A2 Media

1. Postmodernism
A theory that allows
producers to challenge
conventions through
different media sources.

2. Postmodernism in Film
Postmodern texts can be identified through their use of the following
elements:
1. Challenging Metanarratives - using things such as a Non-linear narrative,
anti-narratives or unconventional characters such as female leads or an
Anti-hero. For example Kill Bill uses a female anti-hero which is an
unconventional main character as they are generally male. Hybrid Genres
are also examples of Challenging Metanarratives as they are a
combination of 2 or more different genres of film such as
Action/Adventure and Rom-Com.
2. Hyperreality to make an audience aware that they are watching a film,
either by breaking the 4th wall (meta-reference) or using techniques such
as bullet time or freeze frames. For example in The Matrix, Bullet Time is
used when the main character is being shot at, and also the fight scene in
Sherlock Holmes.
3. Intertextuality (Pastiche) to copy ideas, either in a parody or by paying
homage to a film. This is a technique that is frequently used by Quentin
Tarantino in his films such as Pulp Fiction.

3. Postmodern Techniques as used in
Tarantino’s “Kill Bill”
Tarantino is
Challenging
Metanarratives by
using a Female Anti-
hero
By using a yellow
jumpsuit, Tarantino
references the Bruce
Lee film “Game of
Death”. This technique
is called Bricolage.
Another technique used to
show Hyperreality in Kill Bill is
the Anime scenes. This is a
‘High Art’ Style and makes the
audience aware that the
world they are watching is
artificial.
The soundtrack in Kill Bill
uses Spaghetti Western
music and this is part of
the film that references the
different films that
Tarantino uses for
inspiration.
Tarantino pays homage to
Hitchcock through the use
of Film-Noir back
projection as previously
seen in Psycho.
Also the main character is
talking directly into the
camera and this therefore
breaks the 4th wall and
makes the audience aware
that they are watching as
film. This technique is
called Meta-referencing.

4. Texts that use
Pastiche
These TV programs are
Satirical as they critique
the world through
comedy and they use
humour to address
different real-life
situations.
Austin Powers is a
Parody of James
Bond. It uses
similar situations
to the real James
Bond films
however uses
humour and
comedic set-ups to
differentiate itself.
Jackie Brown is a film that pays homage to
Blaxploitation films in particular Foxy
Brown.

5. Texts that use Hyperreality
The Matrix uses techniques such as
Bullet Time to make the audience aware
that they are watching a film by slowing
down the sequence with the main
character being shot at by the agents.
Kick Ass uses a Comic Book
stylisation during the fight scenes
by using words such as “POW”.
This allows the audience to be
aware that they are watching a
film about a comic book geek
turned vigilante.