1. P O S T M O D E R N I S M .
R E S E A R C H O N

2. P O S T M O D E R N I S M
• The postmodernist concept is a theory within media that allows
producers, directors, writers and all those involved in the
construction and those whose concepts went into the creation of
the story line to challenge the conventions, ideologies and forms
within media production.
• It originates from the postmodernist movement within the late 19th
century.
• It challenges stereotypical film conventions to push boundaries
within the conventions of post modernism to create and stimulate
originality within modern Media forms. However post modernism
can apply to any media form in three differentiating formations.

3. T H R E E P O S T M O D E R N I S T T H E O R I E S -
J E A N B A U D R I L L A R D
• To make an audience aware of Hyperreality.
• These are ideas in which the production and creative teams
push the audiences ability to trust the boundaries of the
fictional reality on the screens, a interesting way to do this is
the idea of breaking the forth wall.
• This is representational to the fact that whilst watching
conventional films and television, we treat them as if they are
immersed in reality, and challenging the conventions of
society mirroring our own makes us challenge our own
ideologies and values.

4. T H R E E P O S T M O D E R N I S T T H E O R I E S -
J E A N F R A N C O I S - L Y O T A R D
• To challenge Meta-Narratives.
• Lyotard says that we must challenge dominant
ideologies present within our own society and
challenge the values that are represented through
media platforms in society.

5. T H R E E P O S T M O D E R N I S T T H E O R I E S -
F R E D E R I C K J A M E S O N .
• To use Pastiche/Intertextuality was to offer updated ideas, from ‘old’ ideas.
• He said that as we are constantly bombarded by hyperrealism in our media (such
as american sitcoms like ‘Friends’) that there was no longer room for critique. His
concept was to create new realities within ‘Pastiches’ of the already created ones,
and within this intertextuality was inevitable.
• These texts being alternative realities of conventional life - such as the Simpsons or
Family guy challenging the conventions of the American ‘Nuclear’ Family - Eg Male
and Female parents, with 2/3 children and a family pet. Not only do these examples
challenge the conventions of the modern family but within the ‘Pastiche’ of a family
there is intertextuality of many current political, social and economical events
documented in a typically post-modern way throughout these programs.
• Therefore these media text’s do what ‘Pastiches’ purpose are - to make an
audience aware and to challenge traditional ideologies.

6. H Y P E R R E A L I T Y
• To create an artificial world in a style that is opposing to reality and its conventions.
• META REFERENCING - When the audience is made aware that they are watching a ‘film’. This can
be done by breaking the fourth wall an example of this is in the french film Amelie (2001) where she
breaks the forth wall by talking to an audience within a cinema. Link to Amelie.
• Simulacra/ Hyperreality - hyperreality is the conventions of reality without an origin,[3] it is a
representation without an original reference behind it. Baudrillard believes that hyperreality goes
further than blending the concept of what is real and creating something that symbolises it, it
involves creating something that represents a reality or person that does not actually exist, like the
believe of the tooth fairy or Santa Claus within children. As such hyperreality sets out to challenge
this such as the use of an virtual reality within the Matrix.
• High Art - A concept that allows producers to challenge conventional ideas. High art film in itself isn't
always post modern however a famous example of high art style going well with postmodern
technique is A Clockwork Orange which challenges conventions of film in several ways Democracy
or Dictator (challenging conventions of society by questioning what is dictatorship) in addition to this
the society brainwashing the character Alex into no longer following delinquent ways is challanging
the conventions of choice.

7. C H A L L E N G I N G M E T A - N A R R A T I V E
• Non-Linear Narrative - Challenging the 3 act convention by disrupting the chronological order within the narrative
sequence. An example of this is the opening scene or ‘Prologue’ of Pulp Fiction, (Link to Prologue) it begins with
a diner hold up featuring two of the antagonists ‘Pumpkin and Honey Bunny’. However it is also the epilogue,
furthermore it once again challenges the conventions of film by being told in a different narrative from the
prologue. It could be hypothesised that by engaging the audience in a non-linear narrative it makes them more
active viewers and more likely to engage with the story line and remember it.
• Narrative themes that challenge conventions of film narratives, eg the most common narrative within film is the
good versus evil rivalry with the good guy (protagonist) defeating a bad guy (antagonist). However in challenging
meta-narratives they may focus on the narrative from the viewpoint of the antagonist like following the narrative
of Pinky within Brighton Rock. Or following a protagonist in which there is no clear definition between whether he
is good or evil such as routing for Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction although he is part of the mafiosa scene. As well
as this another way of challenging this narrative is challenging male and female role stereotypes such as damsel
in distress character archetype within action movies by casting a female lead.
• Another form of challenging conventional narratives is questioning whether modern progress is for the good of
society, the nature of critiquing society is typically post modern. Two infamous examples of this are films such as
1988 film they live (Link to THEY LIVE) which question the consumerist nature or the western world. Another
example of this is the 1982 dystopian film Blade Runner, in which genetically modified human robots, and then
banned after being deemed dangerous, this film is infamously questioning the safety of technological
progression. (Link to Blade Runner trailer.)

