You used your blog to organise ALL of your research. •What skills did you learn about organising and referencing materials?(Remember if your research isn’t referenced correctly then you will not get full marks–e.g.every poster from the internet has to be referenced). •How did your skills of organisation develop from AS and A2?E.g. If it was the first time you used blogger at AS did you find it easier to blog at A2?
The skills I learnt about organising and referencing materials would be that I have learnt to reference them without even thinking about it too much, it has become second nature. I feel that I have progressed in the way I have referenced materials as well as the extent and detail I have gone into in order to reference, for example, analysing music videos with postmodern elements and intercontextual references in great depth.
From AS to A2, my skills of organising havent improved greatly as I think that the way in which each post is presented has been consistant over both years, however, I feel that the depth of my organisation and detail has improved with the presentation of my blog posts.
Expense/Cost of Research - Over both years, the expense of my research has including purchasing magazines for inspiration, hiring out a studio for the filming of my A2 coursework, expense of travel to places in order to have inspiration, for example, locations etc., buying costumes and pieces for mise en scene over both years, buying the track for my music video at A2 from iTunes and an OLYMPUS PEN E-PL1, although this was for other subjects also.
Accessibility - Researching wasnt too hard for me as I had alot of initial ideas in my head already for both years so all I had to do really was research further into my ideas and gather images etc. Finding locations didn't seem to be hard as I had already seen the factory I used for my AS shoot before and thought what an amazing building it was, it was really nice to use it for something. I could say that finding the studio to shoot my music video in was quite hard as many photography studios did not hire out their facilities, nor did any of the colleges nearby. Time - All of my research and planning took alot of time I would say, however, when I am so involved and interested in an idea, it doesn't seem like effort for me to put the time in as I just want my final piece to be the best it can be.
Reliability - I wouldn't say that I ever found my research sources unreliable as I feel that the inspiration suring research and planning that I found only fueled my own ideas and so I could twist and take inspiration from all kinds of places without having to 'rely' on it.
Accuracy - Due to research into audience profiles etc, I felt that over both years, the reception from my peers was positive who were ultimately my audience for both years as my AS music magazine was aimed at a 'rockaholic youth' and my band for my A2 coursework was also aimed at a teenage audience.
Bias -
Validity - Over both years, I believe that the links between my research and planning and final media texts were consistent and in this sense I believe that the outcome of both years was what I expected to get out of it and had only a positive effect on the final body of work. Usefulness - I feel that all of my research and planning added something to both years of work in some way.
For my postmodern analysis presentation of Richard Kelly's 2001 film 'Donnie Darko', I have decided to analyse and present the postmodern elemts of the following scenes:
Two superb films by NY filmmaker Kirby Ferguson. Part 1 covers music and Part 2 covers film. Both essential viewing to gain a further understanding of the connectedness of things. This links to our discussions on postmodernism and intertextuality.
A very interesting aspect of postmodern music theory. This will help you with your next essay.
Media Theorist Jonathan Kramer says "the idea that postmodernism is less a surface style or historical period than an attitude. Kramer goes on to say 16 "characteristics of postmodern music, by which I mean music that is understood in a postmodern manner, or that calls forth postmodern listening strategies, or that provides postmodern listening experiences, or that exhibits postmodern compositional practices." According to Kramer (Kramer 2002, 16–17), postmodern music":
1. is not simply a repudiation of modernism or its continuation, but has aspects of both a break and an extension 2. is, on some level and in some way, ironic 3. does not respect boundaries between sonorities and procedures of the past and of the present 4. challenges barriers between 'high' and 'low' styles 5. shows disdain for the often unquestioned value of structural unity 6. questions the mutual exclusivity of elitist and populist values 7. avoids totalizing forms (e.g., does not want entire pieces to be tonal or serial or cast in a prescribed formal mold) 8. considers music not as autonomous but as relevant to cultural, social, and political contexts 9. includes quotations of or references to music of many traditions and cultures 10. considers technology not only as a way to preserve and transmit music but also as deeply implicated in the production and essence of music 11. embraces contradictions 12. distrusts binary oppositions 13. includes fragmentations and discontinuities 14. encompasses pluralism and eclecticism 15. presents multiple meanings and multiple temporalities 16. locates meaning and even structure in listeners, more than in scores, performances, or composers
Jonathan Donald Kramer (December 7, 1942, Hartford, Connecticut – June 3, 2004, New York City), was a U.S. composer and music theorist.
