Hyperreality & Postmodernism

Post Modernism- the idea that we need something new, all theories are bad/ incorrect- a criticism of theories. It is anti theory.

Hyperreal is more attractive/ makes more sense.
Due to a series of representations, we have created a hyperreal construction of reality- a fake reality.


 Key theory 1- Roland Barthes, Semiotics.
The ways in which a producer creates meaning in a media product.

 Signs: anything that can have meaning.
Signifiers: if it creates meaning.
Signifieds: the meaning that is created.


Simulacra- a representation of something that never existed to begin with. (e.g: cyborgs in Humans)

 Humans and Simulacra
The parallel world to our own is a hyperreality- it is the present or near- future re-presented from a mediated perspective.

It may be argued that the series itself is a comment on the attractions of the hyperreal over the real- e.g: Joe's sexual attraction to Anita.


Key theory 5- Jean Baudrillard, Postmodernism
In postmodernism culture, the boundaries between the "real" world and the world of the media have collapsed and that it is no longer possible to distinguish between what is reality and what is simulation.

 What makes media products postmodern?

  • Breaking rules, conventions and stereotypes.
  • Criticism of narratives- postmodern texts usually try to distance themselves from traditional ways of making meaning, and will break the rules of existing meta narratives such as religion or science. 
  • Rejection of high culture- postmodern texts will often use a deliberately "trashy" aesthetic.

Intertextuality and postmodernism:

Intertextuality- the postmodern texts often make reference to other texts, cultures and other times. This "cobbling together" of disperate themes is also known as bricolage.


Intertextuality- breaking the 4th wall, where a character directly addresses the audience as she is looking right into the camera, at the audience. 
-Humans breaks the 4th wall so the audience can talk about it.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Riptide (intertextuality)

Image
How does the video to Riptide encode feminist ideology? Presents a parody of sexism in music videos (close up "how to photograph girls," connotes that women are purely presented to be looked at by a heterosexual male audience). Many shots of women in stereotypical male clothing (low angle mid shot of a woman holding arms in a gesture that connotes power). Mid shot of blonde woman bound in mise-en-scene of tight ropes connotes the restrictions that women face in society, and is critical of the notion of women as the "weaker sex" (connotative of "being tied down" with maternal responsibilities etc).  The video lacks anchorage which forces the audience to make own assumptions, simultaneously providing sexual gratification for male heterosexual audience, but also consistently informs the audience that scopophilia is creepy and not ok. Its an ironic representation of patriarchal hegemony (mid shot of man standing in front of woman with a torch in an ex...
Read more

Target audience for Assassin's Creed III: Liberation

Pen portrait for the target audience for Assassin's Creed III: Liberation (age, gender, class, lifestyle, cultural capital…) Age: 14-20 Gender: Male Class: Working class Lifestyle: Student Cultural capital: Nerd- no cultural capital Merchandise Some items of merchandise will only appeal to a niche audience  Fan's way of demonstrating to the world that they're a hardcore fan of the video game.  How does Assassin's Creed III: Liberation ands UBISOFT use technology to maximise audience consumption and to ensure sales? Social media promotion  Rereleases of the game on more consuls (play stations, ps3, pc etc). Trailers What happens if you play too many video games? Attitude towards things/ other people change- e.g: if you play too much grand theft auto you'll become violent. Square eyes You become antisocial, developing an inability to interact with others in real life. You'll become stupid  This is an aud...
Read more

Attitude + Stream Publishing

Image
Attitude + Stream Publishing Attitude is published by stream publishing limited They are an independent, specialist publisher They are vertically integrating by buying attitude, however they bought attitude to reduce their competition in order to avoid risk Attitude's target audience Attitude has a target audience who are "professional" which suggests they have cultural capital. The use of the word "professional" suggests they have a more financially stable job than the average person. As well as that gay people are more likely to have expendable income as they are less likely to have children than heterosexual people. The words "they are very style conscious" is a popular  gay stereotype. The reason Attitude are very stereotypical is for financial gain as it allows the audience to be sold.  The only reason Attitude exists is because the consumer  audience buy things.The inside over double page spread  is £157,000 for the Uk Vogu...
Read more