8. C H A L L E N G I N G M E T A - N A R R A T I V E
C O N T I N U E D .
• The Anti Narrative - This is the disruption or blurring of the narrative.
Whether it is done in a way in which it is due to an edit procedure to
emphasise a feature. For instance THE FREEZE FRAME IN THE
MATRIX. To emphasise the importance of Neo’s powers within the
Matrix.
• Then Mixing or Blurring Genres is another way to challenge the narrative.
By challenging the conventions of genres in creating hybrid genres such
as the somewhat recent creation of popular hybrid genre British Science
fiction, that became popular in the ‘The Flavour Cornetto Trilogy’ that is
‘The Worlds End, Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead’. This is the blend of
classic british comedy and horror that ends up to be a perfect mix of the
genres and extremely popular, infiltrating mainstream cinema.

9. I N T E R T E X T U A L I T Y
• Pastiches are typically artistically a copy of another work, within film this
means remaking them such as Let Me In being a Hollywood remake of
Swedish Horror Film Let The Right One In. Horror enthusiast maintain
that like the original Japanese movie ‘The Ring’ that the hollywood
pastiche of Let The Right One In does not compare to the original
Swedish film due to the scenes being more authentic in the original.
However other more prominent styles of Pastiche include book to film
pastiche e.g Twilight, Divergent, The Clockwork Orange, The Hunger
Games and many more films from all genres.
• A Bricolage is something that takes inspirations in a major or minor
way, or objects from certain genres of film. Usually with the concept of
creating a new meaning.

10. I N T E R T E X T U A L I T Y C O N T I N U E D .
• A Homage is used to respect for films that they have referenced,
normally to react positively in context to the similarities and differenced
between media texts. This element is also used to create a parodical or
satirical representation of certain subjects a good example of this is the
representation of celebrities and social situations such as in this scene
where they pay homage to both Miley Cyrus by referencing her as a
famous person and King Kong. Furthermore Homages do not just have to
be satirical representations of something. For instance Tarentino's
Django Unchained pays homage to Django (1966) and Kill Bill is paying
homage to several different elements - he pays homage to anime , Bruce
Lees Game of Death , Samurai Fiction , Once Upon A Time in the West ,
Death Rides of a Horse , Lady Snowblood , and many more Japanese
and American movies as well as Indian Movie - Aalavandhan,
Blaxploitation movies, grindhouse genre and pulp novels.

11. G E N R E
• Genre is a French word that means kind or type. Yet within it allows for media products
such as television or movie to be categorised according to what definitions and
similarities they conform to. This is done so the producer can respond or challenge the
needs of the consumer audience.
• The mainstream genre definitions are ones that cover a range of movies that are
popular in the box office. E.g that conforms to consumerist needs between the
distributor and the customer. However these are over simplified in order to attract a
mass audience in the cinema. For these purposes they are categorised into the rigid
definitions of Comedy, Romance, Horror, Fantasy. Which can then be sorted into sub
genres by the audience.
• This is the broadening of the categorisation which allows for definitions that are more
flexible such as ‘Romantic Comedy’. Then Hybrid genres such as Indie-Romance are
created to reach a independent audience. This can then mean by being able to narrow
down genres you can find anything from British Sci-Fi Comedy such as The Worlds End
to Independent Music Romance Comedy You Instead - that is set at a music festival.

12. G E N R E T H E O R Y - A G U I D E T O R I G I D
D E F I N I T I O N
• Genre although a French word, was first used within the creative industries in the Greek theatre by
Aristotle to establish a kind if quality control, this lead to deviation from genre to become extremely
frowned upon and discouraged.
• This has lead there to be a stigma between deviation. And over the years people have become
accustom to genres. In 1957 the formalist literary theorist Northrop Frye presented certain universal
genres and modes as the key to organising the entire literary corpus. This translated back to media
outlets as well. Furthermore theorist have such as Carolyn Miller suggests that 'the number of genres in
any society... depends on the complexity and diversity of society’ meaning that classification of genre is
not valuable. Other theorist such as Robert Stam says genres should be referred to via other
differentiating factors such as budget, fictitious derivative or real life narrative. Another linguist Charles
Sanders Pierce studied meaning within a text and hypothesised that there were fixed meanings/ iconic
signs within a text and therefore genre therefore follows strict conventions to establish particular meaning
within a text
• Another example of this can be seen in the appearance of iconography of genre and within that certain
film. If we look at a comparison between the 1980s trilogy Superman to the modern franchise the
iconography between poster design in clearly identifiable. Furthermore both posters look as if they are
trying to maintain to an audience that Superman is ‘your hero’ as he is directly coming towards the
audience.