Active as a music theorist, Kramer published primarily on theories of musical time and postmodernism. At the time of his death he had just completed a book on postmodern music and a cello composition for the American Holocaust Museum.
Analysing exsisting music video in terms of technical camera angles used, mise en scene etc. aswell as in terms of my personal opinion of my likes and dislikes about the videos.
Researching my initial ideas in the existing world and how they could be applied in an effective way.
Initial market research through a facebook and twitter page for the fictional band I created.
Audience Profile research.
Choosing a genre and researching the genre to see if I could apply it to my initial ideas.
Analysing my pitch feedback from my peers which gave me another example of market research.
Research into my mise en scene - e.g. personal trips to locations where I took photographs which is another example of primary research as well as going to vintage stores.
Creating a mini test shoot video in order to research how to use the camera and how good my final video shots would be.
Analysing 1960's album artwork.
Analysing album magazine adverts.
Practicing the styling of my artists beforehand.
Secondary Research -
Researching songs and reading about 1960's inspired bands of today.
Researching David Bailey's techniques as a 1960's photographer.
Watching and posting about 'Factory Girl', a film made in 2006 on the subject of my music video.
Watching countless documentaries about Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgewick.
Researching and compiling videos and photographs of Andy Warhol, Edie Sedgewick and the Warholian Factory.
Read and re-wrote Edie Sedgewick's Biograhy.
Researching Edie Sedgewick's style and re-creating her famous 'Butterfly earrings'.
Researching 'star Image' and applying it to my own artists.
AS Coursework
Primary Research -
Analysing exsisting music magazine covers, contents pages and double page spreads in terms of the media conventions they use including things such as the 'three colour rule' and the use of a 'masthead'.
Colour Paletting and creating mixes of colours and analysing them in terms of whether they work or not and what genre of music they connote.
Audience Profiles.
Analysing Different texts and fonts from dafont.com in terms of whether or not they would work for my magazine.
Research into my chosen genre of music, for example, what a music magazine of that genre would traditionally look like.
Researching and analysing exsisting magazine shoots.
Analysing my test shots. By taking them, this would also could as primary research aswell as analysing whether they work or not.
Analysing my magazine pitch from comments made from my peers.
Researching into the representation of social groups.
Researching and taking initial shots of my magazine shoot.
Analysing my teacher feedback of my first draft.
Researching exsisting magazines in order to justify my magazine design choices.
Secondary Research -
Researching the 'Golden Spiral of Photography'.
Researching 'Markus Klinko', a photographer and reading through his biography and body of work.
Researching 'RANKIN', a media photography phenomenon in the world today and reading through his biography and body of work.
Reading through many magazines, as well as controversial ones such as 'Dazed & Confused' and 'LOVE'.
The Pro's and Con's of carrying out my research -
Pros's -
If primary research is not carried out beforehand then a media text may risk lacking credibility in the real world and will also risk the review it may get from an audience as well as the professional. Therefore, primary research increases the chances of a good reception.
By applying secondary research to your media text, i.e. applying theorists to you work, you can add credibility in the real world and you know in yourself that you feel confident in what you produced and that that the reviews wil be positive.
Con's -
Primary research may be carried out effectively beforehand, although there is a risk of directly 'sampling' exsisting work without realising it and therefore the reviews from a professional may be seen as 'copycatting'.
If you apply secondary research to your media text, you can sometimes risk your work being directed only at a niche audience and not by most. Even though you can add theory to your media texts etc. not ll audiences will have the background knowledge of intertextual features and therefore, your media text would not be recieved well by all.
With both years body of work, I put a huge effort into the research andplanning stages for each but although I put in equal amountsof effort, the huge demand for a more impressive body of work at A2 level left me with a larger number of posts on my blog around research and planning. I get involved with any project I do and let it literally control my life for a couple of months however, this was particularly apparent at A2 level and therefore left me to produce more research and planning in preperation for my final media text. Over the two years, I have loved getting involved with my media work and I don't feel that my determination has changed over time, but I feel that my capabilities and willingness into the depth of research I am willing to go has grown. For example, my A2 media work was my life for the three months of research and planning and I think I could answer anything about Andy, Edie and any intertextual feature I included in my work as I wanted to make it as real as possible and in order to do this, I felt like I needed to know everything there was to know. Proof of this could be the fact that I wrote an entire biography for Edie Sedgewick from memory here.
