POSTMODERNISM RESEARCHBy Lily Glynn

30’s 40/50’s 60’s 70/80’s 90’s

AMERICAN CRIME

BRITISH CRIME

Where gangster films originated , which

reflected the prohibition era of the 1920s, when real life ‘bad-boys’ such as Al Capone, took the streets- bootlegging

through their speakeasies. E.g. The Public Enemy (1931)

Film noir Studios mimicked the dark

lighting and minimalistic sets used in the 1930s, yet managed to change the theme, helping to

reflect a darker attitude of life, drawing in

different roles for the genders- alienated heroes and femme

fatales.

The economic and social optimism of the ‘swinging 60’s’ were reflected by Crime

Copers. This was done by lighter hearted

narratives and loveable rogues E.g. Oceans 11

(1960)

During the 1970s, there was the economic depression in America. This was shown throughout crime films in

this decade. The drugs and hard-hitting dons were used

to enforce this. E.g. The Godfather (1972).

This then turned to the Blaxploitation films, which mainly included all black casts, dealing with issues

regarding racism, drugs and prostitution.

Postmodern crime was introduced and the age

of postmodernism is portrayed throughout; overloaded with ideas, hybrid genres, heavily stylised and blurred

representation. E.g. Pulp Fiction (1994)

Post war activities lead to British

crime coming on the rise. The British

Noir reflects this and follows Film

Noir conventions, displaying the darker side to

civilian life. E.g. Brighton Rock

(1947)

Cockney actors started using their

cheeky ways to add comedy to the crime.

This would be involved in films set in

European settings leaving the audience

with a cliffhanger. E.g. The Shakedown

(1960)

Gnitty British crime came about from

the harsh downturn from the late

1960s/early 70s. E.g. Get Carter

(1971)

Postmodern crime films also made it in Britain, they did this by taking ideas from iconography used in Britain, reflecting on the new ‘Lad’ ways in which the actors

were. E.g. Lock, Stock and Two

Smoking Barrels (1998)

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Postmodernism applies to media in three different ways and allows new conventions and ideologies to be challenged by producers.Meta-narratives: with Postmodernism the narratives can

be non-linear or use freeze frames and time remapping to demonstrate anti-narrative devices.

Using pastiche: this allows films to present new updated ideas from past ideas in other films.

Awareness of hyper-reality: making the audience aware of the contact between actors and audiences and challenging ideas using alternative realities.

Defining Postmodernism

Postmodernism films can use non-linear narratives and use freeze frames to break up the consistency and flow of a film.

Examples of this are:

Meta-narratives

In scene from Lock stock poker there are multiple freeze frames used so that the camera can focus on props such as the cards and poker chips. This is different to other films as it will break the flow of the scene.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IrDZtpJcaA&feature=player_detailpage

In this boxing scene from Snatch ,slow motion is used to focus on a subject. So when Jason Statham is talking to the boxer, the rest of the audience is slowed down and muted whilst he is talking and moving in normal motion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idDWtqm4Lo&feature=player_detailpage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98FsEOrOPeM&feature=player_detailpage

This scene from Sherlock Holmes uses time remapping. Robert downing Junior who plays Sherlock, is in a fight and when he decides to give up, the other fighter spits on his head. This is when the time remapping happens and Downing Junior is shown to be going through a step by step of injuring the other fighter. A voice over is used to show his explanation and help the audience understand what is going on. Freeze frames are used after every punch is thrown to emphasise the hard effect this has.

Pistache allows the producer to include updated ideas from old ideas such as intertextual references.

Tarentino- ‘I steal from every movie ever made’

Tarentimo is known for his referencing in films. In this example, his film ‘Django Unchained’ is linking to the 1967 Spaghetti Western film ‘Django’ starring Franco Nero. Many other filmmakers named their characters Django, not dissimilar to what Tarentino did.

Pistache

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8CZKbDzP1E&feature=player_detailpage

Django Unchained-2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Byo-5c-deJQ

Django-1966 (Spaghetti Western)

Blurring the audiences ideas of what is real and what isn’t, is what allows producers to use Hyperreality. The audience is made aware of an alternative reality which challenges their expectations and this is where Producers use the hyperreality technique to achieve this perception.

Shown below is a scene from Lewis Gilbert’s 1966 film ‘Alfie.’ This shows hyperreality as ‘Alfie’ comes out of the car and begins to look into the camera and start talking to the audience. This connects the audience to the film but also makes it different to any other film as it enforces reality to the audience.

HyperrealityThis is from the scene in ‘The Matrix’ called ‘Bullet Time’.‘Bullet Time is a stylistic way of showing that you’re in a constructed reality. That time and space are not the same as us today-living our lives’

For Bullet Time, slowing down time to such an extent that everything is clearer around you. The scene was something that was made for the Matrix especially. Firstly, computer simulation is used to build what will happen in the scene. Around 120 cameras are used to film and are set out in a ‘rig’, which can be either a ‘s’ curve, spiral or an arc built at different heights. All the cameras work at different speeds from either 120fps to 360fps. They use a motion control laser pointing system which takes and animation file and creates a point on the surface of a cube which informs them on where to point each camera. These cameras can capture the whole event in the time that it takes the cameras to take the shots around the rig.-John Gaeta, the visual effects supervisor for the film explains how the scene came to life.

Need For Speed (2014) Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqLsVh1tDS0

Fresh from prison, a street racer who was framed by a wealthy business associate joins a cross country race with revenge in mind. His ex-partner, learning of the plan, places a massive bounty on his head as the race begins.

1- 0:38secs 2-1:06secs 3- 1:26secs 4-1:38secs

5-1:43ecs 6-1:47secs 7-2:22secs 8-2:29secs

T I T L E SThemes:-• Crime• Vengeance• Anger• Violence• Revenge• Plotting

Characters:-• PROTAGONIST- Tobey Marshall(Aaron

Paul)• ANTAGONIST- Dino Brewster(Dominic

Cooper)• Lover- Julia Maddon (Imogen Poots)• Ex Partner- Benny(Scott Mesudi)

Camera-The camera uses low, mid and high shots. The low shots are usually for focusing on the exterior of the cars. Mid shots show the expression on the characters faces and the zoom in further to show the strong emotion. Then finally, high shots are filmed on helicopters and show the racing of the cars. The speed motion of the cameras movements changes from slow to fast depending on what it is filming. Slow motion will portray the anger on the characters face and fast motion is to emphasise the speed of the cars. The aperture is turned up higher when people are having a conversation. It is then put to a low aperture when a panning scene is displaying a location. Overall, the trailer is fast to be able to stress the fact that this is a crime film and that it will be fast moving.

Scarface(1983)trailer

Tony Montana manages to leave Cuba during the Mariel exodus of 1980. He finds himself in a Florida refugee camp but his friend Manny has a way out for them: undertake a contract killing and arrangements will be made to get a green card. He's soon working for drug dealer Frank Lopez and shows his mettle when a deal with Columbian drug dealers goes bad. He also brings a new level of violence to Miami. Tony is protective of his younger sister but his mother knows what he does for a living and disowns him. Tony is impatient and wants it all however, including Frank's empire and his mistress Elvira Hancock. Once at the top however, Tony's outrageous actions make him a target and everything comes crumbling down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pQQHnqBa2E

0:04 0:43 3:09

3:10 3:12 3:16

3:20

T I T L E S

Scarface, a crime film has a number of different angled shots. They used high angle shots, mid shots and low shots. This adds a fast paced atmosphere to the film, keeping the audience on edge, not knowing what’s going to happen next.

Bibliographywww.youtube.com

www.google.co.uk (images)www.IMBD.com

www.wikipedia.com