Postmodernism Is a Shortcut to Mass Audience (Discuss)

Postmodernism can be described as a collection of various meanings and definitions which can be applied to various contexts. Postmodernism can be described as old and new, along with oringinal and un-orginial. Possibly could even be said to be similar to other things but completely different at the same time.
Postmodernism has only actually been around since the 1900s, when the theme modern was transformed into postmodern. Postmodernism actually refers back to events that have happened however, see's them in a different light looking at them at a different angle.
When looking at post modernism you have to focus on what came before, the stage we are at now.

Therefore, there is a continous theory that postmodern theorists apply to this method this, theory states that there is a stage for each e.g. the experiment stage, which is known as the first stage is used establishing trends. Then we move on to the next stage which is the cannon stage, this is when we work on the new trend to establish it into a cultural context and understanding. Therefore, the last stage being the postmodern stage looks at what has already happened and adds that little bit more to it to finally complete the process of the stages.

 

An example of the experiment stage would be; 

 

 

 

Bob Dylan’s video of Subterranean home blues' is a perfect example of showing the experiment stage.

The video was produced in 1960, at the point in which music videos were not that upcoming instead short films were produced, which consisted of one single shot, the film producers were not as imaginative as they are today. Therefore, this music promo video has stuck to the nature and connotations of what already exists out there. However, they have added their own little twists to it to define itself, and to establish its own identity. The idea of the lyrics being shown on the cards represents the loss of miming within the music video. As an audience after watching the latest current thing, being the short films which contained non diegetic sound and miming to then move to non-diegetic sound without miming is taking a step away from what is expected and what is the 'norm'. There are no editing effects used atall within the promo video therefore, the viewer is just focused on the artist themselves rather than editing effects that cause the viewers eye to drift however, this could have a negative effective as the audience may become bored of non exsistent content occuring. The mise-en-scene of the video being in black and white emphasises on the experiment stage due to wanting to break away from colour, which already existed, the film producers obviously wanted to do something different to catch the attention of the target audience. This is clear to say that they achieved this.

 

 

An example of the cannon stage would be;

 

 

Queens 'Bohemian Rapcidy' is an example of the cannon stage due to the the trend of the actors miming now, instead of not miming. Also the joining together of not one artist but four individuals knocks out bob dylans sterotypical one person band. The shot below shows an editing effect used of all four band members faces being blended together to represent an individual face, made out of four faces. Therefore, this is a step up from the first stage as we are moving into a new generation of editing.

 

The mise-scene is a dark background this instantly makes the artists faces stand out due to the fact they are in colour and obviously attain the attention of the audiences eye. Close up and mid shots are used to a great extent however, extreme close ups are only really used on shots of attention to detail e.g. shot of artists fingers playing the guitar. The costumes worn are all of significant bright colours e.g. all in white contrasted to a black, this is obviously to higlight the artists. However, to do this they could have used other colours than white, which would still have been as effective.

 

An example of the postmodernism stage would be;

 

 

Micheal Jackson 'thriller' is an example of the postmodern stage as it moves up another stage in editing, mise-en-scene etc. Firstly the lighting and colour scheme used has moved up a gear from bohemian rhapsody, due to the artist being placed infront of a black background but wearing more colourful clothes than just plain white.The editing effects used are visual effects e.g. micheal jackson turns into a vampire therefore, in one shot he has enlightened green eyes and fangs.

 

 

The mise-en-scene being the costumes are more updated and creative, rather than just the simplistic designs in the cannon stage. There are more variation in the shot types e.g. establishing shots of the location of the mise-en-scene. The movement of the characters is more varied Micheal Jackson is seen to be dancing and moving around while in the cannon stage the artists were just stationary.The editing effects such as fog is used to create the effect of a mystery occuring, the location is potrayed to be scary due to the nature of the content. The location then moves to the graveyard where smoke/fog editing is also continued. The dancing used within the peice, is more up to date and extravagant than the cannon stage due to the upgrade and evolution in postmodernism.

 

Therefore, postmodernism moves into a new era and with this came intertexuality. Intertexuality is the coming together of two different texts including manipulation of one text contrasted to another possibly even mimiking the text. There are three types of intertexulity the first being Homage, this is when imitation is classed as the highest form of flattery. The second form of flattery is Pastiche, this is when the use of imagery of one text is contrasted to another. The third stage is Parody, this is when the artist completely takes the mikey out of another text.