The postmodern sensibility that anything can be considered 'cool' in an ironic 'I know it's bad, but it's so bad it's good' way -For example, when people usually have a guilty pleasure, they don't like to say anything about it as they are afraid that it would be seen as embarassing and hey are worried about what others would think of them after they learnt about their 'guilty' choice of music. For example, 'Jedward' are often seen as a guilty pleasure as they are viewed in the public eye as being typically anoying and childish whereby on the other hand, someone may enjoy their music and due to their reputation in the public eye, are scared of what people with think of them if they knew of their guilty pleasure.
Work that is created/based (entirely or in part) on older material. This incorporates sampling and will take you from the realms of hip hop culture, transporting you finally in today's modern fragmented musical landscape. You will have to listen to some of the artists to fully appreciate them and their work -For example, I believe that this is most relevant in hip hop and r&b genres of today as alot of songs are rapped and as a backing track, an older origional song may be used and sometimes even origional artist vocals. I have found reference to this in Sean Kingston's hit 'Beautiful Girls' which has direct relevance to Ben E King's 'Stand By Me'.
Audiences that are both niche and mainstream. E.g: Radio 1, 1Xtra, BBC6, XFM -Some artists are aimed at niche audiences and yet played on mainstream radio, for example, recetly, a song by alternative artist 'Goteye' entitled 'Somebody I Used to know' has become well played on Radio 1 and other mainstream stations. Nowday's this is usually due to iTunes and the number of downloads resulting in a song being played on national radio.
The ways in which people engage and listen to music e.g: iPod, DAB, Mobie Phones etc - If I think about how I listen to my music, it would be in different ways depending on where I am at the time. For example, if I am at home I will on occasion listen to the radio although I prefer my aclectic choices of music apposed to mainstream all the time so then I listen to vinyls. I will sometimes use my ipod at home although my iPod is something I take with me so I can listen to my music anywhere I want. I believe that this is not affecting the music industry in a negative way, but only enhancing the ways in which we listen to music and therefore we buy more, don't we?
The legal issues surrounding sampling (Led Zepplin 'borrowed' heavily from old blues men and it took years for the songwriters to be credited and paid royalties. The same group took a hard-line stance initially to be sampled by hip hop groups) -The media are well known for mamking strong comparisons between artists and their music and exploiting them as 'copy cat' ing. The most recent case of this to me would be the likening of Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way' to Madonna's 'Express Yourself'. Despite the media likening Lady Gaga's image already to Madonna, the song held a similar melody and message throughout which caused the media to exploit. A video had circulated of both songs compiled together which I have posted above. In this day and age, it would be quite difficult to be completely original as every idea is, so therefore it is hard to press legal charges for such a matter.
The state of the music industry incorporating any recent developments that change how weaccess/interact with music e.g : Spotify, X Factor, iTunes, illegal downloads, free cds with newspapers etc -This asks the question, 'are we living in an age now where music is all digital and soon we will have nothing to show for it?' In today's society, I would think firstly about buying my song on iTunes as its fast, you can do it from your own home without going to a music store or supermarket, and you can choose single songs that you wish to have from an album. Although it seems easier than buying a CD, I believe that we may loose the experience of 'having' music and having a physical collection of CD's or Vinyls. This is particularly the case with people who like to stream music through Spotify or other streaming websites where you pay a small fee and create playlists to listen to, I believe that this isnt the same and its taking over the music industry, music may be perhaps becoming too accessable?
