do this because it's the opening to our film, so we show the dis-equilibrium at the start, a jump in time, talk about this how we have to show time in a 90 mins film etc.

Propp - Character Types - Villain and the Victim in 'The Red Caller'

Friday 27 March 2015

Sophie Bishop - Creativity exam 1a

1a. Explain how your skills in the creative use of digital technology have developed over time. Refer to a range of examples from your media production in your answer.


The more we became aware of postmodern convention within digital technology the more creative we were. We became more creative over time in the following ways, we were original, superficial, used bricolage, used intertextual references, used simulation and consumerism. 

In the research and planning of our foundation portfolio we made an opening for a thriller, we used google and youtube to research possible intertextual references, in order to be inspired. We used youtube to watch Schindler's List, which was one of our main intertextual references. This gave us the idea of using the Pleasant Ville effect, an effect which excludes any colour apart from red, which I used Youtube to learn the effect and After effects and Final Cut to practise this for when it came to post production later in the project. This made our thriller opening hyper real, and represented danger throughout the only colour being red. We also completed some preliminary tasks such as recreating the title sequence to Dexter, so we used a camera and exported the footage onto final cut pro and edited this, this developed our skills to our advanced portfolio the next year. We also used blogger to present our portfolio, and after effects to create some of our effects and our production logo sequence.

In our advanced portfolio we made a music video we had the skills of using digital technology that we had developed throughout the foundation portfolio. We were able to then use more technologies in our research and planning. We again used Youtube, Google final cut pro and After effects, but this year we also used the television using MTV as research, we used Youtube to gains some intertextual references, including the 1975, using their Music video to chocolate to learn abut shot types for a music video, as well as their dull colour grading, which we practised on Final cut pro and After effects, also their website, we practised by researching how to use tools on Wix and also their digipak. We practised and researched different digipaks including Ellie Goulding and Taylor swift, so we had practise with the camera, exporting and Photoshop. So we had immensely developed from last years research and planning we were able to use more digital technologies and use ones we had previously used with more skills and confidence to make our preliminary task which was a remake of a Hot Chip music video.

We used final cut pro and after effects (the pleasant villa effects) to edit, add effects and colour grade our Thriller opening sequence, we developed our skills here so we could use this more confidently in our Music video. But we also used more technologies such as Wix and photoshop for our digi pak and website. We had more freedom in our advanced portfolio because we didn't have to stick to a code for a thriller, therefore we could use what every style, genre and image. We used the 1975 because they were also Pop Rock, had a rebellious image and had a target audience of 18-30 year olds, so we had a black and white colour scheme, this was because we knew the 1975 sell to our target audience, so if we followed this our product would sell to the consumer too. We developed the our style too so the video can be hyper real and superficial, so we learnt to use a green screen, and I learnt how to replace the green on photoshop, to make our character look like he is being reborn by falling in a cross position onto rail tracks, which makes this part look simulated as this is not realistic similar to a professional film or a video game. In our Advanced portfolio we need to be able to beat edit and lip sync, which we did not with our thriller, so we practised these skills in our preliminary task, hot chip edit.

We only used social media last year to receive feedback in our evaluation  but this time as well as the evaluation we used social media within the planning and research. Using Twitter to look for our target audience, to gain information on image, we also used Facebook in the evaluation. Our project this year was more post modern and developed our creativity by using different forms of media including social media. In our evaluation we used Survey Monkey then sent this to our target audience on Facebook and Twitter, we found out our target audience were too rebellious, shown by the low key lighting and dark costume, we found this  through audience members of The Archetypes by looking at their Twitter's friends. This made out campaign sell to our consumer, helping us with the style over the substance.

We had to develop our digital technology from last year, because contrasting to last year our brief was to create a campaign for an artists, so we had more freedom and didn't have to follow the conventions of a thriller. Our music video was a narrative conceptual so it was hyper real so we could challenge and break boundaries of artificial and real. There were also more techniques to learn so we had to develop our existing skills. The media i.e our music video is artificial and this is what sells, our world revolves around fake commodities.