13. G E N R E T H E O R Y - F L E X I B L E
T E R M S
• Critiques of conventional genre theory, for instance Adorno and Horkheimer
state that mass production can only create a standardisation of convention
ruled by ideology however Tzvetan Todorov argues that 'a new genre is
always the transformation of one or several old genres’. As every appearance
in genre has the ability to change the formation of its convention.
• Theorist Nick Lacey then states that genre is a negotiation between the
audience and the producer. However the ideological differences in a media
texts genre can between the producer and audience at release could be
different and that is how the formation of sub genres has happened.
• Post-Modern theory allows producers to challenge these conventions and
create hybrid genres

14. C R I M E G E N R E
• Crime genre is focused on films that revolve around the lives of criminals or detectives. Conventionally if they revolve
around a criminal protagonist they abide by the conventions of an anti-hero character archetype.
• Crime films are usually developed around the sinister actions of criminals particularly conventional to the genre are
the characterisation of bank robbers, hoodlums and gang warfare. These people operate outside the law, stealing and
violently hurting people
• Crime genre often highlights the life of the police detective, the criminal or the victim. If focusing on the criminal they
will often justify the actions of the criminal by giving an elaborate back story that makes the actions make sense, or a
big change in personality that leaves the audience rooting for the criminal.
• If showing the police and detective world a common feature is making a social comment on how much corruption
there is within the justice system especially in America.
• Typical criminal character archetypes for protagonists are materialistic, street smart, some what immoral, menlo
maniac, and self destructive. Or people that have been at the wrong place at the wrong time and ropped into doing
work with a criminal underworld
• Other character archetypes often portray women in either a beautiful, street smart, strong and money orientated
femme fatele characterisation or a pretty and intelligent damsel in distress in need of being saved.
• Antagonists are usually characterised by being extremely evil in personality to make the differenciating personality
between the criminal and ‘criminal lord’ different.

15. S U B A N D H Y B R I D C R I M E
G E N R E S
• Crime Comedy - The hybrid genre between comedy and crime, a good example of a successful crime
comedy is Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. The comedy that is shown within this genre is usually
dark satire or complete incompetence in criminal activity.
• Crime Thriller - These are thrillers that centre around crime, conventionally the main character is usually
the perpetrator of the crime or the investigating body a good example of an effective crime thriller is the
movie Se7en which centres around criminal activity to do with biblical references and is guaranteed to
keep the audience engaged.
• Film Noir - This is the genre notorious in the 1940’s and 1950’s and influential to the formation to film as
we know it. Film Noir are conventionally centred around mystery cases within crime. Common
characterisations within these kinds of movie are being private detectives. A good example of
characterisation and conventions in Film Noir is Kiss Me Deadly that is a film noir masterpiece.
• Hood Films - Hood films have been a rising sub genre within the crime genre due to the rise of gang
crime within the last few decades. They often deal with grittier and more socio-realist elements than
other sub genres within crime. Another thing that separates this sub genre is sometimes the
characterisation and back story or effect to all bystanders and characters is more featured within the film
than the crime in itself. A good example of this is the story of Kidulthood in which the story of the gang
conflict is more apparent then the crime.

16. S U B A N D H Y B R I D C R I M E G E N R E S -
C O N T I N U E D
• Mafia Crime - These are films that focus on serious organised crime and the impact
and effects of if you betray the mafia family. A convention of this is the portrayal of
mafia lifestyle.
• Heist Films - Films that conventionally deal with a group of criminals trying to pull of
some kind of theft for instance the Italian Job , usually if the heist film includes a
satirical element they are a different sub genre called Caper films like A fish called
Wanda.
• Legal Drama - These is a crime sub genre that is focused on proving the innocence
of a client conventionally within a courtroom, an interesting take on this is the film
True Story is the true story between a journalist and convicted murderer.
• Mystery Crime - Usually involving a mysterious death or a crime to be solved. In a
closed circle of suspects, each suspect must have a motive therefore leading to a
genre with many defined conventions.

17. B R I T I S H C R I M E
• Conventionally in British crimes they are characterised by being very independent,
the main protagonist anti-hero archetype is defined by being very anti social and
lacking trust towards people, with a talent for having no consideration for other
characters within the storyline.
• There is often a love interest which is deeply entangled within either the antagonist
or protagonist live that is either used as a McGuffin ‘damsel in distress’ to further
the story to an extreme point where the main protagonist changes his ways or a
big shoot out occurs.
• Many crime films are set in gang, urban or derelict settings and will conventionally
revolve around an anti hero.
• Current day British crime is notorious for using post modern elements within the
narrative of the storyline a prime example of this is the examples of time
remapping within Snatch.