Quentin Tarantino is well-known for his direction of postmodern films with personal elements of himself reflected throughout them. Inglorious Basterds was no different, and released on 19th August 2009, the film was set in the Second World War which suggests a non fictional foundation for the film, however involved relevant trademarks linked to Tarantino. As a director, Tarantino consistently likes to put himself into his films, for example, at the start of the film, the opening titles are shown in bright yellow text which links to the fact that it is Tarantino's favourite colour and the fact that this is so obvious could also be relevant to the fact that yellow does not connote a bloody world war and due to this, the text could be seen as the first reference to a postmodern text. This yellow text is also shown in some of Tarantino's other postmodern films, for example 'Pulp Fiction' starring John Travolta and Uma Thurman. Although the film has a true setting and understory, Tarantino makes many references to the fact that the plot of the film is fictional. For example, 'Once upon a time in Nazi Occupied France...', the title of the first chapter of the film makes universal reference to a classic fairy-tale opening, and this film being far from a fairy-tale could ultimately suggest that Tarantino wanted to use this in contrast as a postmodern element, it almost connotes humour in a way also and links to Levi-Strauss' theory. There is also a link to the fact that Tarantino sectioned his film into chapters which connotes a fairy-tale story whereby each chapter is set in a different place. The first chapter shows us panoramic views of the French mountains which holds direct reference to the opening scene of 'The Sound Of Music' starring Julie Andrews in 1959. The panoramic shots of the mountains are shown as very painterly which holds reference to 1950's and previous film sets whereby they would paint panoramic views such as this. 'The Sound Of Music' was also set in a Nazi occupied country which could suggest why Tarantino made reference. This intercontextual reference is continued also later on in the chapter with a shot of Shoshanna running through the long blades of grass in the direction of the mountains which in my opinion links directly to the panoramic shots of Julie Andrews singing 'The Hills are Alive' in 'The Sound Of Music'. The doorway shot of Shoshanna running from the La Padite dairy farm also shows direct reference to a shot from 'The Searchers' in 1956 where John Wayne stands silhouetted in a doorway. This is a shot that has been referenced to many other directors however the fact that Tarantino has chosen it for this film could be another example of his involvement of post modern elements. The western theme of 'The Searchers' in my opinion could be referenced to the spaghetti western remixed soundtrack to this chapter. Tarantino re-used original soundtracks throughout this film although in this chapter particularly, the intercontextual link to 'The Searchers' and the spaghetti western soundtrack could be seen as a postmodern element. In this chapter, there are also links of self reflectivity again to Tarantino. For example, he is well known for liking to involve exposed parts of a film set in order to continue the knowledge to the audience that the film is postmodern and fictional and in this scene, he uses a birds eye shot of the La Padite household where the beams are exposed from the attic and the floorboards have gone. This is also shown later in the film and reminds the audience that the film is not real. In the second chapter of the film, entitled 'Inglorious Basterds', we see the yellow text again during the 'Hugo Stiglitz sequence' where his name is bannered across the screen. This sequence almost seems out of place in a film set in the time of war and has reference to blaxploitation films aswell as spaghetti westerns. The music used in this sequence is also from a blaxpolitation film with a voice over by Samuel L Jackson, all of this adding postmodern elements to the film. As well as Brad Pitt's over exaggerated characterization of Also Raine, the 'scalping' of the Germans is also an exaggerated act from the Basterds although both could have link to Red Indian cultures from Spaghetti Western films. This would not only be yet another postmodern element, but a link to Aldo Raine's character as he says that he has descendants of the Red Indian culture. The third chapter, entitled 'A German Night In Paris', involves Levi Strauss' theory of bricolage, whereby taking 'debris' from other media texts, you can apply reference to them in your own media text and make it postmodern. Strauss developed his theory further and saw that directors constructed texts from other texts by process of the following: addition, deletion, substitution, and transposition (transformation). In this chapter, music from the soundtracks of bloxploitation films are used in addition as well as create transposition by transforming the historical era of wartime1940's and making it postmodern. 'Operation Kino' is the fourth out of five chapters within the film and involves a significant postmodern link to Tarentino and his foot fetish. In other Tarentino films such as 'Pulp Fiction’, he makes it very knowledgeable to the audience that he has a foot fetish and is not ashamed to show everyone on screen, this is no different in Inglorious Basterds as at the end of the 'tavern' shoot out scene, we see Hans Lander pick up Bridget Von Hammersmark's shoe which could be seen as a 'Cinderella moment' and holds direct contextual link to fairy tales again. Although this reference is very traditional and universally known, Tarentino goes against the conventions of a traditional fairy-tale by having Hans Lander, the villain, pick up the shoe and have a 'prince charming moment'. Previous to this, the 'tavern scene' also holds a huge postmodern relevance to Spaghetti Western shootout films by having close up shots of the characters faces, much similar to the shots used in a Mexican standoff in a western film. The bartender also puts his hand under the bar to retrieve his shotgun which is almost comically similar to a western shootout, making yet again another postmodern link to spaghetti westerns. Another element that could suggest a postmodern fictional film could be the fact that there is no real upset at the deaths of Hugo Stiglitz and Archie Hicox. This is strange from an audiences point of view as traditional war films would have a backlash or upset if a main character died, although this is consistent in some respects with the genre of multiple heroes and is similar in films such as 'The Dirty Dozen' and 'The Magnificent Seven' which both show link to 'Inglorious Basterds'. In the last chapter of the film, entitled 'Revenge of the giant face', the 'projection box scene' holds significant relevance to postmodernism. This scene between Frederick Zoller and Shoshanna appears to have an unconventional take on a love scene in my opinion, much similar to the final scene of 'Romeo & Juliet' where they both lay dead next to one another and where one dies before the other which links again to another text suggesting postmodernist elements. Shoshanna is wearing red in this scene which contrasts Frederick's white uniform and typically both connote good and evil, love and purity, passion and innocence, or death and life perhaps? It is unusual to see that Frederick is the character wearing white, and although this was a Nazi uniform of honour, as an audience we would expect Shoshanna to be wearing the white as we are on her side. Shoshanna is also wearing no shoes in this scene, which could link back to the start of the film where she is running away from the La Padite dairy farm, it also holds outside reference to 'South Pacific' perhaps which is a musical film directed by Joshua Logan in 1958 where a sub story plot of a navy soldier who falls in love with a native island girl. This could also link to Tarantino's foot fetish. The Postmodern mix of music used by Tarantino in this chapter changes throughout. For example, before Frederick comes up to the projection box, a drum sequence is heard, reminiscent of the drums heard at battle, signalling that someone is going to die which would link to the fact that Shoshanna shoots Frederick soon after. This contrasts Shoshanna's death which is accompanied by a soft romantic score, the editing is also slowed down at this point which could suggest our empathy towards her. This romantic music is known as contrapuntal music as you would expect the romantic music to be before the killing, not the other way around. This suggests a postmodern element from Tarantino. Later on in the scene, Shoshanna's face is projected onto the cinema screen where the smoke surrounding her could be contextually referenced to fairy tales as well as the whole sequence being reminiscent of a scene from the 1939 film 'The Wizard Of Oz' where the wizards face is projected onto the screen to appear frightening. Looking at Fiske, I can see that from an audiences point of view, we could consider 'Inglorious Basterds' to be a war film, just from watching other war films previously although we have never lived through the war ourselves. We can only apply conventions of what we have learnt and seen from other war films and apply them to Inglorious Basterds, which Fiske develops from Roland Barthes semic code (1987). For example, within the film there are important historical people that are characterized for example Adolf Hitler and Churchill as well as recognizable mise en scene such as the Nazi uniform designed by Hugo Boss. Despite this truth, at the end of the film, Tarentino claims his own version of how the war ended, or how it should’ve ended in his opinion. Although Tarentino's choice to change the outcome of the war could be seen as wishful thinking, his choices to change the outcome could have link to the fact that he wants the audience to remember that the film is postmodern and fictional, just as he had made obvious signals before such as the exposed sets and fairy-tale beginning. Due to this, the film has many possible genre categories it could be placed into such as a parody, war, or a gangster movie. Tarentino's portrayal of war throughout Inglorious Basterds could possibly be viewed as a light-hearted approach to a serious and dark time in history. This could be relevant to the fact that in traditional war films, there is usually music related to war or no music at all, so the fact that Tarentino has chosen a postmodern soundtrack by incorporating the likes of David Bowie and music from blaxploitation films could be seen as him creating humour from the war. Usually the absence of music in a traditional war film marks the film as being more realistic. Another way in which Inglorious Basterds juxtaposes traditional war films is that it is character lead and not mission lead meaning that a traditional war film is based around a mission of war that the audience are involved into and want to know the outcome. Despite this, we as an audience still do not find out a lot about the backgrounds of characters in 'Inglorious Basterds' and they are very vague, in my opinion, Tarentino could've used this in reference to real historical war time where nobody was them self during the war and everyone had a uniform and a new purpose, forgetting and not needing to mention about their past before the war. In conclusion, I believe that Inglorious Basterds is in fact a postmodern text that is based around and has some traditional conventions of a 'war’ genre film, however, the huge postmodern elements involved and incorporated by Tarentino show the bigheartedness of his belief in making a real war film and shows that he does not want audiences to view the film as being 'real'. Overall I believe Tarentino's biggest postmodern statement is his 'deletion' of true historical events by changing the course of history and showing his own fictional end to the war.
